For four years, the people of Crete suffered savage punitive reprisals for their heroic resistance to the barbaric Nazi invaders. Thousands died at the execution wall or from starvation and imprisonment. But their freedom-loving spirit would not let them yield to the German conqueror. Instead, with the help of the British and American military personnel of the SOE and the OSS, they banded together to form a resistance movement against the Nazis that set an example for all the conquered people of Europe to follow. This is a story of the stark reality of human endeavour and sacrifice, marked by deeds of heroism of which little has been said and much less written.