The battle for Greece & Crete.pdf - Army Museum of South Australia

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This booklet is an initiative of the Defence Reserves Association (NSW) Inc. and the Military PoliceAssociation of Australia Inc. as part of their Schools Military History Program.Written and compiled by Matt Walsh JP MLO ALGA (MCAE) Dip Bus & Corp Law (CPS)© 2005: second edition 2006: third edition 2007.Published by Matt Walsh 115 Leacocks Lane Casula 2170 Australia
PrefaceIf one wishes to examine particular campaigns or battles a large amount of information can be found inthe histories of the various units involved or from the sanitised official war histories of the times.Unfortunately, but understandably the unit histories concentrate on the activities of that particular unitand therefore it can be difficult to obtain an overall view of a battle or campaign.In many instances the social aspects and impacts are not discussed, nor the interrelationships of thepersonalities and other units involved and the overall statistics of a campaign.It is also sometimes difficult to ascertain the initial reasons for the campaign as often this can go backin history and relate to a political or other event.The following is an attempt to bring together in one place some of the many facets of the battle forGreece and Crete and its impact on those involved and finally to hopefully encourage further researchand therefore an understanding of all the aspects of this campaign.BackgroundIn September 1940 Hitler achieved the bloodless seizure of Romania which gave him access to theoilfields at Ploesti. It was these oilfields which were to be part of the catalyst for the future invasion ofGreece and Crete.This success by Hitler encouraged his cohort Mussolini on the 28 October 1940 to order the invasion ofGreece he saw this action as a way of showing Hitler that he was an important part of the Axis Alliance.Fortunately for Greece they were able to defeat the Italians however the loss did not go well forMussolini as Hitler was not impressed with the Greek victory that as a result of the unsuccessful attackby Mussolini the Greeks had now entered into an agreement with the British to send troops to supportGreece particularly as they had rejected an earlier offer in January 1940 by the British to providesimilar support.The Greek approachIn early 1939 both Britain and France foresaw the possibility of Germany attacking Romania followedby Greece. If occurred then it was possible that Turkey would be next. To prevent this form occurringWinston Churchill in January 1940 offered to provide Greece with a small number of troops to bestationed in Greece to assist in the defence of the country should that become necessaryGeneral Metaxas (Greek Prime Minister) and General Papagos rejected the offer for two reasons.Firstly, it could provoke the Germans into an attack on Greece, secondly if an attack did occur the forcewould be too small to prevent or repel the attack. It is understood that General Mextaxas wassympathetic to the Germans.This decision was to change in 1941 and allied troops were sent to defend Greece.The British perspectiveChurchill in one of his many ‘flashes of brilliance’ saw the stationing of troops in Greece as a way ofcommencing a second front in Europe. Like many of his ideas, it had no substance and this can beseen by comparing what was originally agreed too and what was eventually sent. As was usual withChurchill his enthusiasm faded and he passed the buck to some one else.- 1 -
Page 1 and 2: THE BATTLEFORGREECE AND CRETEMatt W
Page 3: The German Invasion Force- Strength
Page 7 and 8: Dissentions about the campaignMany
Page 9 and 10: This bond which developed between t
Page 11 and 12: Recollections of a Greek Youth a Pa
Page 13 and 14: AthensApril20 th Nurses____________
Page 15 and 16: The GreeksGeneral Alexander Papagos
Page 17 and 18: The RAAF in GreeceVery little infor
Page 19 and 20: Crete was considered to be of strat
Page 21 and 22: Troops were to be dispersed to the
Page 23 and 24: The evacuation Beachat Sfakia (Stak
Page 25 and 26: At 6.45 am on the 20 th May 1941 th
Page 27 and 28: The PlayersAustraliaBrigadier Georg
Page 29 and 30: On one occasion on the submarine HM
Page 31 and 32: The march throughout was an exceedi
Page 33 and 34: Extract from the War Diary of 7 th
Page 35 and 36: April 25 1941: Fine. Remained hidde
Page 37 and 38: On the 20 th the Hospital ship Oba
Page 39 and 40: The route taken by Paul Cullen duri
Page 41 and 42: 42 nd Street gained importance in t
Page 43 and 44: Australian Units who served in Gree
Page 45 and 46: List of some of the ships involved
Page 47 and 48: CruiserHelle (sunk)SubmarinePapantk
Page 49 and 50: Service details of some of the Mili
Page 51 and 52: The grave of L/Cpl BarnesPlaques in
Page 53 and 54: 7 th Division Provost CompanyPerson
Page 55 and 56:
BibliographyAustralian Corps of Sig
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