Operation Albumen

Operation Albumen
Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean, in the Mediterranean and Middle East theater of the Second World War
Aircraft being repaired in Maleme, August 1941
Location	Crete, Greece
Objective	Commando raids on German airfields in the Axis-occupied Greek island of Crete
Date	7/8 June 1942 4/5 July 1943
Executed by	United Kingdom,  Greece,  Free French
Outcome	Up to 45 planes destroyed 29 planes damaged 200 tons of aviation fuel destroyed 12+ citizens executed
Casualties	12 German soldiers Pierre Léostic † killed

Operation Albumen was the name given to British Commando raids in June 1942 on German airfields in the Axis-occupied Greek island of Crete, to prevent them from being used in support of the Afrika Korps in the Western Desert Campaign in the Second World War. These operations were carried out in tandem with similar raids against Axis airfields at Benghazi, Derna and Barce in Libya and were among the very first planned sabotage acts in occupied Europe.

During the late spring of 1942, the airfields of Crete gained increased strategic importance by becoming the main transit base for Luftwaffe to supply logistic support to Rommel's Afrika Korps in their advance on the Nile Delta. Furthermore, Luftwaffe aircraft based on Crete operated photo-reconnaissance, bombing and convoy attack missions covering the south-east Mediterranean region. Aiming to disrupt these operations, British generals in Cairo sent three groups from the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) and one from Stirling's Special Air Service (SAS) to Crete to sabotage the airfields of Heraklion, Kastelli Pediados, Tympaki and Maleme.

Aircraft types operating from Crete at the time included the Ju 52 and Me 323 for transport, the Ju 88 and Ju 86 for bombing and photo-reconnaissance and the Bf 109 as a fighter.