✦ History

Part of World War II, Balkans campaign (World War II)

German invasion of Greece

April 1941 – April 30, 1941 · Kingdom of Greece

Result Axis victory

German forces invaded Greece from Bulgaria to help Italy, which had failed to defeat the Greeks. They defeated Greek and British Commonwealth troops and took Athens within weeks.

On the map Overview Contemporaries

Axis

Allies

Axis powers
Germany
Italy
Greece
United Kingdom
Australia
New Zealand
Giovanni Messe military commander Ugo Cavallero military commander Maximilian von Weichs military commander Wilhelm List military commander Sepp Dietrich military commander
Alexandros Papagos military commander Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg military commander Thomas Blamey military commander Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson military commander

Strength and losses

Strength
1,245,000
Strength
502,612

Greece Strength 450,000 · Killed 13,408 · Wounded 42,485 · Captured 270,000 · Missing 1,290

Units

12th Army (Wehrmacht) L Army Corps (Wehrmacht) XXX Army Corps (Wehrmacht) 198th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler 2nd Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) 50th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 5th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) 60th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
1st Infantry Division (Greece) 2nd Mechanized Infantry Division 3rd Infantry Division (Greece) 6th Division (Australia) 8th Infantry Division (Greece) 29th Mechanized Infantry Brigade (Greece) 5th Airmobile Brigade

Battles 1

Also involved 2