Greeks in WWII: A matter of national pride

Dr Martyn Brown
9 December 2021 3:45pm

National pride is a strong emotion. It is what causes people to acknowledge Ohi Day on 28 October every year. Others find the National Day of Resistance on 25 November to be just as inspiring. Both focus on fighting the invader in the homeland during the second world war. But Greeks resisted the aggressors in Greece and around the world for years. The form of that resistance, and who was involved, reflected the global presence of the Greek people. For, as a diaspora with a seafaring tradition, they had a wide presence.

Italy Attacks

Mussolini’s forces attacked in late October in response to the Greek leader Metaxas essentially saying a loud ‘No!’ to the Fascist dictator’s demands for territories. The image of Greek soldier successfully forcing back the Italian army and supported by women civilians bringing supplies to them is one of the great memories in Greek modern history. As winter arrived, the suffering and dangers increased. Frostbite and death were plentiful. When Mussolini heard of the situation, he told one of his generals that ‘This snow and cold are very good because as a result the pipsqueaks will die and this mediocre Italian race will be improved’. The monster invader at your door is often just as brutal to some of their own people. The Italians were thrown back in October and then in March 1941, the second Italian attack failed again.

Battles took place on the ground and above it as well, the Royal Hellenic Air Force was made up of a range of aircraft – including Polish, Dutch and British. The Italian aircraft were more modern. The Greeks were outnumbered six to one. The Greek force was gradually worn down. By the time of the second Italian attack in March 1941the odds were twenty to one. Later, the Royal Hellenic Navy also suffered major losses. Sixty percent of its ships were sunk.

Greek Merchant ships had already begun to be attacked before war was declared in late 1940 between Italy and Greece. The merchant fleet was one of the largest in the world then. By the end of the war, it had suffered a seventy loss of its capacity. One study stated twenty-nine percent of its sailors had died. Approximately eighty Greek merchant ships visited Australia during the war to be fitted with defensive equipment. They also came as part of commerce. For example, manganese was delivered to the South Australian port of Androssan.

Germany Attacks

Italy’s defeats led to the German invasion of Greece on 6 April 1941. A secret sound recording of Hitler when he visited Finland included him saying “…with the situation in Albania and Greece, a very grave misfortune. We had to help now”. The German attack included the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece. The Greek army showed a willingness to fight on against the new enemy. The Greek fort Istibei even asked that Greek artillery bombard them because the enemy was swarming over the surface of the fort. The Greek troops finally surrendered. The Germans formed an honour guard for the Greeks. Later the Greek army helped defend areas so as to help the retreating commonwealth forces. British, Australian and New Zealand ground forces had begun to arrive in early 1941 to join the Greeks. The combined force was still not strong enough to defend against a combined German and Italian force. This use of German forces in Greece and Yugoslavia is seen by many historians as leading to a delay in the German attack on the Soviet Union in June. This, in turn, led to the Germans fighting in the harsh winter and prevented a quick German victory. It was a disaster for Hitler.
Following the occupation of the mainland, the battle for Crete began on 20 May 1941. While the Greek forces repulsed the Italians seven months earlier, this time the elite of the German war machine was nearly soundly defeated by an allied force of Greek sand commonwealth troops. The island was lost when the Germans successfully landed several transport aircraft at Maleme airfield.
During the battle a communication was distributed amongst the allies. It read “Australians report they are proud to fight alongside Greeks and Cretans who have been doing magnificently.”
A New Zealand veteran of the battle wrote after the war, “The Greeks were those gallant, very young men armed with ancient rifles, bayonets and three rounds apiece of ammunition who stood up to the fire-power of the German paratroopers.”
The Australians and New Zealanders from the far away Pacific were bonding with the Greeks in the Mediterranean. The willingness of the ordinary Greek people to hide commonwealth troops who had avoided capture or escaped from the Germans and Italians reinforced the friendship. Retired army general Sandy Thomas fought on Crete. He ended up as a prisoner of war and spent a year travelling through enemy controlled mainland Greece to escape. Before he died in the Australian country town of Beaudesert in 2017, he had this to say at a commemoration of the battle for Crete – “You knew at that time that to take in a Kiwi or an Aussie or one of the British you risked everything…you still opened your doors and your hearts to our chaps and we are bloody grateful.”

Occupation

Germany, Bulgaria an Italy occupied Greece following their victory of mid-1941. Eight per cent of the Greek population died during the occupation. German companies obtained Greek natural resources at cheap rates. The first German administrator was so harsh that the Nazis replaced him. The purpose was not be to more humane but to prevent the population in wide spread revolt that the occupiers could not contain. Enemy occupation meant that Greece became a target for the Allies. Allied bombers attacked sites like the port of Piraeus. Such is the suffering war brings. A New Zealand officer based in North Africa wrote in his diary that an escaped British officer, who had been hidden from the enemy by Athenians, went out onto the streets and cried to the allied bombers, “Burn down Athens…but set us free.” An allied agent wrote of the Greek people “They produced no traitors. We moved frequently among them and were guided by them into German-held villages without fear.” Such were some civilian forms of resistance.

The sabotage of the Gorgopotamas railway viaduct by Greek partisans and British agents just over two years later and is considered to be a spectacular success in the history of European underground operations. A major supply line to the German and Italian forces in North Africa was cut. The day is celebrated on National Day of Resistance every November. Many of the partisans had been bare-foot.

Middle East

The Greek armed forces were rebuilt in the Middle East and North Africa. By April 1944. the number Greek of warships had increased from 17 when occupation began to 48. They mainly conducted convoy duties in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. They supported land operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greek submarines transported people between enemy occupied Greece and the Allied controlled areas. The Australian link continued. Several Australian naval officers served as liaison officers on the surface ships.
The air force was smaller than when the Italians invaded but it now had modern aircraft. These were bombers and fighters. One fighter pilot had the Greek blue and white colours painted on the propellor of his aircraft. Greek aircraft bombed enemy Italy and also participated in the great second Battle of El Alamein during October to November 1942. The Greek army also found itself on the Syrian Turkish frontier for a time. They were alongside New Zealand and also Australian troops at different times. On the border they were preparing for a possible German advance, with or without Turkish support. The New Zealanders had more to do with the Greeks now. They had trained two thousand of them as part of a new arrangement between the Greek and British governments.
After protests from the Greek government, the Greek troops were eventually sent to Egypt to fight in the great second battle at El Alamein. The Greek soldiers advanced 177 kilometers in 5 days. Their commander was frustrated they could not continue. As one liaison British officer noted ‘they have no transport and are rather sore.’
Besides these regular units, there was the Greek Sacred Band. This was a special forces unit. It fought its war in light vehicles in the deserts of North Africa, small sailing craft and parachuting from aircraft in the Mediterranean theatre.
The next battle the army was involved with was in Italy in September 1944. The attack to take the town of Rimini involved the Greeks, Canadians and New Zealanders. The New Zealanders still had a special place for the Greeks. Their unit was officially affiliated with the New Zealand forces now. General Freyberg, head of the New Zealand army in Italy wrote “Greeks have been fighting with great dash though possibly rather wildly. They have inflicted and suffered fairly severe losses.” The general visited the Greek military hospital, spoke to the patients through an interpreter and shook hands with all of the 150 patients.

Diaspora

The world’s newspapers carried stories of the Greek successes against the Italians in late 1940. For a young Greek Australian living in Australia the affect was dramatic – “All of a sudden, from being bloody dagos we became heroes.” He and his classmates marched around the schoolyard with their chests thrown out. Greek communities formed support groups to help their motherland. Over 2000 men and women of Greek heritage joined the Australian armed forces. They served in different theatres of the war. Some perished up on the Burma -Thai death railway. It was a long way from Greece and the Mediterranean. Similarly, small groups of American Greek commandoes were sent into enemy occupied Greece in early 1944. Just like in Australia, support groups with funding and clothing drives were formed in the USA and, probably amongst many other Greek groups around the world.

The Greek involvement in the second world war was a world-wide one. Many resisted the enemy in their own way. Some may point to the divisions and conflicts within the Greek society before, during and after this time. Metaxas himself had been appointed by the Greek King, He had not been elected. The republican-monarchist schism continued in various forms during the war. There was fighting between partisan groups, mass protest and mutiny in the free Greek armed forces, collaborators and eventual civil war. The return of the Greek government to the homeland in October 1944 began a short-lived time of joy. Fighting broke out in Athens between Greek government forces and the left-wing partisans. During this time i.e. the Dekemvriana accusations of a communist coup versus wanted foreign British intervention were voiced. They still are today. The Greek monarchy remained in power for decades. All these are valid points for argument. But in essence, many Greeks resisted the invader through sacrifice, courage and determination. They were ordinary people thrown into extraordinary and horrible times.

Dr Martyn Brown is from the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry University of Queensland. This article was the idea of the late John Carras, a Neos Kosmos correspondent for many years. John was a gentleman and a man who did much for his community. He also lived through the horror of the Second World War. I feel honoured to have known him.