Invasion of Crete: The First (and Only) Major German Airborne Operation of World War II
Invasion of Crete: The First (and Only) Major German Airborne Operation of World War II Emboldened by previous successes, the Germans launched Operation Mercury, dropping thousands of paratroopers onto the defended island of Crete. Here's What You Need to Know: The Germans would the triumph at Crete, but their victory was bittersweet. By May 1941, the German Luftwaffe’s fortunes had risen to great heights and plummeted to equally startling depths in the course of a single year of blitzkrieg warfare in Western Europe. Led by the narcissistic Hermann Göring, a former World War I flying ace,...
Source: nationalinterest.org