Photo: Greek guerilla fighters in Crete
![](https://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/zoom_thumb/go0057.jpg)
Crete was one of the first battlefields where invading German troops encountered stiff resistance from the local population. The rugged terrain of the island made for a self-reliant people, more likely to take their defence into their own hands. German reprisals against the civilian resistance were ruthless.
Photographer unknown, c 1941
Accession number: H2000.200/1764A
From the State Library of Victoria's Pictures collection. Gift of The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 1976