Blitzkrieg. Lightning war. We are all familiar with the rapid thrusts
the Germans made in the early days of the Second World War that saw the
demise first of Poland and then the Low Countries and France. But were
the German tactics, which appeared at the time to smash through all
resistance, really as devastating as they seemed? That is the major
question Jeffrey Plowman asks in this absorbing new study of the
campaign in Greece in 1941.
Within three weeks they overran the country but, by looking into the
campaign in detail, the author claims that at no time did the Germans
gain ascendancy over the token British and Anzac force sent to bolster
the Greek defenders. They came close to doing so, but the Anzac troops
and their Greek allies put up a spirited defense that sometimes turned
the Germans' own methods against them.
This perceptive new account should prompt a reassessment of the Greek
campaign. It also offers a fascinating insight into the weaknesses of
the Germans' all-conquering method of warfare which became increasing
apparent during the later stages of the war.