At the end of April 1941 Jabs and II. "Gruppe" of "Zerstörergeschwader" 76 were transferred from the German Bight to the Balkans to support the invasion of Crete. They joined two other "Zerstörer" groups that were already in theater, I. and II. "Gruppe" of "Zerstörergeschwader" 26. The battle over Crete and the surrounding waters began 20 May 1941, and ran until 1 June 1941. At this point of the war the Bf 110 was found most useful in the ground attack role. Jabs led his "Staffel" over Crete attacking ground targets and Allied shipping. During this time no opportunity presented to Jabs to engage in aerial combat.