Narrates the spirited but ultimately doomed Greek defense against
invasion by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in 1940 and 41.
On 28th October 1940, the Greek premier, Ioannis Metaxis, refused to
accept a deliberately provocative ultimatum from Mussolini and Italian
forces began the invasion of Greece via Albania.
This aggression was prompted by Mussolini's desire for a quick victory
to rival Hitler's rapid conquest of France and the Low Countries. On
paper, Greek forces were poorly equipped and ill-prepared for the
conflict but Mussolini had underestimated the skill and determination of
the defenders. Within weeks the Italian invasion force was driven back
over the border and Greek forces actually advanced deep into Albania. A
renewed Italian offensive in March 1941 was also given short shrift,
prompting Hitler to intervene to save his ally. German forces invaded
Greece via Bulgaria on 6 April.
The Greeks, now assisted by British forces, resisted by land, sea and
air but were overwhelmed by the superior German forces and their
blitzkrieg tactics. Despite a dogged rearguard action by Anzac forces at
the famous pass of Thermopyale, Athens fell on the 27th April and the
British evacuated 50,000 troops to Crete. This island, whose airfields
and naval bases Churchill considered vital to the defense of Egypt and
the Suez Canal, was invaded by German airborne troops the following
month and eventually captured after a bitter thirteen-day battle. The
remaining British troops were evacuated and the fall of Greece
completed.
John Carr's masterful account of these desperate campaigns, while not
disparaging the British and Commonwealth assistance, draws heavily on
Greek sources to emphasize the oft-neglected experience of the Greeks
themselves and their contribution to the fight against fascism.
