Before dawn, a force of...

history · 30 May 1941 · 83 years ago

Before dawn, a force of British cruiser and destroyers embarked 6,029 troops and departed Sphakia, Crete, Greece for Egypt. En route, they were attacked by Axis aircraft; a bomb hit on cruiser HMS Perth killed 13, but RAF fighter escorts prevented Axis aircraft from dealing the kind of damage they did on the previous day against a different evacuation convoy. Destroyer HMS Kelvin, sailing north from Egypt, was damaged by a bomb en route, killing 1. On land, German aircraft strafed evacuation beaches at and near Sphakia. 

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