Middle East Theatre of World War II - Balkans and Greek Islands Campaign

Balkans and Greek Islands Campaign

In late 1940, the Italians attacked Greece from Albania in the Greco-Italian War. Not only did the Greeks stop the attack, they forced the Italians back. Eventually, in the spring of 1941, the Germans intervened in Greece. They also invaded Yugoslavia concurrently.

The Greeks had been reluctant to allow Commonwealth ground forces into the country, because Britain could not spare enough forces to guarantee victory. They had, however, accepted aid from the RAF in their war with the Italians in Albania. The trigger for Commonwealth forces moving to Greece in large numbers was the entry of German forces into Bulgaria, which made clear the German intent to invade Greece.

Commonwealth forces took position on a defensive line running from north-west to south-east across the northern part of Greece. However, there were critical weaknesses in the defences. The Greek forces in the area were further forward than the Commonwealth forces, and the Greek Government ignored suggestions that they should withdraw to a common line. The Greek forces were thus defeated in detail. There was also a large gap between the left flank of Commonwealth forces and the right flank of the Greek forces in Albania. That was exploited fully by the Germans.

After being expelled from the Greek mainland, Commonwealth forces retreated to Crete. There, the Germans again exploited weaknesses in the defences with a bold invasion plan. In the largest and last German airborne assault, paratroops landed at several points on the island and the Battle of Crete began. In all but one location, they were cut off and destroyed, and the follow-on seaborne forces were dispersed by the Allied navies. However, that one location was enough, and reinforcements were flown in to the point where the Germans were strong enough to break out and take the rest of the island.

Command in London eventually decided the cause was hopeless, and ordered a withdrawal from Sfakia. Over the next four nights 16,000 troops were taken off Crete to Egypt. A smaller number were withdrawn on a separate mission from Heraklion, but these ships were attacked en-route by Luftwaffe dive bombers and suffered serious losses. On 1 June the remaining 5,000 defenders at Sfakia surrendered, although many took to the hills and caused the German occupation problems for years.

During the evacuation of Crete Admiral Andrew Cunningham was determined that the "navy must not let the army down", when British generals stated their fears that too many ships would be lost, Cunningham said, "It takes three years to build a ship, it takes three centuries to build a tradition." Nevertheless, large numbers of Allied soldiers were taken prisoner on Crete.