 Over the course of the next ten days the battalion was involved in a series of engagements as they fought to defend the island , with the most notable probably being the bayonet charge that they undertook with the Australian 2 / 7th Battalion at 42nd Street on 27 May in which 280 Germans were killed , with the Māori accounting for 100 . However , it soon became clear that the garrison on Crete would need to be evacuated and on 28 May the bulk of Creforce began to disengage the Germans and begin the retreat towards Sfakia . The 5th Infantry Brigade took turns with two Australian battalions and the commandos of Layforce to carry out a rearguard action to guard the pass through which the troops had to traverse in order to escape . 
