From Greece, the 19th Battalion was shipped to the island of Crete where it arrived on 28 April with 475 personnel. Designated as the reserve battalion for 4th Brigade, it was stationed just to the east of Galatas. By mid-May it was increasingly apparent that the Germans would mount an invasion of Crete. The airborne invasion by the Germans commenced in the morning of 20 May, while many of the battalion's soldiers were eating breakfast. Most of the descending paratroopers over the area were shot as they parachuted down and their equipment integrated into the defences.