11th Infantry Division (Greece)
| ΧI Infantry Division ΧI Μεραρχία Πεζικού | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1913–1941, 1945–2004 |
| Country | Greece |
| Branch | Hellenic Army |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Thessaloniki, after 1951 Kavala |
| Engagements | Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), Greco-Italian War, Greek Civil War |
The 11th Infantry Division (Greek: ΧI Μεραρχία Πεζικού) was a formation of the Hellenic Army.
It was the first division to be founded after the Balkan Wars, when the peacetime army was greatly expanded. Initially formed at Kozani, in December 1913 it was ordered transferred to Thessaloniki as part of III Army Corps. At the time it comprised the 13th, 27th and 28th Infantry Regiments.[1]
In August 1916, the Division under Col. Nikolaos Trikoupis remained loyal to the royal government and tried to oppose the Venizelist uprising that led to the establishment of the Provisional Government of National Defence, but was thwarted by the intervention of the French Army.
Following the Greek landing at Smyrna and the creation of the Smyrna Zone, in 1920 the Magnesia Division (Μεραρχία Μαγνησίας) was formed from Anatolian Greek recruits and named after Magnesia. After the Venizelist defeat in the November 1920 elections, the new royalist government renamed the division into "11th Division". The division took part in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, where it was surrounded and captured at Mudanya after the Turkish breakthrough of the Greek front in August 1922. Reformed after the end of the war, again at Thessaloniki under III Corps. In 1940–41 the division took part in the Greco-Italian War until the German invasion of Greece in April 1941.
It was reformed in Match 1945, after Liberation, with the 31st, 32nd and 33rd Brigades at Thessaloniki. The division took part in the Greek Civil War, and was retained after the war's end as a second-echelon formation with reduced manpower. From 1951, it was based at Kavala, where it remained until its disbandment in 2004.
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