Never-Never Land under Attack: Axis War Damage to Cretan Antiquities

Driessen, Jan [UCL]

the Germans in control of the provinces of Heraklion, Rethymnon and Khania, and the Italians until September 1943, of the eastern province of the island, Lasithi. The intention to turn Crete into a fortress against Allied operations and potential invasion brought along a frenzy of constructing military installations that often affected known and then-unknown archaeological sites. This paper presents a first step in a larger warchaeology of Crete using published war damage reports and first-hand information. It also pays some attention to illegal excavations carried out by the occupiers.