Cretan Division

5th Airmobile Brigade "5th Cretan Division" 5η Αερομεταφερόμενη Ταξιαρχία Πεζικού "V Μεραρχία Κρητών"
Emblem of the brigade
Active	1912–1941, 1951–today
Country	Greece
Branch	Hellenic Army
Type	Air Assault
Role	Rapid reaction
Size	1 Battalion
Part of	ASDEN
Garrison/HQ	Chania, Crete
Motto(s)	Επικρατέειν ή Απόλλυσθαι Epikratein i Apolysthe Prevail or be Destroyed
Engagements	First Balkan War, Second Balkan War, World War I, Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), Greco-Italian War

The 5th Airmobile Brigade "5th Cretan Division" (Greek: 5η Αερομεταφερόμενη Ταξιαρχία Πεζικού «V Μεραρχία Κρητών»), formerly the 5th Infantry Division (V Μεραρχία Πεζικού) and commonly referred to simply as the Cretan Division (Μεραρχία Κρητών), is an air assault brigade of the Hellenic Army responsible for the defense of the southern Aegean sea.

The 5th Division was first formed in September 1912 at Farsala, on the eve of the First Balkan War, following the mobilization of Greece and the other Balkan League states. Its first commander was Colonel Dimitrios Matthaiopoulos, and it comprised the 16th, 22nd and 23rd Infantry Regiments, the 3rd Squadron of the 1st Field Artillery Regiment and the 2nd Mountain Artillery Squadron.

The division fought in the First and Second Balkan War, and was retained on the Army's order of battle afterwards. It was relocated to Kilkis in August 1913 and from December 1913 in Drama in Macedonia, and subordinated to the newly formed IV Army Corps. It comprised the 22nd and 23rd Infantry Regiments and the 3/37 Cretan Regiment. As Greece remained neutral initially during World War I, the division remained at Drama. On 12 September 1916, along with the rest of IV Corps – at the time demobilized to a skeleton force of ca. 7,000 men – it surrendered to the Germans during the German-Bulgarian occupation of eastern Macedonia. For the remainder of the war, the 5th Division was interned at Görlitz in Germany, and was disbanded upon the war's end.

Soon after, the outbreak of a Venizelist revolt in Thessaloniki resulted in the formation of a "Provisional Government of National Defence", which entered World War I on the side of the Allies. The new government quickly extended its authority across northern Greece and the Aegean Islands, including Crete. There, from October 1916 until April 1917 a new Cretan Division, based at Chania, was formed. The division participated in the Macedonian Front operations in 1917–1918, and subsequently in the Asia Minor Campaign, during which it was distinguished in the Battle of Sakarya. In early 1921, following the anti-Venizelist victory in the November 1920 elections, the division was renamed to 5th Infantry Division in order to purge the Venizelist-associated name.