GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

9th anniversary of Battle of Crete.
Simplified map of Crete.
Flags of Greece, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and King George II.
Stamp issued on 29.04.1950.
Face value: 1000 Greec drachma.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 4,800,000 copies.

Catalogues
- Karamitsos No. 706.
- Michel No. 576.
- Scott No. 523.
- StampWorld No. 558.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 686.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 570.

During World War II, after the Italian attack on Greece (October 28, 1940), Crete was occupied by allied troops in support of the Greeks to avoid the occupation of the island. However, on April 27, 1941, Adolf Hitler ordered the invasion of Crete through an operation carried out by airborne troops, in which 700 transport planes and 750 gliders participated, in addition to 4,500 paratroopers that took less than two weeks to occupy it. The Allies, with troops from Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand in support of the Greeks, and with massive participation of Cretan civilians, faced the Axis forces unsuccessfully in a bloody battle that lasted from May 20 to June 1. Hitler's strategic victory allowed the occupation of the island, which remained in the hands of the Germans until their garrison capitulated in May 1945.