TheGerman invasion of Greeceon 6 April 1941 had already been anticipated by theAllied forces.So a defense line was created across the mountain passes nearMount Olympusconsisting of British, Australian and New Zealand troops which would prevent the German forces from capturingThessalyand thereby denying them the opportunity to advance into mainlandGreece.However, the speed of the German invasion force had made sure that the endurance of the defending troops and the strength of their defences were very quickly going to be put to the test.[1]
| Battle of Olympus | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theBalkans CampaignduringWorld War II | |||||||
 Nazi Germany's attack on Greece | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
Axis: Germany |
Allies: United Kingdom Australia New Zealand | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
GeneralleutnantRudolf VeielMajor GeneralJulius Ringel |
Lieutenant-GeneralHenry Maitland WilsonLieutenant ColonelIan Ross CampbellBrigadierJames HargestLieutenant ColonelNeil Lloyd MackyLieutenant ColonelLeslie AndrewLieutenant Colonel A. S. FalconerLieutenant ColonelGeorge Dittmer | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
Germany: 2nd Panzer Division 5th Mountain Division 100+ tanks [1] |
New Zealand: 5th Infantry Brigade 28th (Māori) Battalion 21st Battalion 22nd Battalion 23rd Battalion Australia: 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion Unknown number of artillery | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
Germany: Unknown number of men killed or wounded 12 trucks 2 tanks |
New Zealand: 40 men killed 50 wounded 130 captured 9 artillery 10Bren gun carriers 20 trucks | ||||||
Background
editGreece entered theSecond World Waron the side of the Allies following anItalian invasionfromAlbaniaon 28 October 1940. Greece repulsed the initial Italian attack and a counter-attack in March 1941. Coming to the aid of its struggling ally,Nazi Germanylaunched an invasion of its own known asOperation Marita,which began on 6 April. While the bulk of theGreek Armywas deployed on the Albanian front,German troopsinvaded fromBulgaria,creating a second front. The Greek army found itself outnumbered in its effort to defend against both Italian and German troops. As a result, theMetaxas defensive linedid not receive adequate troop reinforcements and was quickly overrun by the Germans, who then outflanked the Greek forces at the Albanian front, forcing their surrender.[2]Lieutenant-GeneralHenry Maitland Wilsondecided to withdraw all Allied forces to the Thermopylae line so they could mound a defence against the invading German Army, and possibly cover their own troops in case an evacuation out of Greece was deemed necessary.[1]
Preparations
editThe New Zealand5th Infantry Brigadeunder the command of BrigadierJames Hargestestablished blocking positions at theOlympus Pass.The defending forces consisted of the New Zealand22nd Battalion(Lieutenant ColonelLeslie Andrew),23rd Battalion(Lieutenant Colonel A. S. Falconer) and28th (Māori) Battalion(Lieutenant Colonel George Dittmer) who were spread from left to right across the pass where they dug themselves in and constructed defences alongside placingbarbedandconcertina wire.Meanwhile, the2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion(lieutenant colonel Ian Ross Campbell) was positioned inLivaderoin able to defend the major Allied transport hub atLarissafurther south. Finally the New Zealand21st Battalion(Lieutenant ColonelNeil Lloyd Macky) dug themselves in near a ruined castle on the Platamon Ridge, a high escarpment that blocks the coastal pass toPlatamon,so they could await the oncoming German Army. They were ordered to hold their defences until 16 April 1941 with the purpose of delaying the enemy before withdrawing further inland.[3]A final set of patrols were carried out along theMavroneririverbed in the night of 13 April after a German party had tried to cross a bridge over theAliakmon Riverthe evening before, but yielded no enemy contact.[4]
The Battle
editThe first encounter of the battle occurred on 14 April 1941 when the German5th Mountain Division(Major GeneralJulius Ringel) advanced towards the positions held by the New Zealand22nd Battalionand28th (Māori) Battalionin the Petra Pass. The German soldiers called out to the New Zealand troops in English in order to confuse the defenders while they defused the mines which were placed by the Allies, but their attempts were unsuccessful. As the 5th Mountain Division continued their assault on the New Zealand positions, they came under artillery and mortar fire which forced them to retreat. At the same time the New Zealand21st Battalionfended off a series of attacks from the2nd Panzer Division(GeneralleutnantRudolf Veiel) who were attempting to flank the2nd New Zealand Division.[5]The Battalion reported the attack which included armoured vehicles, but theANZACCorps headquarters initially discounted those claims and told theNew Zealandcommander that the terrain ahead of his positions were less than ideal for tanks to operate, and that only infantry attacks were expected from there on out.[5]
As the morning of 15 April rolled around, the soldiers of the 28th (Māori) Battalion spotted lines oftrucks,troop carriers,tanksandmotorcycles,stretching 22.5 kilometers (14 miles) back toKaterini.That night the German motorcycle battalion supported by a tank battalion attacked the ridge where the New Zealand21st Battalionwas stationed. The attack was repelled and inflicted heavy losses on both parties.[6]
The German Army was reinforced during the night of 15 to 16 April and reassembled their tank battalion and motorcycle battalion. Only this time they were joined by an infantry battalion. By 8.30 am the New Zealand artillery had managed to destroy 12 German trucks and 2 tanks. But this didn't halt the2nd Panzer Division's second assault on the New Zealand held Platamon Ridge. First the German infantry attacked the 21st Battalion's left flank while the tanks advanced along the coast.[7]At the same time the 28th Battalion spotted a number of German troops advancing through the mountains towards their left flank. The 23rd Battalion engaged the nearing enemy and managed to halt their progress at the cost of many men.[1]
When the sun had set and after repelling several infantry attacks, the defenders realised that they were surrounded on nearly all sides. And after having learned of the defeat of the Western Macedonia Army atKorçëagainst theItalian 9th Armyon 15 April.[8]It was decided that the time had come to retreat their posts and fall back to the Thermopylae Line. With the cover of night, the New Zealand 23rd Battalion climbed over part of Mount Olympus in order to head south. They also attempted to take the artillery pieces with them on their retreat, but eventually had to destroy them by throwing them into a ravine so they wouldn't fall into enemy hands. As most of the defending force's transport vehicles had been destroyed by the German attacks,[9]the withdrawal had to be carried out on foot before they could be collected by trucks when they reunited with the main army.[10]The defenders were still attacked by the German forces on their retreat and suffered light casualties before they reached the meet-up point of Pinios Groge across thePineiosriver.[11]There the 21st Battalion linked up with the 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion and covered the retreat of their fellow soldiers from the2nd New Zealand Divisionand theAustralian 6th Division.[7]The remaining divisions and battalions followed suit while covering their fellow soldiers from the advancing Germans.[12]
Aftermath
editThe battle ended up wounding 50 New Zealand soldiers with 40 being killed in action and 130 takenPOWalongside the loss of 9 Artillery pieces, 10Bren gun carriersand 20 trucks. German casualties remain unknown, but they ended up losing 12 trucks and 2 tanks.[13]
British command would eventually decide to abandon Greece and evacuate all Allied troops on 21 April 1941, with all participating troops in the Battle of Olympus making it to the evacuating point on the beaches of thePeloponneseand thenCrete.[14]Although Greece was ultimately lost, the defending forces at Mount Olympus were able to halt the German advance for 36 hours which gave the Allies valuable time to regroup their forces and evacuate with as little loss of life as possible.[11]
References
edit- ^abcd"When hell came to the Olympus Pass".neoskosmos.com. 11 May 2018.Retrieved23 November2021.
- ^Dear & Foot 1995,pp. 102–104.
- ^Cody 1956,p. 51
- ^Pugsley 2014,p. 78.
- ^abPugsley 2014,p. 85.
- ^"Story of the 28th".28maoribattalion.org.nz.Retrieved23 November2021.
- ^abBlau 1986,p.98.
- ^van Crevald 1973,p. 162.
- ^Pugsley 2014,pp. 87–89.
- ^Pugsley 2014,p. 91.
- ^abPugsley 2014,pp. 85–87.
- ^McClymont 1959,pp. 260–262.
- ^Henderson 1958,pp. 11–31.
- ^McClymont 1959,pp. 402–403.
Sources
edit- Blau, George E. (1986) [1953].The German Campaigns in the Balkans (Spring 1941)(reissue ed.). Washington, DC:United States Army Center of Military History.OCLC16940402.CMH Pub 104-4. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-06-19.Retrieved2022-05-29.
- Cody, J.F (1956).28 (Maori) Battalion.The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Wellington: Historical Publications Branch.OCLC10848095.
- Dear, I. C. B.;Foot, M. R. D.(1995).The Oxford Companion to the Second World War.New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-866225-9.
- Henderson, Jim (1958).22 Battalion.The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945. Wellington, New Zealand: Historical Publications Branch.
- McClymont, W. G. (1959).To Greece.Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45.Wellington, NZ: War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs.OCLC4373298.Retrieved8 April2014.
- Pugsley, Christopher(2014).A Bloody Road Home: World War Two and New Zealand's Heroic Second Division.Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books.ISBN978-0-143-57189-6.
- van Crevald, Alan (1973).Hitler's Strategy 1940–1941: The Balkan Clue.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-052-120-143-8.