Battle of 42nd Street

Battle of 42nd Street
	Part of the Battle of Crete of World War II
	; Forty-Second street sign.
Date	27 May 1941
Location	South-east of Chania, Crete
Result	Allied victory
Belligerents
Australia; New Zealand; Greece	Germany
Units involved
2/7th Battalion; 2/8th Battalion; 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion; 19th Battalion; 21st Battalion; 22nd Battalion; 23rd Battalion; 28th (Maori) Battalion; A few Greek soldiers	1st Battalion of the 141st Gebirgsjäger Regiment; Small groups of paratroopers
Strength
	400–500 men
Casualties and losses
Estimated 52 killed and wounded	Estimated 280 killed, 3 captured

35°28′55″N 24°03′21″E / 35.4819°N 24.0559°E / 35.4819; 24.0559

The Battle of 42nd Street was fought on 27 May 1941 during World War II on the Greek island of Crete between an attacking force of Australians and New Zealanders (Anzacs) and German troops. On 20 May, Germany launched a combined airborne and amphibious invasion of Crete. A week later, after the British and Commonwealth forces defending the island were forced to withdraw towards Chania, a force of several understrength Australian and New Zealand infantry battalions established a defensive line along 42nd Street south-east of Chania, forming a rearguard for the withdrawing troops. On 27 May, as a German battalion advanced towards the road, the Anzac defenders carried out a bayonet charge that inflicted heavy casualties on the German attackers, which forced them to withdraw and briefly halted the German advance. Afterwards, the Anzac troops kept retreating towards the southern coast of the island.