London, May 25, Driven from Crete by the overwhelming German Stuka "dive-bomber" attacks which made their aerodromes untenable, the Middle East Royal Air Force yesterday gave tremendous support to Imperial: land forces fighting against the invasion of Crete. Operating from bases in Egypt the RAF. furiously carried out a series of raids on Maleme, the lone but serious German foothold in Crete, according to official quarters.
In addition to the havoc caused among troops carriers on the aerodrome and the nearby beach—constituting the main concentration point for the German invasion forces—the RAF. must have seriously damaged the landing surface of the Maleme aerodrome. According to reports, this surface was just being repaired from effects of the Germans' own attacks which preceded landing of the air-borne troops.
Airfield Inadequate The fact that the German forces are now using Maleme beach was taken as an indication that the aerodrome, either because of its size or because of previous damage, was totally inadequate for the high-speed Nazi reinforcement necessary to beat off the Anglo-Greek counter-attacks and maintain the German aerial 74 bridgehead.
With the Battle of Crete, constitute ing the first German stepping-stone toward Syria and the Middle Fast. now in its fifth day there were no signs of slackening German pressure.
Many quarters thought that this week-end would bring the decisive phase of the battle. either demonstrating the impossibility of overwhelming the defenders from the air or the inevitability of the Germans finally being able to expand their forces on the island until sufficient strength has been gained to begin a real land campaign.—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.