German Invasion of Greece, April 1941

Italian forces crossed the Albanian frontier at 05:30, half an hour before the ultimatum delivered in Athens was due to expire. The opening operations pressed into Epirus and the Pindus while the Greek government ordered general mobilisation.

On 14 November the Hellenic Army began a general counteroffensive along the Albanian front after stopping the Italian invasion. Greek formations advanced through difficult mountain country toward Korçë, the Drin valleys and the approaches to the Italian supply system.

Directive No. 20, issued on 13 December, ordered the German armed forces to prepare Operation Marita. The plan envisaged a force assembling in southern Romania, moving through Bulgaria and occupying the northern Aegean coast, with the option of extending the operation across mainland Greece.

German troops officially entered Bulgaria during the first four days of March after Bulgaria joined the Tripartite Pact. Twelfth Army began moving through the country toward assembly areas opposite Greece and southern Yugoslavia.

From 7 March, the headquarters and units of I Australian Corps, 6th Australian Division, 2nd New Zealand Division, the British 1st Armoured Brigade and supporting troops began disembarking through Piraeus and Volos. The movement continued through the end of the month.

The military coup in Belgrade removed the Yugoslav regency and brought Dušan Simović to power. Hitler responded by ordering the military destruction of Yugoslavia and integrating that new operation with the attack already prepared against Greece.

At 05:15 German artillery and aircraft opened the attack against Greek positions along the Bulgarian frontier. XVIII Mountain Corps struck the Metaxas Line while XXX Corps attacked farther east and German mobile forces simultaneously advanced into southern Yugoslavia.

Greek garrisons at Roupel and the other Metaxas forts fought from concrete positions, underground galleries and prepared field works against artillery, dive bombing, engineers and infantry. The Hellenic Army records twenty-one autonomous forts within the system.

German aircraft attacked Piraeus during the first night of the campaign. Bombing set the ammunition-laden Clan Fraser on fire; the ship later exploded, spreading fires and secondary detonations through the harbour area and damaging nearby vessels and installations.

The 6th Mountain Division pushed across snow-covered high ground west of the main Roupel approaches, using routes considered unsuitable for ordinary vehicles. By 7 April its troops were reaching the valleys and communications behind portions of the fixed frontier defence.

After moving through Strumica, 2nd Panzer Division crossed toward Greece south of Lake Doiran and overran elements of the Greek 19th Motorised Division. The route carried German armour around the western end of the fortified position facing Bulgaria.

At 08:00 on 9 April, the German 2nd Panzer Division entered Salonika after approaching through Yugoslav territory and the Vardar–Doiran corridor. The city was occupied without the kind of fortress battle still continuing farther east.

At 14:00 Bakopoulos signed the capitulation of the Eastern Macedonia Army Section after receiving instructions to end a position that had been cut off by the German occupation of Salonika. A ceasefire was imposed later that afternoon, while orders reached individual fort garrisons unevenly.

Australian, British, New Zealand and Greek troops occupied the Vevi–Klidi position on 9 April to close the narrow route south from the Monastir plain. Their task was to delay the German advance while Greek forces withdrew and a new line was prepared along the Aliakmon.

On 13 April, with the Vevi position broken and German armour driving toward Kozani, Wilson decided to withdraw W Force toward the Thermopylae line. Papagos accepted the need to shorten the front while Greek formations in Albania also began moving back through the Pindus.

Australian, New Zealand and Greek formations held sectors around Servia and the Aliakmon while the main withdrawal continued. German armour had reached Kozani and was testing the crossings, but the defenders still occupied strong ground on the southern approaches.

On the morning of 16 April, 2nd Panzer Division renewed its attack against the 21st New Zealand Battalion on the castle ridge at Platamon. German artillery preparation began at 09:00 before infantry and armour attacked the position from the front and flank.

Australian and New Zealand troops held the western end of the Pinios Gorge while German tanks, motorised infantry and mountain troops searched for crossings through and around the defile. The first German tanks crossed the river by nightfall on 17 April but bogged down while trying to bypass demolitions.

Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis died in Athens on 18 April while the government was confronting the collapse of the northern front, the withdrawal of the Greek armies from Albania and the prospect that British forces would have to leave the mainland.

At Votonosi near Metsovo on 20 April, Lieutenant General Georgios Tsolakoglou signed a surrender protocol with Josef Dietrich at 18:00 for the Greek armies trapped in Epirus and western Macedonia. He had acted without authorisation from Papagos or the government.

By 21 April the British command was organising the removal of the expeditionary force from mainland Greece. The decision had grown out of the earlier withdrawal toward Thermopylae and the recognition that the Greek field armies could no longer form a connected front with W Force.

German flying columns reached the Thermopylae area as Australian troops held Brallos and New Zealand troops covered the coastal route around Molos and Thermopylae. German probing attacks on 22 April met artillery, infantry and a small number of tanks in prepared positions.

On 23 April a new capitulation agreement was signed by Tsolakoglou for Greece, Alfred Jodl for Germany and Alberto Ferrero for Italy. It replaced the earlier German-only arrangements made after Tsolakoglou’s initiative on 20 April.

During the night of 24–25 April the Commonwealth rearguards abandoned Thermopylae and Brallos after completing their delaying mission. Demolitions were left on roads, bridges and railway infrastructure to slow the pursuit.

On the night of 24–25 April the Mediterranean Fleet began the main lift, embarking more than 12,000 troops from Porto Rafti and Nafplion while other groups moved toward Rafina, Megara, Monemvasia and Kalamata.

At 07:00 on 26 April, two battalions of the German 2nd Parachute Regiment with engineers and supporting troops descended around the Corinth Canal. Gliders landed on both sides of the isthmus while paratroops moved on the road-and-rail bridge.

On the morning of 27 April the first German troops entered Athens after the last Commonwealth rearguards withdrew south of the city. A reconnaissance detachment of 5th Panzer Division was among the formations recorded entering the capital that day.

The Dutch troopship Slamat was caught by German air attack after embarking troops from the Peloponnese. The destroyers Diamond and Wryneck remained to rescue survivors and were themselves attacked and sunk later on 27 April.

Thousands of British, Australian and other Allied personnel had gathered around Kalamata for evacuation when German troops reached the area during the final phase of the Peloponnese pursuit. Fighting and confusion around the town disrupted the planned lift.

By 30 April the last organised British groups on the mainland had either escaped or been captured, and German records treated hostilities there as ended. German and Italian forces controlled the principal mainland routes and occupation arrangements followed the advance.