A Near-Run Affair: New Zealanders in the Battle for Crete, 1941

Matthew Wright draws on a wide range of archival sources to refute the criticism that both the New Zealand soldiers and the island commander, Major General Bernard Freyberg, fell short of the mark during the battle for Crete, resulting in the German victory. He argues that the battle was unwinnable and that the fact that the British came so close to successfully holding the island can be largely credited to Freyberg's abilities as a commander, and to the quality of the men he led.