Wednesday, February 27, 2013 Retimo and Heraklion on the first
day or so The attacks on Retimo and Keraklon (on Crete) came
later in the day on 20 May 1941. At Retimo, the attackers were
paratroops. They were countered and most were beaten, but one
group held a ridge that commanded the airfield from the
southeast. In the vicinity of Heraklion, paratroops that landed
in the defended areas were beaten, although there were snipers
still at work by the end of the day. The town of Heraklion was
being disputed by the end of the day. There was fighting in
progress there between the attackers and defenders. The quality
of communications was so poor, that General Freyberg was
uninformed about the status at Retimo and Heraklion. The General
reported to his superiors that he thought that Retimo and
Heraklion were still in British hands. This is based on the
account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.