Image: Australian sign at Forty Second Street on Crete 1941 (AWM P03731 001)

Description: AWM description: The Forty-Second Street sign, naming a lane in Crete where a small Allied force repelled advancing Germans. On 27 May 1941, 42nd Street was the site of a battle between the German 141st Mountain Regiment and two companies of the 2/7 Battalion, joined by New Zealanders of the 28th (Maori) Battalion, stopping the Germans for the rest of the day. The name '42nd Street', a humorous appellation inspired by the musical of the same name, was given by a small group of sappers from the 42nd Field Company, Royal Engineers who had bivouacked beside the dirt lane after being sent to garrison Crete late in 1940. The name was recorded on British maps and passed into common use. With German advances into Crete, allied troops joined together, withdrawing towards Canea and by 27th May occupied a line including 42nd Street, from Suda Bay to the Malaxa escarpment. This was the rearguard of the Commonwealth force retreating southward to Sfakia, site of evacuations.
Title: Australian sign at Forty Second Street on Crete 1941 (AWM P03731 001)
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