Difference between revisions of "Greco-Italian War"

Revision as of 03:32, September 9, 2016

The Greco-Italian War was one of the many conflicts in Europe that were part of World War II. On October 28, 1940, Italian dictator Mussolini demanded Greece surrender. Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas refused, saying simply "okhi" (Greek for "no"). Italian troops invaded, starting the war. With numerically inferior forces, Greek General Alexander Papagos was able to repel the invaders before winter set in.

Even though the Italians had a large air force and navy, the Comando Supremo (Italian Supreme Command) failed to deploy all of the available combat aircraft and elite parachute and marine forces behind Greek lines, attacks that could have tied down a good part of the 15 Greek battalions sent to defend the Pindus sector.

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.

Italian invasion

Employing a massive invasion force of eight divisions, with full compliments of artillery, armour, and the warplanes of the Regia Aeronautica, which were launched from Albania, the Italians advanced along the Greek coast and mountain passes towards Kalpaki.

Despite fierce Greek resistance, the invaders established a bridgehead over the Kalamas River. However, rapidly rising rivers and mud tracks slowed down the Italian advance, with the Greek defenders falling back into fortified positions.

Greek invasion of Albania

Much fighting took place in November, during the Greek Army invasion of Albania. The most significant and bloody setback for the Italian invaders took place during the Battle of Pindus near Kalamas River in late October and early November 1940, when the advance of the Julia Alpine Division was halted and elite Italian Bersaglieri and Greek Evzones battalions fought bitterly at the foot of Mount Morova.

On 6 November, Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano assured Mussolini that the Italian forces dug in and around Koritza (Korçë) would be able to halt the Greeks.

On 8 November, with General Ubaldo Soddu reporting the complete disintegration of General Sebastiano Visconti Prasca's forces and Ciano proven wrong, Mussolini scrapped the invasion of Greece in favour of defensive operations in Albania and ordered that the Italian Army in Albania be urgently strengthened to seventeen divisions.

On 14 November, the 214,000-strong Greek Army in Abania seized the initiative. Italian reinforcements were rushed forward to restore the broken lines, often without supporting air cover and artillery support.

On 20 December, the Italian Army in Albania were nearly defeated. The Greek Army continued to attack, knowing that the Italians were disorganized. The Italian invaders were back at the original positions north of Himara, Kalarat and Benca.

In December, for his part in the failed invasion General Pietro Badoglio was fired and replaced by General Ugo Cavallero as commander of forces in the Greek-Albanian theater of operations. Cavallero mounted a solid defense in the winter of December-February though his Primamera Offensive failed to defeat Greeks in March.

Stalemate

In January 1941 with the bulk of Greek Army pinned down in Albania, it was clear in Athens and the British Middle East Command in Egypt that without British Commonwealth reinforcements, the Greek gains in Albania could be lost, or Greece conquered in a German invasion for the Greek commanders had left the main defences along the Metaxas Line in northern Greece seriously undermanned.

General Ugo Cavallero reinforced his positions in Albania with a total of 28 divisions (comprising 4 Alpine, 1 Armoured and 23 Infantry divisions), totalling 526,000 men. On 9 March, he launched the Spring Offensive with seven divisions in an attack aimed at advancing through the Vijose River and Mount Tommorit. The 14 Greek divisions in Albania lost some ground in the initial fighting, but the offensive was called off on 25 March due to heavy casualties and Greek counterattacks.

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.

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. The defeat of Greece was completed with the capture of Crete a month later.

Losses

The Italian losses amounted to 13,755 killed, 50,874 wounded and 25,067 captured or missing. German losses in the invasion of Greece were 1,500 killed (including 200 Luftwaffe pilots) and 3,700 wounded.

The Greeks suffered 70,000 killed or wounded and 270,000 captured. The British forces reported losing 12,000 killed, wounded or captured.