{"podcast":{"title":"History of the Second World War","slug":"history-of-the-second-world-war-121541","podcast_index_feed_id":121541,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/ADV9720598643","website_url":"historyofthesecondworldwar.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/21bf4060-5dd8-11ec-9e7b-cf638f607a7e/image/a0bffe858b2be3f366512de624384db7.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Wesley Livesay","episode_count":358,"summary":"History of the Second World War is a weekly podcast which will cover World War 2, beginning with the tumultuous years after the First World War, continuing into the descent into war during the 1930s, through the war years, and then into the post war aftermath.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T14:21:21.272414+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-of-the-second-world-war-121541"},"episode":{"title":"258: Crete Pt. 3 - May 20th a Day of Failures","slug":"258-crete-pt-3-may-20th-a-day-of-failures","published_at":"2026-05-20T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-of-the-second-world-war-121541/258-crete-pt-3-may-20th-a-day-of-failures","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-of-the-second-world-war-121541","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/op3.dev/e/rss.pdrl.fm/45c474/tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML1951859139.mp3","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/op3.dev/e/rss.pdrl.fm/45c474/tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML1951859139.mp3","summary":"The first day of the German airborne invasion of Crete, May 20th, 1941, saw paratroopers drop not only around the critical airfield at Maleme but across three other sectors of the island. Near Chania, German forces landing in Prison Valley were held in check by New Zealand and Greek troops under Colonel Kippenberger, while the poorly armed 8th Greek Regiment stopped their attackers and then re-equipped itself with captured German weapons. The people of Crete themselves joined the resistance from the opening hours, with priests and civilians taking up arms in a fierce defense that shattered German assumptions that the islanders would welcome their arrival. In the afternoon a second wave of drops struck Rethymno and Heraklion, where the delays caused by aircraft damage and dust on the airfields spread the descending paratroopers out over a long window, making them easy targets for Allied gunners and leaving the survivors scattered and disorganized. At Rethymno, Australian commander Lieutenant Colonel Ian Campbell responded with quick, decisive counterattacks that became a model of how to meet an airborne assault, capturing the commander of the German 2nd Parachute Rifle Regiment along with his full operational orders. At Heraklion the Germans fared no better, achieving none of their objectives. As night fell on May 20th, General Student faced the unsettling reality that across every landing zone his forces had been checked, and he was forced to make a fateful decision about whether to double down or abandon the entire operation. History of the Second World War is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.f⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠m Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"The first day of the German airborne invasion of Crete, May 20th, 1941, saw paratroopers drop not only around the critical airfield at Maleme but across t…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1690,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/history-of-the-second-world-war-121541/episodes/258-crete-pt-3-may-20th-a-day-of-failures/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-of-the-second-world-war-121541/258-crete-pt-3-may-20th-a-day-of-failures.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}