Editing Battle of Crete (section)

====Greek====
Greek troops were armed with ''[[Mannlicher–Schönauer]]'' [[6.5×54mm Mannlicher–Schönauer|6.5&nbsp;mm]] mountain carbines or ex-Austrian 8x56R ''[[Steyr-Mannlicher M1895]]'' rifles, the latter a part of post-[[World War I reparations]]; about 1,000 Greeks carried antique ''[[Fusil Gras mle 1874]]'' rifles. The garrison had been stripped of its best [[crew-served weapon]]s, which were sent to the mainland; there were twelve obsolescent ''[[St. Étienne Mle 1907]]'' light machine-guns and forty miscellaneous LMGs. Many Greek soldiers had fewer than thirty rounds of ammunition but could not be supplied by the British, who had no stocks in the correct calibres. Those with insufficient ammunition were posted to the eastern sector of Crete, where the Germans were not expected in force. The 8th Greek Regiment was under strength and many soldiers were poorly trained and poorly equipped. The unit was attached to [[10th Infantry Brigade (New Zealand)|10th New Zealand Infantry Brigade]] ([[Brigadier]] [[Howard Kippenberger]]), who placed it in a defensive position around the village of [[Alikianos]] where, with local civilian volunteers, they held out against the German 7th Engineer Battalion.

Though Kippenberger had referred to them as "...nothing more than malaria-ridden little chaps...with only four weeks of service," the Greek troops repulsed German attacks until they ran out of ammunition, whereupon they began charging with fixed bayonets, overrunning German positions and capturing rifles and ammunition. The engineers had to be reinforced by two battalions of German paratroops, yet the 8th Regiment held on until 27 May, when the Germans made a [[combined arms]] assault by Luftwaffe aircraft and mountain troops. The Greek stand helped to protect the retreat of the Commonwealth forces, who were evacuated at [[Sfakia]]. Beevor and McDougal Stewart write that the defence of Alikianos gained at least 24 more hours for the completion of the final leg of the evacuation behind [[Layforce]]. The troops who were protected as they withdrew had begun the battle with more and better equipment than the 8th Greek Regiment.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}