Weaknesses in Defence

The defence forces included British Commonwealth troops (approximately 30 000 men), a few Greek army units consisting mainly of new recruits (approximately 11 000 men) and the local police force. For all their number, their defence capabilities were limited. The island had not been organized for defence, artillery was inadequate, communications poor in the extreme and means of transport thin on the ground. Although the British leadership knew that the Germans had set their sights on taking the airfields, the runways were neither destroyed nor even mined.

But it was in the air that defence was most dramatically inferior. There were no aircraft to speak of to defend the island, while those few that could be used from airstrips in Egypt and the Middle East were deployed to support the British fleet.