| Battle of Maleme | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Battle of Crete | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Greece United Kingdom New Zealand |
 Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie Andrew |
Generalmajor Eugen Meindl | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~ (21st, 22nd, 23rd Battalion New Zealand Infantry; 30Sqn & 33Sqn Royal Air Force groundcrew; Cretan Villagers with improvised peasant weapons & gendarmerie) | ~ (one parachute infantry regiment & 100th Mountain Regiment appearing after control of airport) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Maleme was one of three main battles that occurred in the Battle of Crete against the Fallschirmjäger, in the Nazi German Mediterranean campaign in 1941. The overall plan was to conquer Crete as part of Operation Merkur, with German Paratroopers landing in three main areas, Heraklion, Maleme and Rethymno. The operation relied on German airborne troops, both paratroopers and in military gliders. Due to a mistake, and despite being in a superior position, New Zealand troops abandoned a strategic hill (see below), leaving it to the Germans, and then lost the airport. The airport was then used by the Germans to transport in more troops which saw the whole island lost to the Germans.
