- Summary
- "In 1941 the German army invaded the strategically important Mediterranean island of Crete with the largest airborne force in history. The years of Nazi occupation that followed saw mass executions, widespread starvation, and the brutal destruction of homes--but amid the horror, the Cretan resistance, the "andartes," with the support of a handful of British special operations agents, fought on heroically. In Cairo, Patrick Leigh Fermor came up with a plan to avenge the islanders' suffering. Under cover of darkness on February 4th, 1944, he parachuted onto Crete's deserted Mount Dikti in preparation for his secret and high-risk mission. This is the story of the abduction of General Heinrich Kreipe by Leigh Fermor, his second-in-command William Stanley Moss, and their tight-knit group of partisans; of the midnight ambush of the general's car and the perilous drive through the garrison town of Heraklion and twenty-two heavily guarded roadblocks; of their epic, dangerous journey on foot and mule across rocky peaks, hiding from their German pursuers in mountain caves and ditches, towards the coast where a Royal Navy launch was waiting to spirit the general to Egypt. But success came at a price for the islanders left behind: German reprisals were swift, unsparing, and devastating. With unprecedented access to firsthand accounts of the Cretan guerrilla fighters themselves, as well as Special Operations Executive files, Leigh Fermor's own account, and other private papers and diaries, this astonishing true story of daring in the battle against Hitler is told in full for the first time."--Dust jacket.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Stroud, Rick, author.
- Published
- New York, NY : Bloomsbury USA, 2015
©2014
- Locale
- Greece
Crete
Great Britain
- Edition
- First U.S. edition
- Contents
-
An island of heroes
Defenders of Crete
Operation Merkur
The battle of Crete
The next nine days
The occupations begins
Fortress Crete
Ungentlemanly warfare
The Cretan resistance is born
A terrible tragedy
The Italians change sides
Operation abduction
The best laid plans...
First base
The waiting
The trap springs
Through the checkpoints
Radio silence
Situation ugly
Marooned
Hide and seek
Men of darkness
Home run
Returning heroes
Moss and the battle of Damastas Bridge
Aftermath.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references and index.
An island of heroes -- Defenders of Crete -- Operation Merkur -- The battle of Crete -- The next nine days -- The occupations begins -- Fortress Crete -- Ungentlemanly warfare -- The Cretan resistance is born -- A terrible tragedy -- The Italians change sides -- Operation abduction -- The best laid plans... -- First base -- The waiting -- The trap springs -- Through the checkpoints -- Radio silence -- Situation ugly -- Marooned -- Hide and seek -- Men of darkness -- Home run -- Returning heroes -- Moss and the battle of Damastas Bridge -- Aftermath.
