Category: The Fall of Crete

A detailed and extensive history by a participant in the battle, which covers the Navy's role in the defence and evacuation. Excellent.

KONSTAM, Angus. Naval Battle of Crete 1941: The Royal Navy at Breaking Point (Campaign 388). 96p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2023. ISBN: 9781472854049.

A good narrative account well illustrated with contemporary photographs and new clear maps by a prolific historian. Describes a dark and difficult period for the Royal Navy as it managed a costly evacuation of the island.

CARNE, W.P. The Making of a Royal Naval Officer. 350p., illus., index. London: Uniform, 2021. ISBN: 9781913491598.

The story of a distinguished career, compiled by his grandson, from letters, diaries, memoirs and official documents, many of which are reproduced. Born in 1898, he joined the Navy in 1914 and served for over fifty years. He had an active First World War including the battle of Jutland and rose steadily in rank. By 1940 he was Fleet Torpedo Officer of the Mediterranean Fleet and it is on his service in the Mediterranean that the book largely then focusses. There are full accounts of the Battle of Calabria, the bombardment of Bardia, the battle of Matapan and the attack on Taranto and the capture of Tobruk. In May 1941 he was appointed Captain of the cruiser Coventry. Within ten days he saw dramatic action in the evacuation of Crete, including the rescue of many of the crew from Calcutta. The rest of his career is then briefly summarised. He left Coventry a few months later, served on the Admiralty Delegation in Washington for a year, then in mid-1943 took command of the escort carrier Striker serving in the Arctic then moving on to the Pacific.

BEEVOR, Antony. Crete: The Battle and the Resistance. xii, 383p., bibliog., illus., index. London: John Murray, 1991; Boulder; Westview, 1994. ISBN: 0140167870.

A military history which covers the aftermath as well as the battle and reviews the use of ULTRA intelligence at some length. Reprinted by John Murray in 2005, ISBN:  9780719568312.

REID, Richard. Greece and Crete (Australians in World War II). 220p., bibliog., illus. Canberra: Department of Veterans’ Affairs, 2011. ISBN: 9781877007651.

A mixture of personal reminiscences and many photographs describe Australian involvement. Some limited naval material.

CLARK, Alan. The Fall of Crete. 206p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Blond; New York: Morrow, 1962.

The military story with a brief section on the evacuation. A further edition was published in 2000, ISBN: 030452268

PIKE, Richard. Alfie’s War: A Fleet Air Arm Officer’s Exciting Exploits of HMS Illustrious in Greece and Crete. 189p., illus., index. London: Grub Street, 2012. ISBN: 1908117419.

In effect a second biographical volume giving an account of his experiences in the Eastern Mediterranean.

HARRIS, Richard & WILLIAMS, Barrie. Goodhart: The Life of Rear Admiral Nicholas Goodhart, CB, Legion of Merit, FRAeS, RN (1919 - 2011). 180p., illus. Bognor Regis: Woodfield, 2012. ISBN: 1846831466.

Goodhart entered the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in the Hawke Term in 1933. He then attended the Royal Naval Engineering College at Keyham, He served as an engineering lieutenant, and saw action in the evacuation of Crete in 1941 on Formidable He then served on Dido escorting convoys to Malta and the assaults on Italy over the next two years. He undertook pilot training in Canada in 1944 and joined the Fleet Air Arm and served in the Pacific Fleet. He had a distinguished career as a Test Pilot after the war and retired as a Rear Admiral.

ROBERTSON, I. G. Renegade Signalman RN. 96p., illus. Plean: [author], 1987. ISBN: 0904475344.  

The author began his war in Curlew, until her sinking in Norway, then moved briefly to the new Combined Operations HQ before going to the Middle East with Laycock’s Commando. He quickly became involved in organising the naval liaison for the evacuations of Greece and Crete. He was wounded in the latter campaign, which is described at length. After recuperation and a visit to the US, he took command of the Combined Operations Signal School at Troon in 1942. The following year he moved to the staff of SEAC. After a brief spell with the Pacific Fleet he returned to the Combined Operations HQ in London. A beautifully produced and illustrated limited edition of 250 copies. 

Republished in 2003 as Battle for Crete: New Zealand's near-run affair, 1941. Argues that the New Zealanders did not fail, but were placed in an unwinnable battle.

A dramatised account of the naval role.

A good full account of the Navy's fight to maintain its tradition of supporting the army at all times. US title: Nazi Victory (ISBN: 0812815599).

A first semi-official account of the role of the 2NZEF in the battle for the island. The support from the Navy is mentioned with gratitude.

The author was a Greek doctor attached to the RAMC and this book recreates his diary for the period from his evacuation from Greece in a steamer to his evacuation from Crete in the cruiser Perth, in both cases under air attack.

A patchy and episodic account of the battle for the island. Republished by White Lion in 1976 and by Pen & Sword in 2008.

316p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1981. ISBN: 0340231181. A New Zealand author’s view of the battle in which his country’s forces were heavily involved. Gives a good view of the land battle with some detail of the evacuation.

Concentrates on the military actions from the first paratroop landing to the final evacuation.

A model account by an expert.

Lays an emphasis on personal recollections but also makes some play of the role of ULTRA. Has a good section on the evacuation.

The war memoir of a distinguished Australian naval historian. As a 19 year-old artilleryman he saw the battle at first hand. Republished in 1991 by Kangaroo Press as Flowers of Rethymnon with substantial additions and notes of material removed by the censor in the original edition. ISBN: 0864173946.

According to the historian John Keegan this "is that rare thing, a genuinely bad book - badly conceived, badly researched, badly organised and badly written."

An anthology of extracts from previously published works with some newly recorded reminiscences. Patchy but useful.

The New Zealanders were heavily involved in the battle for Crete. Evacuation by the Royal Navy is covered in some detail. Reprinted by the Imperial War Museum in 1997.