Tuesday 10 April 2012

Hill 107 overlooking Maleme Airfield, Crete

After our Danish guests in August 2011 taunted us with tales of sipping beers on Hill 107, we just had to go.  Visiting the site which is the location of the main German cemetery on the island, you really get a good idea of the terrain.  Given that its probably a lot more cared for than it was 70 years ago and there are less trees, you still get the distinct impression that it was a dangerous place to fight.
What also struck us was how close the airfield was to the sea, literally alongside the beach.  You can also see the Tavronitis Bridge from the hill, although the main bridge used today is not the one that was there in the Second World War.
The little museum/taverna on the site is well kept with some interesting bits and pieces.  A lot of the bits of Ju52 have been salvaged from the local area and quite a few from the airfield itself. Pride of place is a Bofors gun too.










If you're flying into the island using Chania airport, Maleme and Hill 107 is about twenty minutes away to the west.  From Heraklion it is about 2 hours along the coast road.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing these pics, Jon; very interesting to see how the place looks "today".

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  2. I was fascinated by the site. I'd like to take some of the battlefield at Heraklion, but there are ancient Greek airforce jets there and I suspect I may find myself banged up as a Turkish spy!

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