Kidnapping of Heinrich Kreipe
| Kidnap of General Kreipe | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres of World War II | |||||||
 Crete the largest Greek island highlighted in blue | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom Greece |
 Nazi Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Patrick Leigh Fermor |
Heinrich Kreipe | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
4 Special Operations Executive agents Cretan resistance |
22nd Airlanding Division 164th Infantry Division | ||||||
The Kidnap of General Kreipe was a Second World War operation by the Special Operations Executive, an organisation of the United Kingdom. The mission took place on the German occupied island of Crete in May 1944.
The German military governor in Crete, Heinrich Kreipe, had just taken over command from Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, who had a reputation for brutality towards the Cretan people. The SOE team of Major Patrick Leigh Fermor and Captain William Stanley Moss had planned to abduct Müller, but when he was replaced, proceeded with their plans and targeted Kreipe instead. After the successful abduction they evaded the German troops searching for them and reached the coast, where they were picked up by the Royal Navy and taken to Egypt.
Background
The British Army and allied forces from various countries of the British Commonwealth had been driven out of Crete after the Battle of Crete in May 1941. Following the evacuation of the surviving British forces, the Special Operations Executive landed agents on the island to assist and advise the Cretan resistance movements. They had a number of objectives including liaison, intelligence gathering, preparing the local resistance and assisting escapers and evaders to leave the island.
Major Patrick Leigh Fermor and Captain William Stanley Moss hatched the plan in Cairo for the abduction of General Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, the military governor in Crete and commander of the 22nd Airlanding Division Müller had a reputation for brutality and was despised by the Cretan people, and the Special Operations Executive planned to kidnap him and transport him to Egypt.[1]
Mission
On 4 February 1944, Major Patrick Leigh Fermor and Captain William Stanley Moss and two Cretan SOE agents left Egypt by plane for Crete. Their intention was to parachute into Crete but after arriving at the drop zone, only Leigh Fermor was able to parachute successfully. The others had to abandon the attempt due to bad weather and were returned to Egypt. On landing Leigh Fermor was met by group from the Cretan resistance, who he remained with until the arrival of the rest of the SOE team. Moss and the other two tried three more times by aircraft to land and eventually, after two months of attempts they arrived by fishing trawler on 4 April 1944. They were met on the beach by Leigh Fermor and another SOE agent, Sandy Rendel.[2]
Their target General Muller was replaced by General Kriepe just before they arrived by sea. They decided, nevertheless, to go ahead with their plan with General Kreipe now their target.[3]
The SOE team now included a number of Cretans; 'Anthony' (Antonis Papaleonidas), 'Micky' (Michalis Akoumianikas) and Gregory Chnarakis. Micky was especially welcome as his house was across the road from Kreipe's residence, the Villa Ariadne, in the village of Knossos.[3] The team reconnoitred the area and planned the abduction. Leigh Fermor dressed as a Cretan shepherd, and travelled on the local bus to check Knossos and the area around the German headquarters. From his reconnaissance Leigh Fermor decided that the German headquarters would be to difficult to penetrate. After a few days of alternately observing the comings and going of the General, they finalized the details of the abduction. The plan was for the two British officers, dressed as corporals in the Feldgendarmerie (German military police), to stop the general's car on his way home at what was supposed to be a routine check point.[4]
The two British officers stopped the General's car before the Villa Ariadne. When the car stopped, Fermor took care of Kreipe and Moss the driver. Moss drove the team and the General in the General's car for an hour and a half through 22 controlled road blocks in Heraklion before leaving Leigh Fermor to go on and abandon the car. When he left the car, he also left documents, revealing that the kidnapping had been done by British Commandos and no reprisals should be taken against the local population. Leigh Femor set off with the General and his Cretan escorts set off across country, to a rendezvous where they would be joined by Moss. Hunted by German patrols, the group moved across the mountains to reach the southern side of the island, where a British Motor Launch was to pick them up. The SOE team and the general were finally picked up from a beach near Rodakino on the southern side of the island on 14 May 1944. They were transported to safety, landing at Mersa Matruh in Egypt.[5]
Aftermath
Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, returned to Crete, with strategic reasons to seek to spread terror across Crete in order to assist the German planned evacuation from much of the island to Chania.[6] The resistance had been heavily active for many years. Müller was responsible for many of the atrocities committed on the island such as the destruction of Anogia and the Kedros villages of the Amari and the execution of civilians in Damasta. At the end of the war, the Germans insisted they would only surrender to the British, fearing how they would be treated by the Cretans.[7] General Müller was put on trial in Athens. He was tried by a Greek military court and sentenced to death on 9 December 1946. The sentence was carried out on 20 May 1947 when he was shot.[8]
For their part in the successful kidnapping Major Patrick Leigh Fermor was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, and Captain William Stanley Moss the Military Cross, "For [their] outstanding display of courage and audacity",[9][10] the awards were gazetted on 13 July 1944.[11]
In 1957, the events of the abduction were made into the film Ill Met by Moonlight.[12] The film, which stars Dirk Bogarde and Marius Goring, is based on the 1952 book Ill Met by Moonlight: The Abduction of General Kreipe by W. Stanley Moss.[13]
Notes
- ^ Kiriakopoulos, pp.158–159
- ^ Kiriakopoulos, p.158
- ^ a b Kiriakopoulos, p.159
- ^ Kiriakopoulos, p.160
- ^ "Heinrich Kreipe: Abduction By Greek And British Agents". Serving History. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ^ "Psychoundakis, George. The Cretan Runner:His Story of the German Occupation, John Murray Ltd, 1955. The Folio Society, 2009 .p178".
- ^ Kyriakopoulos, p.32
- ^ "Generals and senior officers". United Nation War Crimes Commission. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ^ "Recommendations for honours and awards (Army)—Leigh-Fermor, Patrick Michael" (fee usually required to download pdf of original recommendation). DocumentsOnline. The National Archives. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "Recommendations for honours and awards (Army)—Moss, Ivan William Stanley" (fee usually required to download pdf of original recommendation). DocumentsOnline. The National Archives. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "No. 36605". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 July 1944.
- ^ "Ill Met by Moonlight". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ^ "Ill Met by Moonlight: The Abduction of General Kreipe". Amazon. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
References
- Kiriakopoulos, G C (1995). The Nazi occupation of Crete, 1941-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0275952770.
- Kyriakopoulos, Victoria (2005). Crete. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1741040396.
