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Operation Demon

Battle of Greece
Part of the Balkans Campaign during World War II
Battle of Greece WWII 1941 map-en.svg
Nazi Germany's attack on Greece
Date 6–30 April 1941
Location Greece and southern Albania
Result Axis victory
Territorial
changes
Greece occupied by Axis Powers
Belligerents
Axis:
 Germany
 Italy
 Bulgaria
Allies:
 Greece
 United Kingdom
 Australia
 New Zealand
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Wilhelm List
Nazi Germany Maximilian von Weichs
Kingdom of Italy Ugo Cavallero
Kingdom of Greece Alexander Papagos
United Kingdom Henry Maitland Wilson
Australia Thomas Blamey
New Zealand Bernard Freyberg
Strength
Germany:
680,000 men
1,200 tanks
700 aircraft
1Italy:
565,000 men
463 aircraft
163 tanks
Total: 1,245,000 men
1Greece:
430,000 men
20 tanks
British Empire:
262,612 men
100 tanks
200–300 aircraft
Casualties and losses
1Italy:
13,755 dead
63,142 wounded
25,067 missing
3Germany:
1,099 dead
3,752 wounded
385 missing
1Greece:
13,408 dead
42,485 wounded
1,290 missing
British Empire:
903 dead
1,250 wounded
13,958 captured

1Statistics about the strength and casualties of Italy and Greece refer to both the Greco-Italian War and the Battle of Greece (at least 300,000 Greek soldiers fought in Albania).
2Including Cypriots and Mandatory Palestinians. British, Australian and New Zealand troops were c. 58,000.

3Statistics about German casualties refer to the Balkans Campaign as a whole and are based on Hitler's statements to the Reichstag on 4 May 1941.
Battle of Greece Timeline
6 April The German armies invade Greece.
8 April The German 164th Infantry Division captures Xanthi.
9 April German troops seize Thessaloniki.
The German 72nd Infantry Division breaks through the Metaxas Line.
The Greek army in Macedonia capitulates unconditionally.
10 April The Germans overcome the enemy resistance north of Vevi, at the Klidi Pass.
13 April General Wilson decides to withdraw all British forces to the Haliacmon river, and then to Thermopylae.
Elements of the Greek First Army operating in Albania withdraw toward the Pindus mountains.
Hitler issues his Directive No. 27, which illustrates his future policy of occupation in Greece.
14 April The spearheads of the 9th Panzer Division reach Kozani.
After fighting at Kastoria pass, the Germans block the Greek withdrawal, which extends across the entire Albanian front.
16 April Wilson informs General Papagos of his decision to withdraw to Thermopylae.
17 April Rear admiral H. T. Baillie-Grohman is sent to Greece to prepare for the evacuation of the Commonwealth forces.
18 April After a three-days struggle, German armored infantry crosses the Pineios river.
The 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler—which had reached Grevena— overwhelms several Greek units.
19 April German troops enter Larissa and take possession of the airfield.
German troops capture Ioannina.
20 April The commander of the Greek forces in Albania, General Georgios Tsolakoglou, offers to surrender his army to the Germans alone.
The Bulgarian Army occupies most of Thrace.
21 April The final decision for the evacuation of the Commonwealth forces to Crete and Egypt is taken.
The Germans capture the port of Volos.
23 April Official surrender of the Greek forces in Albania to both the Germans and the Italians after a personal representation from Mussolini to Hitler
24 April The Germans attack the Commonwealth forces at Thermopylae. The British rear guards withdraw to Thebes.
5,200 Commonwealth soldiers are evacuated from Porto Rafti, East Attica.
25 April The few RAF squadrons leave Greece. Some 10,200 Australian troops are evacuated from Nafplio and Megara.
The Germans stage an airborne operation to seize the bridges over the Corinth Canal.
27 April The first Germans enter Athens.
28 April Italian troops start occupying the Ionian and Aegean islands.
29 April 5th Panzer Division units reach the south coast of Peloponnese, where they are joined by SS troops arriving from Pyrgos.
30 April The evacuation of 42,311 Commonwealth soldiers is completed. The Germans manage to capture around 7-8,000 Commonwealth troops.

1Statistics about the strength and casualties of Italy and Greece refer to both the Greco-Italian War and the Battle of Greece (at least 300,000 Greek soldiers fought in Albania).
2Including Cypriots and Mandatory Palestinians. British, Australian and New Zealand troops were c. 58,000.

The Battle of Greece (also known as Operation Marita, German: Unternehmen Marita) is the common name for the invasion of Allied Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941 during World War II. Concomitant to the stalled Greco-Italian War, it is usually distinguished from the Battle of Crete, which came after mainland Greece had been subdued. These Axis operations were part of the greater Balkan Campaign of Germany.

At the time of the German invasion, Greece was at war with Fascist Italy, following the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940. The Greeks joined the Allies and defeated the initial Italian attack and the counter-attack of March 1941. When Operation Marita began on 6 April, the bulk of the Greek Army was on the Greek border with Albania, then a protectorate of Italy, from which the Italian troops had attacked. German troops invaded from Bulgaria, creating a second front. Greece had already received a small, inadequate reinforcement from British Empire forces in anticipation of the German attack, but no more help was sent afterward. The Greek army found itself outnumbered in its effort to defend against both Italian and German troops. As a result, the Metaxas defensive line did not receive adequate troop reinforcements and was quickly overrun by the Germans, who then outflanked the Greek forces at the Albanian border, forcing their surrender. The British Empire forces were overwhelmed and forced to retreat, with the ultimate goal of evacuation. For several days, Allied troops played an important part in containing the German advance on the Thermopylae position, allowing ships to be prepared to evacuate the units defending Greece. The German Army reached the capital, Athens, on 27 April and Greece's southern shore on 30 April, capturing 7,000 British Empire forces and ending the battle with a decisive victory. The conquest of Greece was completed with the capture of Crete a month later. Following its fall, Greece was occupied by the military forces of Germany, Italy and Bulgaria.


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