Changes

==German invasion==

==German invasion==

At the start of Operation ''Marita'' (the German invasion of Greece) which began on April 6 1941, the bulk of the Greek Army was fighting in Albania, with the Italians preparing a second spring offensive. The German Army invaded through Bulgaria overrunning the undermanned Metaxas Line. Despite being reinforced with Elite Greek Evzones Regiments, the Greek Army in Albania, which was already suffering from poor morale, proved unable to defend Klisura and Koritza.

At the start of Operation ''Marita'' (the German invasion of Greece) which began on April 6 1941, the bulk of the Greek Army was fighting in Albania, with the Italians preparing a second spring offensive. The German Army invaded through Bulgaria overrunning the undermanned Metaxas Line. Despite being reinforced with Elite Greek Evzones Regiments, the Greek Army in Albania, which was already suffering from poor morale, proved unable to defend Klisura and Koritza.

The German divisions broke the northern Greece defences in three days and reached the city of Athens a few weeks later, on 27 April. The invasion of Greece was completed when the German Army reached the southern shore in Peloponese on 30 April, ending the evacuation of Allied forces and resulting in the capture of 10,000 British Commonwealth troops.<ref>"Australia sent 17,125 troops to Greece, 2030 of whom were taken prisoner and 814 either killed or wounded. In total, approximately 10,000 Allied troops were taken prisoner in Greece." Diggers and Greeks: The Australian Campaigns in Greece and Crete, Maria Hill, p. 311, UNSW Press, 2010</ref> The defeat of Greece was completed with the capture of Crete a month later.

The German divisions broke the northern Greece defences in three days and reached the city of Athens a few weeks later, on 27 April. Australian and New Zealand forces (redesignated the ANZAC Corps) fought well, but withdrawal was soon inevitable with the loss of Koritza. The Allied defences of the historic Thermopylae Pass was merely a respite in the retreat down to Athens.

 

The invasion of Greece was completed when the German Army reached the southern shore in Peloponese on 30 April, ending the evacuation of Allied forces and resulting in the capture of 10,000 British Commonwealth troops.<ref>"Australia sent 17,125 troops to Greece, 2030 of whom were taken prisoner and 814 either killed or wounded. In total, approximately 10,000 Allied troops were taken prisoner in Greece." Diggers and Greeks: The Australian Campaigns in Greece and Crete, Maria Hill, p. 311, UNSW Press, 2010</ref> The defeat of Greece was completed with the capture of Crete a month later.

 

 

The Allied evacuations began on 24 April and over 50,000 troops were removed over five successive nights. Many of the Allied units escaped largely owing to the bravery of the Greek Navy. About 10,000 Allied soldiers who had been cut off from the retreat were left behind in Greece.

==Aftermath==

==Aftermath==