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In April 1941 Italy's [[Axis]] allies joined the invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia, with the Greek in Army n Albania forced to abandon all gains in the face of a new Italian counteroffensive under General [[Ugo Cavallero]] and orders from Athens to halt the German advance through Greece.
In April 1941 Italy's [[Axis]] allies joined the invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia, with the Greek in Army n Albania forced to abandon all gains in the face of a new Italian counteroffensive under General [[Ugo Cavallero]] and orders from Athens to halt the German advance through Greece.
The German divisions broke the northern Greece defences in three days and reached the city of Athens a few weeks later, on 27 April.
==Italian invasion==
==Italian invasion==
On 17 April, British General Henry Maitland Wilson wrote that Greek defeatism, ''"was now getting widespread"''. That evening the Greek Prime Minister, Alexander Korizis, retired into his study and shot himself after telling the Greek King that ''"he felt he had failed him in the task entrusted to him"''.
On 17 April, British General Henry Maitland Wilson wrote that Greek defeatism, ''"was now getting widespread"''. That evening the Greek Prime Minister, Alexander Korizis, retired into his study and shot himself after telling the Greek King that ''"he felt he had failed him in the task entrusted to him"''.
Between 20 and 22 April 1941, Australian, British and New Zealand units dug in on the Thermopylae Line with orders to hald German advance across the plain from Lamia
Between 20 and 22 April 1941, Australian, British and New Zealand units dug in on the Thermopylae Line with orders to halt the German advance across the plain from Lamia. At that moment Australian General Iven Mackay was confident that Thermopylae Pass could be held for a considerable time. Brigadier George Alan Vasey addressed the Australian 6th Division — ''"Here you bloody well are and here you bloody well stay!"'' But despite the determination of the British Commonwealth soldiers, the defence of Greece and Albania was collapsing.
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 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.