50 Cents - Elizabeth II 4th Portrait - Australians at War - Crete

The Battle of Crete in May 1941 was among the most costly engagements Australian forces fought in the Mediterranean theatre. The German airborne assault — Operation Merkur — was the largest parachute invasion in history to that point, and Australian, New Zealand, and British troops came closer to defeating it than postwar accounts long acknowledged. The eventual evacuation left roughly 3,000 Australian soldiers behind as prisoners.

This is one of fourteen coins in the RAM's Australians at War 50-cent series, each tied to a specific campaign.