ABSTRACT
Second, even after paratroops and/or glider-borne troops had landed, had organised as far as possible, and were attempting to take their assigned objective, it was still by no means straightforward to provide close air support. This was because pilots could not be expected easily to distinguish friend from foe on the ground in a battle taking place beyond the established front lines, and were thus reliant upon the airborne troops indicating their own and the enemy's positions by pre-arranged signals or radio communication. However, this was a process fraught with danger. During the German airborne invasion of Crete in May 1941 British and Commonwealth troops soon learnt that engaging the German paratroops closely meant that German aircraft, ever overhead in daylight, could not intervene in the fighting for fear of hitting their own men. It was even sometimes possible to imitate the paratroops' Very light signals to their supporting aircraft, and on at least one occasion in Crete the Luftwaffe was induced to attack German troops.46
