Beware of Greek ships bearing deadly gifts

[melnibonian]

To be perfectly honest there are a few reasons why the Greeks managed to keep the Italians at bay.
First is the fact that the Italian military was totally unprepared for a prolonged fight and had not made realistic detailed plans (i.e. alternative plans if things didn’t go well etc)
Second is the combination of terrain and weather. Pindus Mountains are notoriously rough and difficult to cross. This meant that mechanised divisions of the Italian Army could not deploy and operate as they could in the desert for example. The fact that the 1940 winter was one of the coldest and wet of the period didn’t help matters. The snow and rough terrain cancelled the technical advantage the Italian Army and Air Force had.
Third is the fact that most people in Greece were ‘prepared’ for the war. That doesn’t mean that Greeks wanted to go to fight, but after the sinking of the Destroyer Elli in the harbour of the island of Tinos in 15 of August 1940 (A sacrilege for the Greeks as the 15th of August was and still is a holly day in the Orthodox Calendar) they new that it was just a matter of time for the Italian invasion. The Greek army was virtually the same as the one that fought in the First World War and in the war against Turkey in 1919-1922, and therefore not suitable for ‘modern warfare’ of the 1940s as the German campaign in 1941 proved.

Despite all this handicaps the Greeks managed to score victory after victory against the Italians while suffering terrible loses themselves. They used the weather and terrain to their advantage and by showing a unique level of courage, self sacrifice and realism in their plans and military deployment, managed to drive the Italians deep into Albania. I am not sure though that they could have kept pushing the Italians back more even if the Germans didn’t attack. The difference in military power and the abundance of materials was overwhelming. Nevertheless they did a great job that’s why the 28th of October (the day of the Italian declaration of War) is still celebrated as a national day in Greece.

[Biggles]

By the way, Bookworm 020.....Do you play with any mods?

[Wulfmann]

Believe it or not some of Italy’s best troops led the invasion and they were not incompetent at all. The key to the Greek victory came when on November 2, 1940 an old Brequet 19 spotted advance units if the elite Alpinist “Julia” division on the Samarina-Distraton Road while on a recon flight over the Pindus Gorge. The Greeks prevented a complete encirclement by moving the 8th cavalry (That was a Greek armored division from the 1800’s:rotfl: ) to occupy the Metsovan Pass blocking the advance. This was the most important moment of the Hellenic-Italian war (As the Greeks call it). Without this move Greece would have fallen right then.
History tells us being vastly outnumbered means little to the Greek spirit when the homeland is attacked.
One tactic used by the Greeks was to deny their enemy sleep. They did this with night raids slitting the enemie’s throats but only enough to kill a few and get out fast. Waking up to a dead comrade had considerable effect and sleep deprivation was a Greek ally (The Greeks were later employed in Korea for UN forces doing the same thing with the same result. The commis feared the Greek cut throats more than any one force)
When the Germans attacked there was little in large units to oppose them and the Greeks were quickly cut off.
They surrendered to the Germans which infuriated the Italians who demanded the Greeks surrender to them.
The Italians flew in with all dressed up uniforms and the Greeks and Germans did a Monty Python ceremony that humiliated the Italians who then stormed off in their planes livid as the Germans and Greeks toasted each other for the big joke.
Ironically, the Germans gave the most generous surrender terms they ever offered in WWII and dismissed the Greek army with their weapons, a move they would later regret.
The Yugoslav (Serbian really, the Muslims allied themsleves to the Nazis forming elete SS Muslim divisions under Arafat, Yaser's uncle) and Greek resistance were the most fierce against the Germans except for Crete which was by far the one place the Germans were most happy to leave. The Cretans were not satisfied to just kill Germans they had to mutilate the bodies for revenge.
In truth the Germans did not have the intention of making things hard on the Greeks whom they admired and many officers had taken Greek in the Uni so spoke the language and wanted to be there.
The Greeks simply did not like invaders even if the occupation was not so bad it was their land.
This led to the nice Germans being removed and some really nasty Nazi types being sent to teach the Greeks how to submit to their German masters.
This, of course, only made things much worse and that prompted the whole of the population to support the resistance which then became very bloody for everyone.
I should add that the necessity for the German invasion of Greece to protect the right flank in the Russian invasion delayed the start of Operation Barbarossa. This delay may well have cost Germany the war to which the Greeks believe gives cause to them being the catalyst for the downfall of the Third Reich.
There is certainly some truth to that but there were many such pivotal events that were as significant throughout the war.

Wulfmann

[bookworm_020]

Yes I've got a few mod's, Extra ships - rose ore carrier, large cargo, pryo ammo transport, sailing fishing boat, coastal tanker, vosper boat, RAF rescue launch, BC Hood, and a couple of other ship mods.

A couple of aircraft mods

but the rest is stock standard, other than messing with dates for the use of AA guns and conning towers.

[Biggles]

Cool ,by the way, I've never seen any convoys in the Med, where do you go after them? Cyprus? Malta? Alexandria? Gibraltar ?

[bookworm_020]

Sorry to disapoint you, but the convoy was off the west coast of Ireland. I have never seen a convoy in the med!! (other that single missions)

I am thinking of doing a duel install and adding grey wolves to the second install so I could increase the shiping and have a little more fun.

[csg_enven]

Good to hear the Greeks have fight in the sea...I plan on blowing up my Cousins' Freighter(s)....

CSG_Enven