April 6, 2021 marked the 80th anniversary of the Nazi German invasion of Greece.
In the spring 1941, Greece was already winning in the Albanian mountains against Mussolini’s inept and demoralized troops. Despite overwhelming Italian numerical and material superiority, the attacker was of poor morale and even worse training. Mussolini’s attempt to prove his Fascist Italy a military “great power” thus collapsed in the inhospitable battleground of Northern Epirus prompting German irritation and concern. Adolf Hitler was at the time immersed in his preparations to invade the USSR but he had no option other than rushing to salvage Mussolini lest the infamous “Axis” Pact would suffer a humiliating defeat at the most inopportune time. A coup d’etat in Yugoslavia that overthrew a pro-German government added to the Fuhrer’s concerns about the Balkans. Thus, it was decided to postpone the invasion of Russia and pivot to the southern Europe to secure the German army’s future southeastern flank as it pushed into the Soviet Union.
Dubbed Operation Marita, the initial two-pronged German attack against Greece and Yugoslavia, carried out by the 12th Army, under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelm List, quickly defeated the Yugoslavs and turned toward the Greeks and defeated them also in a short engagement near Lake Doiran.
Next was the Metaxas Line of static fortifications. Designed to provide fighting positions to 200,000 men, the line was manned by a mere 70,000. Fierce fighting followed with German mountain troops suffering serious casualties. The attackers deployed heavy artillery and Stukas dive bombers. Both dented the line only slightly. German maneuvering finally outflanked the Greek positions but the Metaxas forts held until, on April 9, German armored troops entered Thessaloniki cutting off the Metaxas Line from the rest of the front; the same day, the Greek defenders surrendered.
In his memoirs, General of Panzer Troops Herman Balck, then an armored regimental commander, described the German entry into Thessaloniki as follows:
We entered Salonika on 9 April. The world had gone totally crazy. The city was packed with people shouting, “Heil Hitler, Heil Hitler, Bravo, Bravo!” Flowers were thrown into our vehicles. All hands were raised in the Hitler salute. Were we occupying an enemy town, or were we returning back home to a victory parade? Overall the Greek troops had fought brilliantly and quite tenaciously They had been the toughest of all of our adversaries so far. They even fired ondiving Stukas with their rifles. Their fortifications were cleverly designed. The fighting was more difficult than for the Maginot Line. Up to that point the Greek soldiers had been considered the worst in the Balkans.
Balck had also this to say about the Metaxas Line:
The fortifications were very modern and offered complete protection against Stukas and heavy sustained fire. The weapons were protected by concrete or armor. The design more or less mirrored the Maginot Line. River sections, impassable mountain terrain, and artificial obstacles made the line even more complex. The whole layout was cleverly adapted to the surrounding terrain. They also used numerous false bunkers. The fires of all weapons interlocked. The line tied into the Aegean Sea in the east and to the Yugoslav border in the west, without any possibility of a bypass. It was an absolutely impenetrable obstacle for the Bulgarians, with their technologically inferior equipment.
Meantime, a British expeditionary force, comprising mainly Empire troops, was fighting its own rearguard action against the relentless German advance. Historians have expended much ink describing the British as rather uncooperative and fighting “their own little war” in almost total separation from the Greek defense. This confusion further weakened an already lost situation and led to British headlong retreat and eventual evacuation from Greece.
Meantime, on April 20, Lieutenant General Georgios Tsolakoglou, commanding the Army of Epirus, decided to surrender his 14 divisions to the Germans; this decision was later attributed to Tsolakoglou wishing to avoid a humiliating surrender to the Italians who his soldiers had decisively and thoroughly defeated.
This unauthorized move prompted the immediate condemnation of General Papagos, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, but other senior generals saw Tsolakoglou’s initiative with a kinder eye because of the exhaustion of the troops and signs of unauthorized retreat.
Tsolakoglou opened parley with Waffen SS general Josef "Sepp" Dietrich, a close friend of Adolf Hitler, and on April 20, 1941, Greek Orthodox Easter day, he signed the Army of Epirus surrender instruments. One day later, Tsolakoglou signed the full surrender of the Hellenic Army and, on April 23, affixed his signature to a combined German-Italian surrender document, a move designed by the Germans to protect Italian battlefield “honor.”
On April 27, motorcycle troops spearheading the German advance entered Athens. The city was silent, its inhabitants keeping to their shuttered homes. The night before Hellenic Radio had broadcast the following announcement:
You are listening to the voice of Greece. Greeks, stand firm, proud and dignified. You must prove yourselves worthy of your history. The valor and victory of our army has already been recognised. The righteousness of our cause will also be recognised. We did our duty honestly. Friends! Have Greece in your hearts, live inspired with the fire of her latest triumph and the glory of our army. Greece will live again and will be great, because she fought honestly for a just cause and for freedom. Brothers! Have courage and patience. Be stout hearted. We will overcome these hardships. Greeks! With Greece in your minds you must be proud and dignified. We have been an honest nation and brave soldiers.