Greek army

Site Issues 2005 Archive Room
#41

Geia sou kai pali file mou.
The link i’ve provided is from the official site of the Greek Army.
I’ve seen these uniforms in war museums in Greece and they are 100% accurate.
Of course there were a lot of British and French style uniforms in Army stock at that time and if you look carefully at the picture,you will notice that the french-style helmet was used by the artillery,the british-style in other units and the infantry’s units are equiped with the italian style.
The most common on the Albanian campain is the italian style.

Na se kala

#42

Xairetw se (;-))

That link that you provided would have been the best if there were not errors in the clickable links. I might write them an email to see if they can fix the problems with those links.

About the helmets, I’ve known about the helmets, but, lol, I hardly know anything about the uniforms :lol:

Kai esi episis :slight_smile:

#43

Try the Greek version of the site-seems to work ok.
Kalimera.

#44

heh, it does too.

It would have been excellent if they provided a description for each item on display there.

Ti palikaria pou eisan… pou na kanoume emeis oi nearoi tetoies thisies…

I may post an email to them to see if they can begin to rectify that. That page could become a wealth of information if they exploit it properly.

#45

Yeah tell me about it :?
Eimai sigouros oti oloi mas tha kanoume to idio kai tora an xriastei.

#46

Sorry to everyone for hijacking this thread, but I have become despondent, and am eager to find out the information that I need.

@Tsolias

I have emailed them seeking more information on the period we are talking about. I’ll let you know of the answer of course. :slight_smile:

Elpizo na to kaname, an xreiastei.

#47

i havnt read it all yet, and dont know if some1’s explained it, but ill explain it so other ppl my age if there are (teenagers) can understand it

Ok, Greece remained neutral through the war until Mussolini declared war on Greece if she did not surrender. The leader of Greece who was a DICTATOR named Metaxas said Oxi (meaning No)

Greece being outnumbered more then 2:1 pushed the Italians back into Albania and reclaimed land that was originally part of Greece

The reason Hitler needed Greece invaded was because Greece was a good place for the allies to have their aircrafts to attack the Romanian oilfields (if you’re passionate about WW2 im sure u’d know why [the Romanian oilfields, as Romania was allies with German])

Hitler had plans to invade Russia during spring, but because Italy failed to invade Greece, Germany had to invade Greece itself, successfully doing so

By this stage it was Winter and the Germans were low on supplies and didnt have winter uniforms for their troops, thus the Russians started scorched earth and the Battle of Stahlingrad started (which from here on im hoping you all know how the rest of the War happened)

its because of these strings of events (started by Greece) caused the downfall of the German Empire

NOTE: i disgaree with people that say Greece represented democracy by oppessing foreign rule in ww2, as Greece wasnt a democratic country during ww2 and a bit before as their was a DICTATOR named Metaxas

i dont see Metaxas as a hero for saying Oxi as any Greek would’ve said Oxi, he was a dictator, end of story

mind you, thats why Winston Chruchill said ‘Thus we will not say Greeks fight like Heroes but Heroes fight like Greeks’

#48

Hey mate welcome!
Your post is very accurate.
Metaxas was indeed a dictator,a national socialist very similar to A.H…
His youth organitation (EON) even have the nazi salute!
Thank God that didn’t stop him from saying no and thus changing the route of war and history.
cya

#49

im only 15 but i know most of Greece’s history accurately :wink:

ZHTO H ELLADA!

#50

ZHTO H ELLADA!

Please say that on english what’s that means. :wink:

#51

Zhto H Ellada means long live Greece

#52

And i say es lebe unser heiliges deutschland :lol: :lol:

#53

“Long live Greece under Germany?”

(How many point do I get if I answered correctly? :-D)

#54

No It means:
Our holly Germany lives.

#55

Bah! For some stupid reason I thought “heiliges” was griechenland :lol: (Monday morning blues…)

#56

Yes ,Long live our holy germany :lol: :lol:

#57

Griechenland is Greece in German, i dont c that word in there :wink:

#58

woops sorry, i didnt see you correct urself, lol

#59

lol!

(Sorry for the spammy reply here, but I found it funny :smiley: )

#60

OK lets get back on topic.

Greece: Army on Mobilization, October 28, 1940

Independent

6th Infantry Division

Crete
8th Infantry Division

Epirus; reinforced with 1 arty bn and AAA units
UI Cavalry Division

I Corps

2nd Infantry Division

Athens
3rd Infantry Division

Patros, Peleponneses; bde at Chakis, Euboea
4th Infantry Division

Nauplion, Peleponneses

II Corps

1st Infantry Division

Larissa, Thessalonike
9th Infantry Division

Kozani, West Macedonia
4th Infantry Brigade

Florina, West Macedonia
5th Infantry Brigade

Trikkala, West Macedonia
16th Infantry Brigade

Larrisa, Thessalonike

III Corps

6th Infantry Division

Serra, East Macedonia
10th Infantry Division

Verroia, East Macedonia
11th Infantry Division

Salonika, East Macedonia
17th Infantry Division

Salonika, East Macedonia

IV Corps

7th Infantry Division

Drama, East Macedonia
14th Infantry Division

Xanthi, East Macedonia

V Corps

12th Infantry Division

Komotini, Thrace
13th Infantry Division

Aegean Archipelego

Each corps had assigned a cavalry battalion, an artillery regiment of 28 tubes, an AAA regiment of 34 guns, AAA companies, and an engineer battalion. In some corps, these corps troops had less artillery.

In addition, there were:

  •     3 fortress regiments

  •     2 fortress battalions

  •     16 fortress companies

  •     20 L of C/security companies

  •     2 infantry battalions

  •     4 infantry companies

  •     2 machinegun battalions

  •     1 AA battalion (8 guns)

  •     1 artillery regiment (36 tubes)

  •     2 engineer battalions

  •     8 engineer companies

Thus, the Greek Army was almost entirely infantry, with little by way of corps and army troops. Even the divisions were very lightly equipped, with fewer heavy weapons than a British brigade. A division had:

  •     3 infantry regiments (each 2 X 65mm mountain guns, 4 X 81mm mortars, and a reconnaissance platoon)

  •     6 infantry battalions (2 per regiment; 3 rifle companies each with 6 LMGs, 1 company with 4 HMG)

  •     1 reconnaissance battalion (2 reconnaissance companies each with 6 LMGs, one company 12 HMGs)

  •     1 artillery regiment (two battalions of two batteries each; total regiment 8 75mm and 8 105mm howitzers)

  •     1 engineer company

  •     2 signals companies