Editing Battle of Crete (section)

===Evacuation, 28 May – 1 June===
[[File:Pictures For Illustrating Ritchie Ii Book. November and December 1942, Alexandria, Pictures of Paintings by Lieutenant Commander R Langmaid, Rn, Official Fleet Artist. These Pictures Are For Illustrating a Nava A13643.jpg|thumb|Painting of Rear Admiral Rawling's force under attack on 28 May]]
From 28 May – 1 June, troops were embarked for Egypt, most being lifted from Sfakia on the south coast. More than 4,000 troops were rescued from Heraklion on the night of 28/29 May but that naval force was attacked for hours by Luftwaffe dive bombers on the voyage back, suffering ships sunk and damaged with numerous casualties among naval personnel and troops. About 6,000 men were withdrawn by cruisers and destroyers from Sfakia on the night of 29 May. Two destroyers carried another 1,400 soldiers away on the night of the 30/31st. During the night of 31 May, Cunningham sent the cruiser ''Phoebe'' with four smaller vessels to transport more than 3,500 troops to Alexandria.<ref>Ian Stewart The Struggle for Crete 1966, pp. 457-472</ref> About 18,600 men of the 32,000 British troops on the island were evacuated; 12,000 British and Dominion troops and thousands of Greeks were still on Crete when the island came under German control on 1 June.{{sfn|Roskill|1957|pp=444–446}}