Sadler - OPERATION MERCURY: The Fall of Crete 1941

Creforce HQ Major-General B. Freyberg

C Squadron the Kings Own Hussars
B Squadron the Royal Tank Regiment
1st Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers (Force Reserve)

HQ New Zealand Division (NZ) Brigadier E. Puttick

27th NZ MG Battalion
5th NZ Field Artillery Regiment

4th NZ Infantry Brigade Brigadier L.M. Inglis:

18th NZ Infantry Battalion
19th NZ Infantry Battalion
20th NZ Infantry Battalion
1st Light Troop Royal Royal Artillery (RA)

5th NZ Infantry Brigade Brigadier J. Hargest:

21st NZ Infantry Battalion
22nd NZ Infantry Battalion
23rd NZ Infantry Battalion
28th (Maori) Infantry Battalion
7th NZ Field Company
19th Army Troops Company
1st Greek Regiment

10th NZ Infantry Brigade Colonel H.P. Kippenberger:

NZ Divisional Cavalry
NZ Composite Battalion
6th Greek Regiment
8th Greek Regiment

HQ 14th Infantry Brigade Brigadier B.H. Chappel

2nd Battalion the Leicestershire Regiment
2nd Battalion the York and Lancaster Regiment
2nd Battalion the Black Watch
2/4 Australian Infantry Battalion
1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
7th Medium Regiment RA (deployed as infantry)
3rd Greek Regiment
7th Greek Regiment
Greek Garrison Battalion

HQ 19th Australian Infantry Brigade Brigadier G.A. Vasey

2/3 Field Artillery Regiment RAA
2/1 Australian Infantry Battalion
2/11 Australian Infantry Battalion
2/7 Australian Infantry Battalion
2/6 Australian Infantry Battalion
4th Greek Regiment
5th Greek Regiment
Greek Gendarmerie

HQ Mobile Naval Base Defence Organisation Major-General C.E. Weston

15th Coastal Defence Regiment RA
Royal Marine Battalion
1st Ranger Battalion (9th Battalion KRRC)
Northumberland Hussars
106th Royal Horse Artillery
16th Australian Brigade Composite Battalion
17th Australian Brigade Composite Battalion
1st Royal Perivolian Composite Battalion
2nd Greek Regiment

HQ Fliegerkorps XI Major-General K. Student

GGzbV 1,2 and 3 (Ju-52)
22nd Air Assault Division (deployed in Romania)

HQ 7th Flieger Division Lieutenant-General W. Sussman

(7th) Engineer, Artillery, Machine Gun, Anti-Tank, AA and Medical battalions

1st Parachute Regiment Major B. Brauer;

1st Battalion Walther
2nd Battalion Burkhardt
3rd Battalion Schulz

2nd Parachute Regiment Major A. Sturm:

1st Battalion Kroh
2nd Battalion Schirmer
3rd Battalion Weidermann

3rd Parachute Regiment Major R. Heidrich:

1st Battalion Heydte
2nd Battalion Derpa
3rd Battalion Heilmann

HQ Air Assault Regiment Major-General E. Meindl

1st Battalion Koch
2nd Battalion Stenzler
3rd Battalion Scherber
4th Battalion Gericke

HQ 5th Mountain Division Major-General J. Ringel

(95th) Artillery, Anti-Tank, Reconnaissance, Engineer and Signals Battalions

85th Mountain Regiment Krakau:

1st Battalion
2nd Battalion
3rd Battalion

100th Mountain Regiment Utz:

1st Battalion
2nd Battalion
3rd Battalion

141st Mountain Regiment Jais:

1st Battalion
2nd Battalion
3rd Battalion

[Freyberg] had known nothing of Ultra until Wavell appointed him to command in Crete and so he was quite without experience in interpreting it. Yet almost at once he was compelled by events to make operational decisions in the light of it, without the benefit of a second opinion or any advice whatever [Group Captain Beamish, the Ultra intermediary on Crete, was not in the chain of command]. [Moreover] in the whole course of history no island had ever been captured except from the sea [authors italics] the only evidence that the new airborne arm could overpower ground defences consisted of [the evidence from Eben Emael and associated minor operations]. The first parachute battalions in the British army would not be formed for another six months. Finally the fact that the Royal Navys command of the Mediterranean was being seriously challenged for the first time since Nelsons victory over the French in Aboukir Bay in 1798 was in itself enough to reinforce fears of attack by the traditional means... In spite of Ultra [Freybergs] apprehension of danger from the sea can only be faulted by an abuse of hindsight.

Ultra, Britains best kept secret in 1941, was born of Enigma and this was the brainchild of a German inventor Arthur Scherbius whose objective had been to design a machine that could both encipher and decipher automatically. The concept was not a novel one, the machines all worked on a rotating disc principle and Scherbius was not the first to attempt a mass produced version.