Account for the fall of Greece in 1941

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

I'm abit stuck in this area. If you could point be in the direction of good reading material or just a little info would be great. Cheers.

[Rodion Romanovich]

A good place to start is www.onwar.com for a ww2 chronology. It should have material for a total of 5 pages or so about invasion of Greece I think. Starts here: http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/apr41/f06apr41.htm

[econ21]

Greece had a largely WW1 style army, reliant on infantry and artillery without substantial air or armour. There was little realistic prospect they could ultimately hold out against a substantial German invasion.

However, the Greeks did do well against the Italians that had been attacking from Albania and IIRC even made inroads into Albania. The Italians also fought a largely WW1 style battle, but the mountainous terrain favoured the Greek defenders who probably also had an edge in terms of morale.

The Italian humiliation forced Germany to reluctantly intervene, overrunning Yugoslavia and attacking Greece from there and from Bulgaria. The Germans wanted to clear the decks for an assault on Russia, but the Balkan operation ended up delaying Barbarossa. And although Yugoslavia and Greece fell quickly enough, partisans there continued to be a major irritant throughout the war - tying down increasing divisions in garrison duties.

The Greeks had committed most of their forces to the Albanian front and were effectively outflanked when the Germans attacked from the east. IIRC, there may have been Greek fortifications facing the border with Bulgaria, but not with Yugoslavia. The German panzers thus had a 1940 "Ardennes" style opportunity to exploit yet again and thrust through the gap in the Greek lines.

Britain scrambled troops to stop the Germans - IIRC there was an encounter at Thermopolae (sp) - but Britain lacked air superiority and they were driven out - again with echoes of the 1940 French campaign. They made a D-Day style withdraw to Crete. The Germans pursued with an expensive airborne assault that nearly failed, succeding at such high cost, Hitler ruled out ever using paratroops en masse again.

[conon394]

Hitler ruled out ever using paratroops en masse again

A huge benefit for the Allies, since it seems to have impacted on Hitler’s willingness attack Malta.

[Brenus]

“The Germans wanted to clear the decks for an assault on Russia” The war between Greece and Italy, Greece being a UK ally, allowed the British to use Greek airport. THAT was a direct menace from the Halifax bombers on the oil field of Ploesti (sp?) which couldn't be ignored by Hitler.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

“The Germans wanted to clear the decks for an assault on Russia” The war between Greece and Italy, Greece being a UK ally, allowed the British to use Greek airport. THAT was a direct menace from the Halifax bombers on the oil field of Ploesti (sp?) which couldn't be ignored by Hitler.

Good point. Once Greece had been made a belligerent by the Italians, it would have been only a question of time until a raid was staged through Greece to Ploesti.

The Greeks fought well, but (as noted above) lacked equipment.

Not so sure as to how much the Balkan campaign delayed Barbarossa. Waiting for dry road/ground conditions was just as much a factor.