Severe combat stress helps explain the battalion commander's mistaken withdrawal from Hill 107. Higher command still needed to treat Maleme as the fixed point of the defence and shift troops toward it. This would thin nearby sectors, but those units could fall back toward the airfield and their depots. German troops had no equivalent alternative once access to supplies was denied. The comparison with Singapore shows the danger of conceding the resource that sustains the attacker.
Notable Point · 43:21-45:28
The airfield should outrank every peripheral position
Available troops should have been concentrated to hold Maleme, even if that meant accepting more risk in adjacent battalion sectors.