GREEK PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS AND PM OF NEW ZEALAND CLARK ATTEND CELEBRATIONS MARKING THE ..., 2001-05-20...

GREEK PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS AND PM OF NEW ZEALAND CLARK ATTEND CELEBRATIONS MARKING THE ANNIVERSARY OF BATTLE OF CRETE. Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos (R) and Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark attend celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Crete at Maleme's military airport May 20, 2001. British, Australian, New Zealand and Greek veterans of some of the fiercest fighting in World War Two participated the celebrations for the last time. Hundreds of old soldiers who had gathered over the weekend on the Greek island marched at Maleme, a dusty airstrip on Crete's northwest coast where Nazi Germany launched an unprecedented airborne invasion on May 20, 1941. They also witnessed a re-enactment of the invasion, which saw thousands of German paratroopers raining down from the sky and an 11-day battle where about 6,000 Germans and some 4,000 Allied troops lost their lives.