seized by airborne assault, but cost the Luftwaffe 370 aircraft destroyed or damaged, including 271 Junkers Ju 52 transports. General Kurt Student, the commander of the airborne forces commented, "Crete was the grave of the German paratroopers". In May 1941, the Luftwaffe also committed "Flyer Command Iraq" (Fliegerführer Irak) to support the rebels in the Anglo-Iraqi War. Fliegerführer Irak comprised one squadron (staffel) of He 111s (4./KG 4), one staffel of Zerstörer (Bf 110s of 4./ZG 76), and 12 transports including a number of Junkers Ju 90s. The ten-day stint in the Middle East included two victories for future night fighter Experte, Leutnant Martin Drewes. Allied air opposition was light and the Luftwaffe force concentrated mainly on ground support duties. By 26 May, despite cannibalising two machines damaged in an RAF raid on Mosul there was not a single serviceable Bf 110 left. The following day personnel were evacuated by Junkers Ju 90s following Allied gains. In the 1943 Dodecanese Campaign, Luftwaffe units were instrumental in stopping the British Army from getting control of strategic islands like Leros and Kos. During the Battle of Leros they brought about one of the last German victories in World War II. The Luftwaffe remained in the Mediterranean theatre until the end of the war in May 1945. The most notable fighter unit in North Africa was Jagdgeschwader 27 that for nearly eighteen months (April 1941 – October 1942) was the only fighter unit in North Africa, although many other fighter units took part throughout the Mediterranean. The strength of the Luftwaffe made all the difference during the North African Campaign. The Luftwaffe supported the Afrika Korps in the Western Desert and Tunisia. In addition to North Africa, the Germans joined the Italians in bombing Malta in 1941–42, but failed to eliminate British occupation of the island. The heroic resistance of the island was marked by the award of the George Cross medal to the island. Soviet-German war 1941 On 18 December 1940, Adolf Hitler issued Directive 21, for the invasion of the Soviet Union, code-named Operation Barbarossa. The directive envisaged three army groups, each a million men strong, undertaking a simultaneous offensive from Germany-occupied Poland and German-allied Romania and Finland. The main objectives were Leningrad, Minsk, Kiev, and Moscow. The original German goal was the destruction of the Red Army is the border battles and rapid conquest of the European part of the