The German invasion of Greece, that's where I'll talk about in this video.
Normally I am standing on a spot where the invasion actually happened, where the fighting that took place.
Now I'm on a Commonwealth war cemetary in Athens. Why am I here?
And why are there Commonwealth soldiers buried here? Well that's because the Greeks didn't
fight alone against the German onslaught.
When WW2 came around Greece was under the rule of the so-called 4th of August Regime,
led by General Ioannis Metaxas who had seized power in 1936.
Greece was still a kingdom though, with King George II on the throne.
What is interesting is that Metaxas had fascist tendencies, took inspiration from fascist
Italy, however he didn't allign himself with the Axis Powers.
The Greco-Italian War started on 28 October 1940.
The Italians had given Greece an ultimatum to surrender strategic posts and let Italian
troops pass unhindered through the country.
Metaxas refused and war began.
From Italian-held Albania the Italians invaded Greece.
Italian dictator Mussolini believed victory was to be easy, but the Greeks put on a stubborn
defence.
Next month the Italians were pushed back into Italian-held Albania and a stalemate set it.
In December Hitler had made up his mind to invade Greece.
With his eyes on the USSR he couldn't risk war at his southern flanks.
Greek leader Metaxas would not live to see the German invasion because he passed away
due to ill health in January 1941.
When March 1941 came around fears for a German invasion were growing.
Bulgaria had joined the Axis and German troops amassed at the Bulgarian-Greek border.
Most Greek troops were evacuated from Western Thrace when this happened.
In case of the German attack these would be cut off quickly.
The Greek Army was under command of Alexandros Papagos.
Only several border guard bns remained.
And behind the Metaxas Line were the 7th, 14th and 18th Greek Division, with the 19th
in reserve.
All in all around 70,000 men strong.
Do notice that the Greek First Army, with 14 divisions was in Albania at war with the
Italians.
Greece was not alone in this fight as it was supported by Commonwealth forces: Australians,
New Zealanders and British troops embarked in the Greek ports and took up positions near
Salonika and at the Aliakmon Line.
They were led by Henry Wilson.
On 6 April 1941 Germany invaded both Yugoslavia and Greece.
I did make an episode about the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, see the top right corner.
The German plan of attack was named Operation Marita.
One attack went through Yugoslavia which was invaded simultaneously.
German units did attack the northern Metaxas Line and met stubborn Greek defence.
After 3 days the line collapsed.
Fort Rupel held out longer.
Bombardments didn't do much and the Greeks fought off several attacks.
Even as Salonika was captured (9 April) the fortress held out but did capitulate the following
day.
The Germans disarm captured Greek soldiers but let them go afterwards.
This has several reasons.
Hitler has the Greeks in high regard and was impressed by their bravery against the Italians
(in the Greco Italian War) but also because the Germans had no time to take all surrendering
Greek soldiers as POWs.
So what about the Greek First Army, still stationed in Albania?
They began giving up the lands they fought and died for in the past months.
Morale was low:
“Exhausted by almost six months of fighting in the blizzards and sub-zero temperatures
of the mountains, few among either officers or men had morale left to face a fresh, and
by reputation far more deadly, adversary to their rear.
Within days, discipline began to break down.
Without proper orders from Athens, local commanders on their own initiative sued for terms.”
Outbreaks of mutiny occured.
The Greek Army was disintegrating.
British commander Wilson had hoped the Greeks from Albania would come to defend Mount Olympus.
On 13 April the 9.
Panzer Division fought in a tank on tank battle against the British near Ptolemais.
The Germans lost a handful of tanks, the British in the tens.
The British pulled back but the Germans couldn't pursue them right away, because of the lack
of ammo and gas.
The British decided to pull back to Thermopylae.
The Battle of Lake Kastoria (15 April) was the last land action involving the Greek Army
versus the Axis.
Till the 16th the ANZACS managed to hold the mountain passes further south.
On April 18 the prime minister of Greece Alexandros Koryzis shot himself.
It gave the Allied troops little time to prepare their defences as they were pushed back by
the Germans.
It was clear to the Germans that the Allies wanted to evacuate Greece and therefore
they wanted to capture as much of Allied soldiers as possible.
On 20 April commander Georgios Tsolakoglou he decided to
surrender to the Axis, well to the
Germans.
Not to the Italians.
Tsolakoglou would later head the Greek collaborationist government.
Meanwhile the Allies wanted out and they wanted out now.
At Thermopylae, the site where centuries ago 300 Spartans fought against the invading Persians, now the Australians fought
off the Germans, as long as possible, so their allies could retreat.
An Australian Brigade fought at Bralos. Meanwhile
King George II (and his government) was evacuated by ship from mainland Greece to Crete.
The harbour of Piraeus, not to far from here actually, was seriously damaged by German bombings.
Therefore the Allies had to make use of other ports to evacuate their troops while the Germans hot on their heels.
When detachments of the SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler marched into Patras one observer wrote:
'The men in helmets and carrying over their uniform light camouflage tunics, green, brown
and black, armed to the teeth.
Marching with a heavy but quick step, human "robots" forming two rectangles of iron, they
give an impression of invincible force.'
On the 26th German paratroopers landed at the Corinth Canal to secure entrance to the
Peloponnesus.
The attack was successful, although the bridge got blown up and later repeared.
And I'm now at the Acropolis and here we see an interesting monument.
On 27 April the Germans entered Athens.
They walked up the Acropolis.
There was a Greek guard garding the Greek flag. The Germans ordered the guard to take down the flag at once
which he refused.
Then the Germans did this themselves: they took down the Greek flag and raised the swastika flag.
And handed the Greek flag over to the guard.
Who then took the flag and jumed off the Acropolis and fell to his death 60 metres
below.
Who exactly was this man?
It was Konstantinos Koukidis. But who was he exactly?
Many believed he was an Evzone guard, one of these special guards, but he wasn't on the rolls.
Others believed it was just a 'Greek soldier'.
But the Greek army was disintegrated by now. Both German and Greek witnesses confirm a uniformed man jumping down the Acropolis with the Greek flag.
Most likely he was a member of the Metaxas fascist-like EON (National Youth Organization).
So that explains the uniform. After the war anti-fascists wanted to
hush up his identity.
“The weight of evidence suggests that Koukidis – whatever the uniform he was wearing – was
a real person, and that the suicide story is authentic.
Several eyewitnesses saw his body tumbling down the rocks to come to rest on Thrasyllou
Street, where a monument to his sacrifice now stands.
The witnesses say he was put in an ice-cart and trundled to a burial in Athens’ First
Cemetery not far away.
Such was the dramatic yet humble end of the last hero of the defence and fall of Greece.”
The 29th the south coast of the Peloponnesus is reached by the Germans.
Around 50,000 British Commonwealth troops were successfully evacuated.
Here are some more numbers:
“List’s Twelfth Army lost 1,420 men killed and 3,400 wounded.
[...] The Greeks themselves, from the start of the Italian invasion, lost 13,408 killed
and 42,485 wounded.
Italian losses are roughly comparable.
The Greeks also lost 23,000 men captured, though the great majority of these surrendered
to the Germans, who subsequently let them go home.”
The Greek island of Crete was the last Allied stronghold in Greece.
On 20 May the Germans undertook a massive airborn assault.
New Zealand, Australian and British troops, as well as local Cretans fought valliently,
inflicting huge losses on the incoming paratroopers.
Yet, the Germans prevailed.
Greece was fully occupied now.
The Greek king and the government had made their way to Egypt.
Greece would be occupied by the Germans, the Italians and the Bulgarians.
Greece would see a brutal occupation: a famine in which around 250,000 Greeks perished.
There was collaboration. There was resistance.
More on all that in the future. Please don't forget to subscribe and hit that bell button.