Military history of Greece during World War II

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Greece dealt the first victory for the allies by resisting initial attempts of Italian invasion and pushing Mussolini's forces back into Albania.^[1] Hitler was reluctantly forced to send forces and delay the invasion of the Soviet Union by six weeks. This is considered the turning point of the war as the German invasion was disastrous as a result of the Russian winter.^[2] The Germans also met fierce resistance on the island of Crete as the paratroopers suffered almost 7,000 casualties.^[3] These heavy losses eliminated the option of a massive airborne invasion of the Soviet Union and further expansion in the Mediterranean saving Malta, Gibraltar, Cyprus, and the Suez Canal from airborne invasion.

Contents 1 Fascist Italy invades Greece 2 Battle of Greece 3 Battle of Crete 4 Occupation 4.1 Occupation zones & authority 4.2 Greek collaborationists & conscripts 5 Resistance 6 Greek Royal Forces in the Middle East 6.1 Army 6.2 Navy 6.3 Air Force 7 Liberation & civil war 8 Culture 9 References

[edit] Fascist Italy invades Greece

Main article: Greco-Italian War

The Italian invasion from Albania on October 28, 1940, after making small initial gains, was stopped by the determined defence of Greek forces in the battles at the Elaia-Kalama line and the Pindus Mountains. The unwilingness of Bulgaria to attack Greece, as the Italians had hoped, allowed the Greek High Command to transfer most of the mobilizing divisions intended for the garrisoning of Macedonia to the front, where they were instrumental in the Greek counteroffensive, launched on November 14. Greek forces crossed the border into Albania and took city after city despite facing a harsh winter, having inadequate supplies and facing the Italian air superiority. By mid-January, Greek forces had occupied a fourth of Albania, but the offensive had come to a standstill before it had reached its objective, the port of Vlorë.

This situation prompted a reaction from Germany, which had to come to the rescue of its junior Axis partner. In a final attempt to restore Italian prestige before the German intervention, a counterattack was launched on March 9, 1941 against the key sector of Klissura, under Mussolini's personal supervision. Despite massive artillery bombardments and the employment of several divisions on a narrow frontage, the attack failed to make any headway and was called off after almost two weeks.

[edit] Battle of Greece

Main article: Battle of Greece

The Battle of Greece is the continuation of the Greco-Italian War beginning with the German invasion of Greece to the fall of Kalamata in the Peloponnese. With the Battle of Crete and several naval actions, it is considered part of the wider Aegean component of the Balkans Campaign of World War II. The German codename for their operation was Unternehmen Marita — "Operation Marita."

[edit] Battle of Crete

Main article: Battle of Crete

Following the occupation of the mainland, Nazi Germany invaded the Greek island of Crete on May 20, 1941. In the bitterly contested Battle of Crete, the Germans employed parachute forces in a massive airborne invasion. The Germans attacked the three main airfields of the island of Maleme, Rethimnon, and Heraklion. The Germans met surprising resistance from the Greek, British, Australian, and New Zealand troops on the island and from local civilians. After one day of fighting, none of the objectives were reached and the Germans had suffered around 4,000 casualties. German plans were in disarray and Commanding General Kurt Student was contemplating suicide.

During the next day, through miscommunication and failure of Allied commanders to grasp the situation, Maleme airfield in western Crete fell to the Germans. With Maleme airfield secure, the Germans flew in thousands of reinforcements and overwhelmed the western side of the island. After seven days of fighting Allied commanders realised that so many Germans had been flown in that hope of Allied victory was gone. By June 1, 1941, the evacuation of Crete by the Allies was complete and the island was under German occupation. In light of the heavy casualties suffered by the elite 7th Flieger Division, Adolf Hitler forbade further airborne operations. General Kurt Student would dub Crete "the graveyard of the German paratroopers" and a "disastrous victory." ^[4]

[edit] Occupation

Main article: Axis Occupation of Greece

[edit] Occupation zones & authority

Conquered Greece was divided into three zones of control by the occupying powers, Germany, Italy and Bulgaria.^[5] The Germans controlled Athens, Central Macedonia, Western Crete, Milos, Amorgos and the islands of Northern Aegean. Bulgaria annexed Thrace and Eastern Macedonia and Italy the rest. After the Allied invasions of Sicily and mainlaind Italy, the Italian occupation areas progressively came under German control and their garrisons made subordinate to German command, often supplemented with German troops. Italian units were viewed by the Germans as ineffective, and in some cases it was feared that Italian troops would begin to desert as it became clear that Mussolini's government was near collapse. In several cases, the takeover was violent, as the Italians tried to resist, and accompanied by atrocities. The film Captain Corelli's Mandolin dramatizes such an event, the massacre of the 'Acqui' Division on Italian-occupied Cephallonia in September 1943.

[edit] Greek collaborationists & conscripts

Despite the fact that the vast majority of Greece's leaders, clerics, population, military, and persons on both left and right political spectrum resisted the Italian, German, and Bulgarian occupation, a small group of sympathizers, including the puppet governments of the Quisling Prime Ministers Georgios Tsolakoglou, Konstantinos Logothetopoulos and Ioannis Rallis emerged. From 1941 to 1944 the collaborationist governments and sympathizers comprising the infamous "Security Battalions" fought against the guerrilla forces of the both the rightist and leftist factions of the Greek Resistance. These were widely reviled in colloquial Greek as Germanotsoliades (Greek: Γερμανοτσολιάδες, literally meaning "German Tsolias").

[edit] Resistance

Main article: Greek Resistance

[edit] Greek Royal Forces in the Middle East

After the fall of Greece to the Axis, elements of the Greek armed forces managed to escape to the British-controlled Middle East. There they were placed under the royal government-in-exile, and continued the fight along the Allies.

[edit] Army

In the face of the overwhelming German advance into Greece, several thousand Greek officers and soldiers were either evacuated, along with the Greek government, to Crete and then Egypt, in April-May 1941, or managed to flee, mainly via neutral Turkey, to the British-controlled Middle East. There they were placed under British command and re-equipped with British arms, complemented by volunteers from the local Greek communities, forming the "Royal Hellenic Army in the Middle East" (Βασιλικός Ελληνικός Στρατός Μέσης Ανατολής, or ΒΕΣΜΑ).

Already on 23 June 1941, the I Brigade began being formed in Palestine under Col. Ev. Antoniou. It comprised ca. 5,000 men in three infantry battalions, an artillery regiment (of battalion-size), and support units. An independent armoured car regiment (of battalion size) was also formed, but later incorporated in the Brigade's artillery regiment. The Brigade remained in training camps in Palestine until May 1942, where its command was taken over by Col. Pafsanias Katsotas. It was then transferred to Syria, before being deployed to Egypt in August. There it was placed under British 50th Division in the Nile Delta, and joined it in the Second Battle of El Alamein, where it suffered 89 dead and 228 wounded. A II Brigade also began being formed in Egypt since 27 July 1942 along similar lines, but did not see action.

Both Brigades remained on guard duty in Egypt and Libya, where they became involved in the widespread pro-EAM mutiny in April 1944. Subsequently, both units were disbanded by the British, and their personnel interned in camps or used in non-combat duties. 3,500 politically reliable officers and men were formed into the III Greek Mountain Brigade under Col. Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, on 4 June 1944. This unit was embarked for Italy in August and fought with distinction, particularly at the Battle of Rimini, where it earned the honorific Rimini Brigade. This loyal and battle-hardened unit would later be instrumental in the struggle between the British-backed government and the EAM-ELAS forces.

In September 1942, an elite special forces unit, the Sacred Band (Ιερός Λόχος), was formed, made up solely of officers and volunteers. Under its charismatic leader, Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes, it was attached to the 1st SAS Regiment, and participated in raids in Libya. In February 1943, the unit was placed under the orders of General Philippe Leclerc, and participated in the Tunisia Campaign. From May to October 1943, the Sacred Band was re-trained in airborne and amphibious operations, and for the remainder of the war it was employed in operations against the German garrisons of the Aegean islands. The unit was disbanded in Athens, on 7 August 1945.

[edit] Navy

The Hellenic Royal Navy suffered enormous casualties during the German invasion, losing over 20 ships, mostly to German air attacks, within a few days in April 1941. Its chief, Vice Admiral Alexandros Sakellariou, managed to save some of its ships, including the cruiser Averof, six destroyers, five submarines and several support ships, by evacuating them to Alexandria. The fleet was subsequently expanded by several destroyers, submarines, mine-sweepers and other vessels handed over by the British Royal Navy, until it became, with 44 ships and over 8,500 men, the second-largest Allied Navy in the Mediterranean after the RN, accounting for 80% of all non-RN operations.

Greek ships served in convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The RHN ships also participated in the landing operations in Sicily, Anzio and Normandy. A significant moment in the RHN's history was the acceptance of the Italian Fleet's surrender in September 1943, alongside the British Royal Navy. The two most notable Greek warships of the war were the destroyers Adrias and Vasilissa Olga. The large Greek merchant navy, likewise, contributed enormously to the Allied war effort, losing over 2,500 men and 60% of its ships in the process.

When the April 1944 mutiny broke out, a large part of the Navy joined it. These ships were stormed by Greek officers loyal to the government-in-exile and recaptured. Eleven seamen were killed, others wounded, and many were subsequently interned. Thus, when the Navy returned to liberated Greece in October 1944, it was firmly behind the government of George Papandreou.

[edit] Air Force

The few Air Force personnel that managed to escape eventually constituted the 13th Light Bombing and the 335th and 336th Fighter squadrons, operating under the Desert Air Force in North Africa and Italy, before being repatriated in late 1944.

[edit] Liberation & civil war

Main article: Greek Civil War

[edit] Culture

The Axis occupation of Greece, specifically the Greek islands, figures much larger in English speaking books and films than the Axis occupation of almost all other countries. Real special forces raids e.g. Ill Met by Moonlight or fictional special forces raids The Guns of Navarone, Escape to Athena, They Who Dare 1954 [1] or a fictional occupation narrative Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

[edit] References