Battle of Thermopylae (1941)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Thermopylae (1941)
Part of World War II
German soldiers at Thermopylae after Allied retreat
Date April 24-April 25, 1941 Location Thermopylae, Greece Result German victory
Belligerents
ANZAC Corps, Australian Forces	Nazi Germany
Commanders
General Bernard Freyberg George Vasey	???

The Battle of Thermopylae during World War II occurred in 1941 following the retreat from the Olympus and Servia passes. British Commonwealth forces began to set up defensive position at the historic pass at Thermopylae. (Thermopylae is famous for the Battle of Thermopylae under King Leonidas who fought with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians to the death against a gigantic Persian army in 480 BC.) General Bernard Freyberg was given the task of defending the coastal pass with Mackay defending the village of Brallos. In the New Zealand sector, the 5th Brigade was deployed along the coastal road, the foothills south of Lamia, and the Spercheios River. The 4th Brigade was on the right where it had established coast-watching patrols, and the 6th was in reserve. In the Australian sector, the 19th Brigade, comprising the 2/4th and 2/8th Battalions, defended Brallos. On 19 April the 2/1st and 2/5th Battalions were placed under the command of Maj Gen George Vasey, and that day and during the early hours of the next, 2/11th Battalion rejoined the brigade. Generals Freyberg and Mackay had been informing their subordinates that there would be no more withdrawals, both unaware of the higher level discussions on the evacuation. After the battle Mackay was quoted as saying.^[1]

“

I thought that we'd hang on for about a fortnight and be beaten by weight of numbers[1]

”

When the order to retreat was received on the morning of the 23rd it was decided that each of the two positions was to be held by one brigade each. These brigades, the Australian 19th and 6th New Zealand were to hold the passes as long as possible, allowing the other units to withdraw. General Vasey, commander of the 19th Brigade said:

“

Here we bloody well are and here we bloody well stay[1]

”

This was interpreted by his brigade major as the "Brigade will hold its present defensive positions come what may".^[1] The Germans attacked on 24 April, met fierce resistance, lost fifteen tanks and sustained considerable casualties. The Australians and New Zealanders held out the entire day. With the delaying action accomplished, they retreated in the direction of the evacuation beaches and set up another rearguard at Thebes.^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Battle of Greece
• J.E. Brooks wrote a poem about this battle entitled "Thermopylae 1941".

v • d • e Greece in World War II
1940-41 Balkans Campaign	Occupation and Resistance		Greek government in exile
Greco-Italian War Battles: Elaia-Kalamas • Pindus • Italian Spring Offensive • Cape Matapan Commanders: Greece Ioannis Metaxas • Alexander Papagos • Charalambos Katsimitros Italy Sebastiano Visconti Prasca • Ubaldo Soddu • Ugo Cavallero • Giovanni Messe German invasion Battles: Metaxas Line • Vevi • Thermopylae • Crete Commanders: Greece Alexander Papagos • Georgios Tsolakoglou British Expeditionary Corps Henry Maitland Wilson • Thomas Blamey Germany Wilhelm List • Kurt Student	Occupying powers Occupation Authorities: Germany Hermann Neubacher • Walter Schimana • Alexander Löhr • Helmuth Felmy Italy Pellegrino Ghigi • Carlo Geloso Bulgaria Atrocities: Doxato • Kommeno • Kalavryta • Distomo • The Holocaust in Greece Other topics: Greek famine of 1941-42 • Principality of Pindus • Ohrana Collaborators People: Georgios Tsolakoglou • K. Logothetopoulos • Ioannis Rallis • Georgios Poulos Organizations: Security Battalions • ESPO • EEE • Greek National Socialist Party	National Liberation Front (EAM) People: Aris Velouchiotis • Stefanos Sarafis • Georgios Siantos • Markos Vafiades • Evripidis Bakirtzis • Andreas Tzimas Organizations: KKE • ELAS • PEEA • EPON • EA • OPLA • SNOF Operations: Ryka • Mikro Chorio • Gorgopotamos Bridge • Fardykambos • Sarantaporo Non-EAM Resistance People: Napoleon Zervas • Dimitrios Psarros • Kostas Perrikos Organizations: EDES • EKKA • YVE/PAO • PEAN • ΕΟΚ British Mission in Greece (SOE) People: Eddy Myers • Chris Woodhouse • Patrick Leigh Fermor Operations: Gorgopotamos Bridge • Abduction of General Kreipe	Events: El Alamein • Dodecanese Campaign • April 1944 mutiny • Rimini People: King George II • Emm. Tsouderos • Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Notable units: III Mountain Brigade • Sacred Band • Vasilissa Olga • Adrias Towards the Civil War Events: Lebanon conference • Caserta agreement • Moscow percentages agreement • Dekemvriana People: Ronald Scobie • George Papandreou • Archbishop Damaskinos

v • d • e World War II
Western Europe · Eastern Europe · Africa · Mediterranean · Asia and the Pacific · Atlantic
Major participants			Timeline		Aspects
To 1945 unless otherwise indicated. Principal co-belligerents in italics.			Prelude • Causes • in Asia • in Europe 1939 • Invasion of Poland • Phoney War • Winter War • Battle of the Atlantic5 1940 • Denmark and Norway • Battle of France • Battle of Britain • Libya and Egypt • British Somaliland • Baltic Occupation • Bessarabia and Bukovina • Invasion of Indochina • Invasion of Greece 1941 • East Africa Campaign • Invasion of Yugoslavia • Invasion of the USSR • Middle East campaign • Siege of Leningrad • Battle of Moscow • Attack on Pearl Harbor 1942 • Battle of Midway • Battle of Stalingrad • 2nd Battle of El Alamein • Operation Torch • Guadalcanal Campaign	1943 • End in Africa • Battle of Kursk • Solomon Islands • Invasion of Sicily • Invasion of Italy5 • Gilbert and Marshall Islands 1944 • Cassino and Anzio • Invasion of Normandy • Mariana and Palau Islands • Operation Bagration • Battle of the Dnieper • Warsaw Uprising • Iassy-Kishinev Operation • Liberation of Paris • Operation Market Garden • Operation Crossbow • Operation Pointblank • Battle of Leyte Gulf 1945 • Battle of Iwo Jima • Battle of Okinawa • Battle of Berlin • Germany surrenders • Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Japan surrenders • List of military engagements	• Attacks on North America • Blitzkrieg • Comparative military ranks • Cryptography • Home front • Military awards • Military equipment • Military production • Nazi plunder • Resistance • Technology • Total war Aftermath /consequences • Effects/Casualties • Expulsion of Germans • Operation Paperclip • Occupation of Germany • Morgenthau plan • Territorial changes • Occupation of Japan • Franco-Vietnamese War • Cold War • in contemporary culture Civilian impact / atrocities • Allied war crimes • German war crimes • Italian war crimes • Japanese war crimes • Soviet war crimes • The Holocaust • Bombing of civilians
Allies		Axis
at war from 1937  China entered 1939  Czechoslovakia  Poland  UK  India  France  Australia  New Zealand  South Africa  Canada entered 1940  Norway  Belgium  Netherlands  Greece	entered 1941  Yugoslavia  USSR  USA entered 1942  Mexico  Brazil entered 1943  Italy   entered 1944  Romania  Bulgaria  Finland • others	at war from 1937  Japan entered 1939  Germany  Slovakia entered 1940  Italy  to 1943 entered 1941  Bulgaria  to 1944 Croatia Finland  to 1944  Hungary  Iraq  to 1941  Romania  to 1944 entered 1942  Thailand entered 1943  RSI • others
• Allied Leaders • Axis Leaders • Commanders
Resistance movements Austria · Baltic1 · Czech lands · Denmark · Ethiopia France · Germany2 · Greece · Italy Jewish2 · Korea · Netherlands · Moldavia2 Norway · Poland · Thailand · Soviet Union Slovakia4 · Ukraine3 · Vietnam Yugoslavia · others
				Lists
				Category · Topics Conferences
1 Anti-Soviet. 2 Anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi. 3 Anti-Nazi, anti-Polish, and anti-Soviet. 4 Anti-Magyar, anti-Nazi, and anti-Soviet. 5 Lasted to May 1945.		World War II at Wiktionary  WWII textbooks at Wikibooks      WWII quotes at Wikiquote  WWII source texts at Wikisource       WWII media at Commons  WWII news stories at Wikinews