Commemorative services, speeches and the laying of wreaths are among the events included in the programme announced by the Cretan Regional Authority for the 82nd anniversary of the Battle of Crete. The detailed programme, announced on 14th May, is as follows:
Monday 22nd May
– 11:00 Ceremony at the Monument to the Fallen, Gouverneto Monastery on Akrotiri. Greeting by the mayor of Chania Panagiotis Simandirakis and speech on the events in the area by the president of the Association for the Preservation of Monuments of the Battle of Crete and the Resistance, Giannis Thymianos. Organiser: Municipality of Chania.
Tuesday 23rd May
– 11.30 Ceremony at the Battle of Crete monument in Hora Sfakion, Municipality of Sfakia. Greeting by the mayor Manousos Chiotakis and speech on the events in the area by collector and researcher Stelios Τripalitakis. Organiser: Municipality of Sfakia.
– 19:30 Ceremony at the Monument to the Fallen, Kallergiana crossroads, Municipality of Kissamos. Greeting by the mayor Giorgos Mylonakis and speech on the events in the area by architectural engineer Nektaria Lainaki. Organiser: Municipality of Kissamos.
Wednesday 24th May
– 11:00 Ceremony at the War Memorial, Floria, Municipality of Kantanos-Selino. Greetings from the mayor Antonis Perrakis and the president of the Cultural and Educational Association of Floria Giannis Skalidakis. Organisers: Municipality of Kantanos-Selino and Floria Cultural and Educational Association.
– 19:00 Ceremony at the Agia Sofia Charitable Foundation, Agioi Pantes, Municipality of Apokoronas. Memorial ceremony for the battles at Stylos and Babalis (28th May 1941). Greetings from the president of the Agia Sofia Charitable Foundation Metropolitan Damaskinos of Kydonias and Apokoronas, the mayor Haralambos Koukianakis, adviser to the Regional Governor of Crete Dimitris Michelogiannis and president of the Regional Press Institute Ioannis Garedakis. Speech on the events on the area by lawyer Giannis Dermanakis. Traditional snacks. Organisers: Municipality of Apokoronas, Agia Sofia Charitable Foundation, Regional Press Institute.
Thursday 25th May
– 11:00 Ceremony at the Cadets’ Monument, Kolymbari. Greeting from the mayor of Platanias Ioannis Malandrakis and speech by the head of the 5th “Cretans” Airborne Division, Brigadier General Michail Ploumis. Organisers: 5th Airborne Division, Municipality of Platanias.
– 18.30 Ceremony at the Memorial to the Fallen, Nea Chora Harbour. Greeting from the mayor Panagiotis Simandirakis and speech on the events in the area by the head of the 6th Primary School, Smaragdi Katzouraki. Organiser: Municipality of Chania.
Friday 26th May
-11:00 Ceremony at the Firka Fortress. Ceremonial raising of Flags, National Anthem. Organisers: Regional Unit of Chania, Municipality of Chania.
Visit to the Naval Museum of Crete. Presentation of new exhibits from the Battle of Crete. Organiser: Naval Museum, of Crete.
– 13:30 Ceremony at 42nd Street, Trikalaria, at the memorial for the Australian and New Zealand Expeditionary Force (ANZACs) in memory of 27th May 1941. Greetings from the mayor Panagiotis Simandirakis and representatives of the Australian and New Zealand authorities. Organisers: Municipality of Chania with the participation of the Trikalaria Cultural Association, Australian ANZAC Monument Committee.
– 18:30 Ceremony at the Greek-New Zealanders’ Memorial, Galatas. Greetings from the mayor Panagiotis Simandirakis and representatives of the New Zealand Authorities. Organiser: Municipality of Chania.
The Alikianos War Memorial records the mass execution by firing squad of mostly male civilians from Alikianos and nearby villages by German paratroopers on 24th May, 2nd June and 1st August 1941.
Saturday 27th May
– 11:00 Ceremonies at the Keritis War Memorial, Alikianos. Greeting from the mayor Giannis Malandrakis and speech on the events of the events in the area by the historian Dr Giorgos Limantzakis. Organiser: Municipality of Platanias.
– 18:30 Ceremony at the Allied War Cemetery, Souda. Organiser, the British Embassy, Athens.
Sunday 28th May
– 11:00 Holy Metropolitan Church of Chania, Official Doxology officiated by Metropolitan Damaskinos of Kydonias and Apokoronas. Organisers: Metropolitan See of Kydonias and Apokoronas, Regional Unit of Chania, Municipality of Chania.
– 11:30 The Old Harbour, Chania, parade of Flag-bearers of the Traditional Associations of Chania, starting from Talos Square [behind the Firka Fortress] and ending at the Neorio Moro [Chania Sailing Club]. Organisers: Municipality of Chania, KEPPEDICH-KAM.
– 12:00 Memorial to the Victims of the Tanais, Koum Kapi, Chania. Annual Memorial Service for all the victims of the sinking of the ship Tanais [in June 1944]. Memorial prayers by the Rabbi of Athens Gabriel Negrin, Damaskinos Metropolitan of Kydonias and Apokoronas, and the vicar of the Catholic Church of Chania Father Lucas Romani. Greetings from local authority representatives, the president of the Central Jewish Council of Greece David Saltiel, and the president of the board of the Etz Hayyim civic non-profit organisation Vasiliki Giakoumaki. Memorial service at the Etz Hayyim Synagogue, Chania. Organisers: Etz Hayyim Synagogue, Central Jewish Council of Greece.
-13:30 Ceremony at the German War Cemetery, Maleme. Organiser: Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Athens.
-18:30 Closing ceremony at Battle of Crete Memorial, Maleme Aerodrome. Greetings from the Deputy Regional Governor Nikos Kalogeris and the mayor of Chania Panagiotis Simandirakis. Speech by the Mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis. Greeting from Government Representative.
Parachute jumps by the 1st Parachutists’ Wing. Air display by F16 aircraft of the 115 Combat Wing. Organisers: Regional Unit of Chania, Municipality of Platanias, Municipality of Chania, 5th Airborne Division, 115 Combat Wing, 1st Parachutists’ Wing.
The Military Cadets in the Battle of Crete
In April 1941, the 300 cadets representing the youngest intake into the Military Cadets’ School in Athens rejected a proposal that they should help to police the city, keeping order after the agreed incursion of the German army. Instead, ignoring the remonstrations of their superiors, they commandeered motor transport and made their way down through the Peloponnese, found two ships to take them south from Gytheio and on 29th April arrived in Kolymbari, where they camped in the grounds of the Gonia Monastery. There, their training was continued with the aim of their acting as officers in the the locally formed Army units against the anticipated German invasion.
The arrival of the German paratroopers on 20th May forestalled this plan and it was decided that they would fight as a single unit, which they did heroically, their flag flying from the tower of the Gonia Monastery. By the end of the first day they had lost five men and on 22nd May with their ammunition running low and much of their weaponry useless, they escaped through the German lines, heading for the South coast in the hope of being evacuated to Egypt. However, when they were 25 km from the village of Sfakia, their commander informed that that on the orders of the government the Cadets’ School, and with it their unit, were disbanded and there would be no transport for them to Africa.
The cadets then dispersed. A hundred of them were taken prisoner by the Germans, some 15 managed to reach Egypt to fight in North Africa, while the remainder, helped by the local population, managed to return to the mainland to continue the resistance against the Germans.
The Cadets’ Monument, situated in a peaceful spot on a hill overlooking the sea, above the road from Kolymbari to Afrata, commemorates their heroism and records the names of nine of their members who died in the Battle of Crete. A memorial service will be held there on Thursday 25th May.
(For a fuller account, see Stratistoria.wordpress.com)