"Nothing is impossible for the German soldier. Historical justice, however, obliges me to say that of the opponents that have taken up arms against us, most particularly the Greek soldiers have fought with the greatest bravery and contempt of death. They only capitulated when further resistance became impossible and therefore useless."
Adolf Hitler, in a speech before the Reichstag in Berlin, May 4, 1941
October, 1940. The list of European countries allied with or occupied by Axis forces includes Poland, France, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Albania. Great Britain, its expeditionary force evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk, is under air attack and barely holding on. On the 28th of October, the Italian Ambassador arrives during the early morning hours at the home of Greek dictator, Ioannis Metaxas. He hands Metaxas, who is dressed in a bathrobe, an ultimatum from Benito Mussolini demanding Italian occupation of Greek territory. Metaxas, an ardent royalist who had created his own version of the Third Reich in Greece, replies in French: "Alors, cest' le guerre" (so it is war) translated into Greek as a laconic OXI (No) and thus goes down in history as one of the greatest Greek leaders.
Within hours the Italian Army, sent three mechanized Army Corps with air support across the Greek-Albania border. It was commonly expected that Italy would smash Greek resistance, replicating Hitler's victory against countries like Holland. In fact, Greek morale and the willingness of the Greek people to fight soon proved to be a major stumbling block to Italian aspirations. Shortly thereafter, Metaxas addressed the Greek people with these words: "The time has come for Greece to fight for her independence. Greeks, now we must prove ourselves worthy of our forefathers and the freedom they bestowed upon us. Greeks, now fight for your Fatherland, for your wives, for your children and the sacred traditions. Now, over all things, fight!" In response to this address, the people of Greece spontaneously went out to the streets singing Greek patriotic songs and shouting anti-Italian slogans, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers in all parts of Greece headed to the Army's offices to enlist for the war. The whole nation was united in the face of aggression.
Italy had a major advantage in numbers roughly 5 to 1 and superior armored forces. The Greek advantage besides morale was the terrain. The Italians advanced along narrow avenues of approach flanked by rugged mountains which the Greeks knew intimately. Italian commanders relied on the Alpini divisions such as the renowned Julia Division, made up of respected, tough mountain fighters recruited from Italy's Alpine region. Initially despite slow going due to weather and poor roads the Italians made some progress. The Greeks made no attempt to attack the spearheads, instead they maneuvered around the easternmost spearhead, outflanking it and causing it to withdraw. This in turn exposed the left of the Julia Division advancing on Metsovo and the only pass between the mountainous north and the wide open tank country of Thessaly. Three regiments of Greek Evzones (elite infantry units) had fallen back and held the approaches to the pass. They were ordered to establish themselves on the ridges on either side of the three axes the Julia Division was moving along. The next two nights the Evzones climbed the mountains to establish positions on the ridge-lines. They were resupplied by village women who carried ammunition and other supplies to the Evzone units. At dawn the Evzones attacked into the Italian rearguard, their war cry reverberating through the mountains "AERA(Wind), AERA, make way." Panic swept through the entire division and the renowned Alpini threw away their arms and abandoned their wounded. Five thousand prisoners were taken.
By mid November, the Greeks had taken the initiative from the Italians, and not one Italian soldier remained in Greece except the captured and the dead. A Greek counteroffensive pushed into southern Albania finally liberating the occupied Greek villages in its path. The Italians began to stubbornly resist the Greek advance by making use of fortified positions in the hills. They were helped by the severity of the weather, the worst winter in decades. As their pack horse and mules began to die, the Greek infantry had to fight for days without rations. Lack of sufficient winter clothing and rations caused thousands of Greek soldiers to lose their hands, fingers, toes and feet to frostbite. Depite the hardships the Greeks continued to attack dragging their mountain guns into position above the Italian fortifications and then assaulting with hand grenades and bayonets. The Greek Army advanced and occupied a third of Albanian territory and would have kept going except for the fact that they overextended their lines of communications and logistics. The Italians brought in fresh divisions and attempted an offensive with eighteen divisions under the direction of Mussolini himself. The offensive made insignificant gains and was eventually overshadowed by a German invasion designed to assist their Italian allies.
The Greek defeat of the Italians was the first Allied land victory of the Second World War, and may have influenced the war's course of events. The Italian aggression created a remarkable patriotism that ran through the entire Greek nation, every man, woman and child. All the psychological energy usually wasted on competing with each other suddenly turned against the common threat. This enthusiasm was reflected in the ranks of the Hellenic Army. The repulse of the Italians was made possible by a reckless daring which risked being cut off from all supplies in order to attack an exposed flank. The perennial individualism of the Greek soldier was made manifest more than once by disobedience to orders. Small units moved forward until they met opposition, attacked and overcame it, if not, they waited for more troops to arrive and attacked again. They survived on captured Italian stores.
While the Greeks had demonstrated their ability to withstand the assault of the junior Axis partner, a German intervention in the Balkans would reverse the situation. Greece was in a very unfavorable position because it lacked the necessary strength to cope with such a formidable opponent. Moreover, since Greece had practically no armament industry, its equipment and ammunition supplies consisted mainly of stocks that the British had captured from the defeated Italian armies in North Africa. In order to feed the battle in Albania, the Greek command had been forced to make continuous withdrawals from eastern Macedonia and western Thrace. To reverse this process in anticipation of a German attack was inexpedient because the available forces were inadequate for sustained resistance on both fronts. The Greek command therefore decided to continue its successful resistance in Albania, no matter how the situation might develop under the impact of a German attack across the Bulgarian border. TO BE CONTINUED IN MY NEXT POST.
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