The Battle of Crete began on 20 May 1941, with the airborne invasion of the island of Crete by German forces. Greek and Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. Only a few weeks before the invasion, New Zealand officer Major General Bernard Freyberg VC has been appointed commander of the Allied forces on Crete.

After one day of fighting, the Germans had suffered very heavy casualties and the Allied troops were confident that they would prevail against the German invasion. The next day, through miscommunication and the failure of Allied commanders to grasp the situation, Maleme airfield in western Crete fell to the Germans, enabling them to fly in reinforcements and overwhelm the defenders. The battle lasted about 10 days. The Battle of Crete was unprecedented in three respects: it was not only the first battle where German paratroops were used on a massive scale, but also the first mainly airborne invasion in military history, the first time the Allies made significant use of intelligence from the deciphered German Enigma code, and the first time invading German troops encountered mass resistance from a civilian population. Because of the heavy casualties suffered by the paratroopers, Adolf Hitler forbade further large-scale airborne operations. However, the Allies were impressed by the potential of paratroopers and started to build their own airborne formations.

This painting by war artist Peter McIntyre depicts the airborne attack by German forces at Canea, one of the major cities of Crete. During the War, McIntyre was appointed New Zealand’s official war artist, and he covered the campaigns in Greece, Crete, the Western Desert, Tripolitani, Tunisia and Italy. McIntyre's work during this time comprises part of the National Collection of War Art, which is under the care of Archives NZ. This collection is composed of about 1,500 artworks, and includes portraits, battle scenes, landscapes and abstracts, depicting those who served New Zealand in times of war, and the arenas in which they served. It includes both official pieces of war art, by artists formally commissioned by the New Zealand government, and other unofficial art works that were acquired by or donated to the collection.

Archives reference: AAAC 898 91 / NCWA 338 This painting, as well as other items from the Archives New Zealand War Art Collection, can be viewed online at the following link - warart.archives.govt.nz/ For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter twitter.com/ArchivesNZ