Battle of Pindus

Battle of Pindus Part of the Greco-Italian War Italian Invasion of Greece 1940 Date 28 October – 13 November 1940 Location Pindus Mountains 40°05′20″N 20°55′31″E / 40.08889°N 20.92528°ECoordinates: 40°05′20″N 20°55′31″E / 40.08889°N 20.92528°E Result Greek victory Belligerents  Fascist Italy  Kingdom of Greece: Pindus Detachment elements from: Ist infantry Division Cavalry Brigade Cavalry Division Commanders and leaders Mario Girotti Konstantinos Davakis Vasileios Vrachnos Georgios Stanotas Sokratis Dimaratos Strength 28 October: 3rd Alpine Division Julia elements 47th Infantry Division Bari Julia:[1] 10804 officers and men 20 guns mid-November:[2] 23,000 men 112 guns 28 October: 2.000 men 4 guns 13 November:[3] 32,000 men 114 guns Casualties and losses 1,674 killed, wounded and missing[1] Unknown

The Battle of Pindus (Greek: Μάχη της Πίνδου) took place in the Pindus Mountains in Epirus and West Macedonia, Greece, from 28 October – 13 November 1940. The battle was fought between the Greek and the Italian armies during the first stages of the Greco-Italian War. The Italian 3rd Alpine Division Julia (Julia Division) invaded Greece from the Pindus sector. After its initial advance, the division was surrounded and virtually wiped out by the Greek army. In the aftermath, the Greeks were able to push back the Italians, advancing deep into Albanian territory.

Background

After the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939, the Greek General Staff became alerted to a potential Italian attack from Albanian territory, which eventually started on 28 October 1940. The Italians deployed the Julia Division with the objective of capturing the strategic mountain passes of the Pindus Mountains as swiftly as possible.^[4] During an Italian war council, the Italian commander in Albania, General Visconti Prasca, stated that the mountain range of Pindus would be no problem for the Italian units, and foresaw no difficulty in getting his divisions straight to Athens, like a modern Hannibal.^[5] The Greeks divided the theatre of operations into the sectors of Epirus and Macedonia linked by the Pindus Detachment.^[6] The Pindus Detachment under Colonel Konstantinos Davakis was deployed along a 35-kilometre (22 mi) line in the Pindus mountain range.^[7]

Battle

The primary objective of the Julia Division was to advance towards the Pindus mountain range and to capture the strategic pass at the town of Metsovo. This move would have a crucial effect on the outcome of the battle, since it would break the Greek supply lines and separate the Greek forces in Epirus from those in Macedonia. The Julia Division managed to cover 40 kilometres (25 mi) of mountain terrain in icy rain and captured the village of Vovousa, but couldn't reach Metsovo. On 2 November, Davakis was gravely wounded during a reconnaissance mission near Fourka.^[8] However, it had become clear to the Italians that they lacked the manpower and the supplies to continue in the face of the arriving Greek reserves.^[9]

Initial Italian Offensive.

On November 3, the Italian spearhead, after the initial advance, was surrounded from all sides. The commander of the Julia Division requested from the Italian headquarters relief attacks and Italian reserves were thrown into the battle. However, reinforcements from Albania were unable to reach the cut-off Italian forces and the Julia Division sustained heavy losses. In the meantime, Greek reinforcements were arriving in the Pindus sector, while the assistance of the local population, including men, women, and children, was invaluable.^[10] The situation became difficult for the Italians and their pocket came under pressure from Greek units that had advanced to the area, while the Julia Division was virtually wiped out.^[11] The villages that had been initially captured during the Italian advance, Samarina and Vovousa, were recaptured by the advancing Greek forces on November 3 and 4.^[12] Within less than a week, the remaining Italian troops were in roughly the same positions they occupied before the declaration of the war.^[11]

By 13 November, the entire frontier area had been cleared of Italian units, thereby ending the Battle of Pindus in a complete Greek victory.^[13] Highly significant for the Greek success was the failure of the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) to disrupt the mobilization and the deployment of the Greek forces. Due to this factor, the geographical and technical obstacles faced by the Greeks to transport men and material to the front proved surmountable.^[14]

Aftermath

As a result of the failed invasion, the Julia Division lost 5,000 men.^[15] After the successful Greek defence in Pindus and Elea-Kalamas sectors, the Greek forces were able to push back the Italians, advancing deep into Albanian territory.^[16] It has been argued that the assistance provided by the local women during the conflicts was crucial to the outcome of the battle. The women of the surrounding villages assisted the Greek forces in several ways, while their most important contribution was the transportation of guns, food, clothes and other important supplies to the front, since vehicles could not reach the battlegrounds due to bad weather conditions and rough roads.^[17]

Footnotes

1. http://maidaur.blogspot.com/2009/02/la-campagna-greco-albanense.html
2. Zizzo 2008, p. 86.
3. Η Ιταλική Εισβολή, ΔΙΣ, Αθήναι 1960, page 247
4. Schreiber et al. 1995, p. 430.
5. Schreiber et al. 1995, p. 412.
6. Schreiber et al. 1995, p. 428.
7. Gedeon 1997, p. 31.
8. Gedeon 1997, p. 64.
9. Bauer 2000, p. 105.
10. Mackenzie 1943, pp. 75, 391.
11. Schreiber et al. 1995, p. 437.
12. Sakellariou 1997, p. 391.
13. Gedeon 1997, p. 71.
14. Schreiber et al. 1995, p. 438.
15. Jowett & Stephen 2000, p. 6.
16. Willingham 2005, p. 114.
17. Mpalaska et al. 2010, pp. 23–24.

References

• Bauer, Eddy (2000) [1979]. Young, Peter, ed. The History of World War II (Revised ed.). London: Orbis. ISBN 1-85605-552-3.
• Gedeon, Dimitrios (1997). An abridged history of the Greek-Italian and Greek-German war, 1940–1941: (land operations). Athens: Hellenic Army General Staff, Army History Directorate. ISBN 978-960-7897-01-5.
• Jowett, Philip S.; Stephen, Andrew (2000). The Italian Army 1940–45: Europe 1940–43. I. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-85532-864-8.
• Mackenzie, Compton (1943). Wind of Freedom: The History of the Invasion of Greece by the Axis Powers, 1940–1941. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 978-960-213-371-2.
• Mpalaska, Eleni; Oikonomou, Andrian; Stylios, Chrysostomos. "Women of Epirus and their Social Status from Ancient to Modern Times" (PDF). Community Initiative Programme Interreg IIIA Greece-Italy 2000–2006. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
• Sakellariou, M. V. (1997). Epirus, 4,000 years of Greek History and Civilization. Athens: Ekdotikē Athēnōn. ISBN 978-960-213-371-2.
• Schreiber, Gerhard; Stegemann, Bernd; Vogel, Detlef (1995). The Mediterranean, south-east Europe and north Africa, 1939–1941: from Italy's declaration of non-belligerence to the entry of the United States' into the war. Oxford University Press. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-19-822884-4.
• Willingham, Matthew (2005). Perilous Commitments: The Battle for Greece and Crete 1940–1941. Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-236-1.
• Zizzo, Remigio (2008) [1995]. Ottobre 1940, la campagna di Grecia [Octōvrios 1940: hē epithesē enantion tēs Helladas : hopōs tēn eidan hoi Italoi : syllogiko ergo]. Immagini di storia (in Greek). VIII (Greek trans. Ekdoseis D. N. Papadēma, Athens ed.). Campobasso: Italia. ISBN 960-206-576-1.