↑ Stephen, Martin (1988), Volume 2: Sea Battles in Close Up World War 2, Naval Institute Press, p. 53, ISBN1557507589, One way of dealing with Malta would have been an airborne invasion but Hitler would not countenance such a thing, especially after the pyrrhic casualties of the Crete victory.
↑ Quarrie, Bruce; Anderson, Duncan (2004), German airborne divisions: Blitzkrieg 1940-1941, Osprey, p. 98, ISBN1841765716, ...from the historic raid on the Belgian fortress of Eben Emael to the pyrrhic victory over British and Commonwealth forces on the island of Crete.
↑ Tillman, Barrett (2004), Brassey's D-Day encyclopedia: the Normandy invasion A-Z, Brassey's, p. 1, ISBN1574887602, The Luftwaffe also made history in the first aerial occupation of an island – the costly Crete operation in 1941. However, Germany's Pyrrhic victory proved so costly that no Fallschirmjaeger division was again involved in a major airborne operation.
↑ Winchester, Charles (2007), Hitler's War on Russia, Osprey, p. 24, ISBN1846031958, The airborne invasion of Crete had been a pyrrhic victory for the Luftwaffe, with the effective destruction of its elite 7th Airborne Division.
↑ Coggins, Edward (2000), Wings That Stay on, Turner Publishing Company, p. 65, ISBN1563115689, It was a pyrrhic victory and the death of major German airborne operations for the rest of the war.
↑ Hinsley, Francis; Stripp, Alan (2001), Codebreakers: the inside story of Bletchley Park, Oxford University Press, p. 3, ISBN0192801325, In May the decryption in good time of full details of the German plan of attack did not enable the defenders to save Crete, but it enabled them to turn Germany's victory into a Pyrrhic victory.
↑ Buell, Thomas; Greiss, Thomas (2002), The Second World War: Europe and the Mediterranean, Square One Publishers, p. 101, ISBN0757001602, The rank and file on both sides fought tenaciously on Crete, and in the end the Germans could claim only a pyrrhic victory.
↑ Wright, Robert; Greenwood, John (2007), Airborne forces at war, Naval Institute Press, p. 9, ISBN1591140285, The seizure of Crete was a strategic but Pyrrhic victory for Germany that was brought at the price of future German airborne operations.
↑ Badsey, Stephen (2000), The Hitchinson Atlas of World War Two battle plans: before and after, Taylor and Francis, p. 193, ISBN1579582656, The Battle for Crete – The Pyrrhic Victory 20 May – 1 June 1941 (chapter title)
↑ Axelrod, Alan (2008), The Real History of World War II: A new look at the past, Sterling Publishing Company, p. 175, ISBN1402740905, These losses stunned Hitler, who deemed the battle of Crete a Pyrrhic victory and personally forbade airborne assaults for the rest of the war.
↑ Davin, Daniel Marcus (1953). "Appendix V — CASUALTIES". Crete. The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945. Wellington, New Zealand: Historical Publications Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, Government of New Zealand. pp. 486–488.
