WI Germans used Crete as a base to attack Egypt & Cyprus?

In 2 June 1941 Germans completed the capture of Crete with heavy casualties though...
With Rommel advancing toward Egypt fast WI they used Crete as a base to launch a seaborn/airborn attack to Egypt and completely cut off British forces? Is this possible? Could this happen the same time as "Barbarossa Operation"?
How is a twofold attack on British in Africa alters History?
 

Orry

Donor
Monthly Donor
If they were not prepared to / could not launch a naval/air attack on Malta they are unlikely to be able to do so further away from their main naval bases (ie Italy)
 
Don_Giorgio said:
Could this happen the same time as "Barbarossa Operation"?

Well, of course it could, but any extra troops and weaponry going into the med will have to come from reserves meant for Barbarossa. (OTL some german planes did lay some mines in the Suez Channel, but that didn't block it for long)

And even if the Kriegsmarine ain't that much needed in an invasion of Russia ;) one has to remember that they'd have to get them into the med first. OTL they did this already with submarines, and even for them the straits of Gibraltar were quite a challenge. Now imagine this for surface vessels...

and completely cut off British forces?

They'd have to control or at least disrupt the Sinai and the Red Sea for that. Probably, if the italian east african forces perform miraculously better than OTL they might be able to pull that off. But we're talking major butterflies here.
 
Not possible, they lack the maritime assets to transport and protect their forces and their air assets won't have the range to support such an attack
 
If the Germans had a surface navy worth the name, or could even make good use out of Italy's Navy, then perhaps. But the British are good at dominating the seas.
 

Graehame

Banned
Invasion of Egypt

Actually in Apr '41 & Jan '42 there were detailed plans to invade Malta, which in '42 would have involved the German 7th Flieger & 5th Gebirgs Divs (from Crete), the Italian Folgore parachute & La Spezia airlanding divs (from Sicily), & 70,000 additional troops. This would have ended the disruption to Rommel's supply lines, it would have enabled the Germans to put a 3d panzer div & a 2d motorized div in N Africa, & it would have gotten him to the Suez before the Torch invasion. This made it a better option than your direct invasion of Egypt. Both of the Malta invasions were derailed by Rommel's disobedience of orders, pressing offensives when he was told to stand fast.
The beauty of the Malta plan was that it was an island, relatively isolated from immediate Brit reinforcement. Your invasion of Egypt, on the other hand, would put German (& possibly Italian) airborne forces in the middle of a Brit theatre of war, caught between Brit forces in the Middle East & those in N Africa. Yes, existing transport planes could range Egypt from bases in Crete, but that's only part of the equation. It's too far for them to deliver resupply within a single day (unlike Malta), so Axis forces would be on the ground for 24 hours or longer with just the ammo they'd jumped with. Also, the Brit fleet at Alexandria would interdict naval transport, so you'd have no ground reinforcements, no naval gunfire support, & no naval resupply. The Axis had just 4 divs, identified above, that were capable of such an op-- all infantry-- & they'd be facing strong Brit armoured units. In short, they'd last about a week. Maybe not that long.
Of course, expending all 4 Axis airborne units might be acceptable in a "Market Garden"-type operation where DAK would press an offensive at the same time, intending to link up with the airborne guys. The only time this would have been feasible was during the El Alamein op, but during 1st Alamein it wouldn't have been possible to plan because no one knew when Rommel would reach El Alamein, & after that it would have been impossible to execute because of the immense strength of the Brit 8th Army, & also because Rommel was out of gas, & almost out of panzers.
 
How about Hitler not frustrated by the heavy casualties of his paratroopers in Crete and orders a paradrop assault in the heart of Egypt? Its a long shot but if Germans manage to capture coastal Egypt British fleet would have lost its bases in Eastern Mediterannean thus leaving only Malta as a naval base for them... They could hold the coasts until the Italian navy could show up and provide support...
 

Markus

Banned
How about Hitler not frustrated by the heavy casualties of his paratroopers in Crete and orders a paradrop assault in the heart of Egypt? Its a long shot but if Germans manage to capture coastal Egypt British fleet would have lost its bases in Eastern Mediterannean thus leaving only Malta as a naval base for them... They could hold the coasts until the Italian navy could show up and provide support...

What paratroopers? After Crete there were few left. It wasn´t until 42 thta they were operational again. And even if they had taken Crete with minimal losses, Egypt was a bit better defended. They doing what you suggest is as likely as the success of Operation S...n.
 
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