Day of the fight (Italian Edition)

Italian resistance movement

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In Albania, the Greek army made a belated withdrawal to avoid being cut off by the Germans but was followed up slowly by the Italians. Greece surrendered to German troops on 20 April , under the condition that they would not have to surrender to the Italians; this condition was agreed to but revoked several days later after protests from Mussolini, and the Greek army surrendered to Italy as well. Greece was subsequently occupied by Bulgarian, German and Italian troops.

The Italian army suffered , combat casualties with 13, dead and 3, missing and fifty thousand sick; the Greek suffered over 90, combat casualties including 14, killed and 5, missing and an unknown number of sick. In the late s, the Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini said that Fascist Italy needed Spazio vitale , an outlet for its surplus population and that it would be in the best interests of other countries to aid in this expansion. The fascist regime also sought to establish protectorates over Austria , Hungary , Romania and Bulgaria , which lay on the periphery of an Italian European sphere of influence.

In , Italy began the Second Italo-Ethiopian War to expand the empire; a more aggressive Italian foreign policy which "exposed [the] vulnerabilities" of the British and French and created an opportunity the Fascist regime needed to realize its imperial goals. In September , the Italian army had made plans to invade Albania , which began on 7 April and in three days had occupied most of the country. Albania was a territory that Italy could acquire for " living space to ease its overpopulation" as well as a foothold for expansion in the Balkans.

It had occupied them since, after reneging on the Venizelos — Tittoni agreement to cede them to Greece. Italy occupied parts of Anatolia which threatened the Greek occupation zone and the city of Smyrna. Greek troops were landed and the Greco-Turkish War —22 began with Greek troops advanced into Anatolia.

Turkish forces eventually defeated the Greeks and with Italian aid, recovered the lost territory, including Smyrna. Henceforth Greek foreign policy was largely aimed at preserving the status quo. Territorial claims to Northern Epirus southern Albania , the Italian-ruled Dodecanese, and British-ruled Cyprus remained open but inactive in view of the country's weakness and isolation. The main threat Greece faced was from Bulgaria , which claimed Greece's northern territories. The years after were marked by almost complete diplomatic isolation and unresolved disputes with practically every neighbouring country.

To this end, Pangalos sought Italian diplomatic support, as Italy still had ambitions in Anatolia, but in the event, nothing came of his overtures to Mussolini. The same period saw Greece draw closer to Britain and away from France, exacerbated by a dispute over the two sides' financial claims from World War I. The Greek government put renewed emphasis on improving relations with Italy and in November , a trade agreement was signed between the two states.

Initiated and energetically pursued by Andreas Michalakopoulos , the Italian—Greek rapprochement had a positive impact on Greek relations with Romania and Turkey and after was continued by the new government of Eleftherios Venizelos. An offer of alliance between the two countries was rebuffed by Venizelos but during the talks Mussolini personally offered "to guarantee Greek sovereignty" on Macedonia and assured Venizelos that in case of an external attack on Thessaloniki by Yugoslavia, Italy would join Greece.

During the late s and early s, Mussolini sought diplomatically to create "an Italian-dominated Balkan bloc that would link Turkey , Greece, Bulgaria, and Hungary". Venizelos countered the policy with diplomatic agreements among Greek neighbours and established an "annual Balkan conference This increased diplomatic relations and by was resistant to "all forms of territorial revisionism".

This process culminated in the signature of the Balkan Pact between Greece, Yugoslavia, Turkey and Romania, which was a counter to Bulgarian revisionism. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War marked a renewal of Italian expansionism, and began a period where Greece increasingly sought a firm British commitment for its security. This did not change after the establishment of the dictatorial 4th of August Regime of Ioannis Metaxas in Although imitating the Fascist regime in Italy in its ideology and outward appearance, the regime lacked a mass popular base, and its main pillar was the King, who commanded the allegiance of the army.

Metaxas himself, although an ardent Germanophile in World War I, followed this line, and after the Munich Conference in October suggested a British—Greek alliance to the British ambassador, arguing that Greece "should prepare for the eventuality of a war between Great Britain and Italy, which sooner or later Greece would find itself drawn into". Loath to be embroiled in a possible Greek—Bulgarian war, dismissive of Greece's military ability, and disliking the regime, the British rebuffed the offer. The speech outlined Mussolini's belief that Italy was being imprisoned by France and the United Kingdom and what territory would be needed to break free.

During this speech, Mussolini declared Greece to be a "vital [enemy] of Italy and its expansion. Following the Italian annexation of Albania in April, relations between Italy and Greece deteriorated rapidly. The Greeks began making defensive preparations for an Italian attack, while the Italians began improving infrastructure in Albania to facilitate troop movements.

During his tenure, Grazzi worked earnestly for the improvement of Italian—Greek relations, something that Metaxas too desired—despite his anglophile stance, Grazzi considered him "the only real friend Italy could claim in Greece"—but he was in the awkward position of being ignorant of his country's actual policy towards Greece: Thus during Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano 's visit to Albania, posters supporting Albanian irredentism in Chameria were publicly displayed; the governor of the Italian Dodecanese, Cesare Maria De Vecchi , closed the remaining Greek communal schools in the province, and Italian troops were heard singing " Andremo nell'Egeo, prenderemo pure il Pireo.

And if all goes well, we will take Athens too. Four of the five Italian divisions in Albania moved towards the Greek border, and on 16 August the Italian Chief of the General Staff, Marshal Pietro Badoglio , received orders to begin planning for an attack on Greece. On 4 August, Metaxas had ordered Greek forces to a state of readiness and a partial mobilization. Entry in Ciano's diary for 12 May [41]. Although both Britain and France publicly guaranteed the independence of Greece and Romania on 13 April , the British still refused to be drawn into concrete undertakings towards Greece, as they hoped to entice Mussolini to remain neutral in the coming conflict with Germany, and saw in a potential Greek alliance only a drain on their own resources.

The Italian dictator even instructed Grazzi, to express his trust towards Metaxas and offer to sell Greece aircraft. Metaxas rejected this, as the British Foreign Office was opposed to a formal commitment by Greece to Italy, and made only a public declaration of friendship and good-will. Greek—Italian relations entered a friendly phase that lasted until spring In May , as Italian entry into the war became imminent, the Italian press began an anti-Greek propaganda campaign, accusing the country of being a foreign puppet and tolerating British warships in its waters.

From 18 June, De Vecchi sent a series of protests to Rome, reporting on the presence of British warships in Crete and other Greek islands and claimed that a British base had been established at Milos. Italian military forces harassed Greek forces with air attacks on Greek naval vessels at sea. On 31 July Italian bombers attacked two Greek destroyers in the Gulf of Corinth and two submarines in Nafpaktos ; two days later a coastguard vessel was attacked at Aegina , off Athens. Hodja was presented as a patriot fighting for the liberty of Chameria and his murder the work of Greek agents.

Although Greek "expansionism" was denounced and claims for the surrender of Chameria made, Ciano and well-informed German sources regarded the press campaign as a means to intimidate Greece, rather than a prelude to war. On 15 August the Dormition of the Theotokos , a Greek national religious holiday , the Greek light cruiser Elli was sunk by the Italian submarine Delfino in Tinos harbour. The sinking was a result of orders by Mussolini and Navy chief Domenico Cavagnari allowing submarine attacks on neutral shipping.

This was taken up by De Vecchi, who ordered the Delfino ' s commander to "sink everything in sight in the vicinity of Tinos and Syros ", giving the impression that war was imminent. On the same day, another Greek steamship was bombarded by Italian planes in Crete. No-one was fooled and the sinking of Elli outraged the Greek people. Ambassador Grazzi wrote in his memoirs that the attack united a people "deeply riven by unbridgeable political differences and old and deep-running political hatreds" and imbued them with a firm resolve to resist.

Neither Metaxas nor Grazzi realized that the latter was being kept in his post "deliberately in order to allay the suspicions of the Greek government and so that the aggressive plans against Greece might remain concealed". German intervention, urging Italy to avoid Balkan complications and concentrate on Britain, along with the start of the Italian invasion of Egypt , led to the postponement of Italian ambitions in Greece and Yugoslavia: Mussolini, who had not been informed in advance, regarded it as an encroachment on Italy's sphere of influence, and advanced plans for an invasion of Greece.

The Italian war aim was to establish a Greek puppet state , which would permit the Italian annexation of the Ionian Islands and the Sporades and the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea , to be administered as a part of the Italian Aegean Islands. On 13 October, Mussolini finalized the decision for war when he informed Marshal Badoglio to start preparing an attack for 26 October.

Badoglio then issued the order for the Italian military to begin preparations for executing the existing war plan, "Contingency G[reece]", which envisioned the capture of Epirus as far as Arta but left the further pursuit of the campaign open. Roatta advised that an extension of the invasion beyond Epirus would require an additional ten divisions, which would take three months to arrive and suggested limiting the extent of the Italian demobilization.

Both generals urged Mussolini to replace the local commander, Lieutenant-General Sebastiano Visconti Prasca , with someone of greater seniority and experience. Mussolini seemingly agreed but also insisted on the attack going ahead at the determined date, provisionally under Prasca's command. He reiterated his objectives and his determination that the attack take place on 26 October and asked for the opinion of the assembled.

Jacomoni agreed that the Albanians were enthusiastic but that the Greeks would fight, likely with British help, while Ciano suggested that the Greek people were apathetic and would not support the "plutocratic" ruling class. He was relatively junior in his rank and knew that if he demanded more troops for the Albanian front, it was likely that a more senior officer would be sent to command the operation, earning the accolades and promotions instead.

During the discussion only Badoglio voiced objections, pointing out that stopping after seizing Epirus—which he conceded would present little difficulty—would be an error, and that a force of at least twenty divisions would be necessary to conquer the whole country, including Crete. Roatta suggested that the schedule of moving troops to Albania would have to be accelerated and called for two divisions to be sent against Thessaloniki as a diversion.

Prasca pointed out the inadequacy of Albanian harbours for the rapid transfer of Italian divisions, the mountainous terrain, and the poor state of the Greek transport network, but remained confident that Athens could be captured after the fall of Epirus, with "five or six divisions". Mussolini suggested that the expected advance of the 10th Army Marshal Rodolfo Graziani on Mersa Matruh , in Egypt, be brought forward to prevent the British from aiding Greece.

Mussolini, enraged by the Marshal's obstructionism, threatened to accept his resignation if offered. Badoglio backed down, managing only to secure a postponement of the attack until 28 October. The Pindus mountains divided it into two theatres of operations, Epirus and western Macedonia. On 18 October Mussolini sent a letter to Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria inviting him to take part in the coming action against Greece, but Boris refused, citing his country's unreadiness and its encirclement by hostile neighbours.

It was not until 24 October that Badoglio realized that not only were the Greeks already mobilizing, but that they were prepared to divert most of their forces to Epirus, leaving only six divisions against Bulgaria. In General Alberto Pariani had been appointed Chief of Staff of the army, and had begun a reorganisation of divisions to fight wars of rapid decision , according to thinking that speed, mobility and new technology could revolutionise military operations.

In , three-regiment triangular divisions began to change to two-regiment binary divisions , as part of a ten years plan to reorganise the standing army into 24 binary, 24 triangular, twelve mountain, three motorised and three armoured divisions. The dilution of the officer class by the need for extra unit staffs was made worse by the politicisation of the army and the addition of Blackshirt Militia. Prior to the invasion Mussolini let , troops and , reservists go home for the harvest. The possibility that Greek officials situated in the front area could be corrupted or would not react to an invasion proved to be mostly wishful thinking, used by Italian generals and personalities in favor of a military intervention; the same was true for an alleged revolt of the Albanian minority living in Chameria , located in the Greek territory immediately behind the boundary, which would break out after the beginning of the attack.

It demanded free passage for his troops to occupy unspecified strategic points inside Greek territory.

Greece had been friendly towards Nazi Germany, profiting from mutual trade relations, but now Germany's ally, Italy, intended to invade Greece. Metaxas rejected the ultimatum with the words " Alors, c'est la guerre " French for "then it is war. In this, he echoed the will of the Greek people to resist, a will that was popularly expressed in one word: Within hours, Italy attacked Greece from Albania.

The outbreak of hostilities was first announced by Athens Radio early in the morning of 28 October, with the two-sentence dispatch of the general staff, [ citation needed ]. Our forces are defending the fatherland. Plans were laid down for the reorganization of the Greek armed forces, including building the " Metaxas Line '", a defensive fortification along the Greco-Bulgarian frontier.

Large sums of money were spent to re-equip the army but due to the increasing threat of and the eventual outbreak of war, the most significant foreign purchases from —, were only partly delivered or not at all. A massive contingency plan was developed and great amounts of food and equipment were stockpiled in many parts of the country as a precaution in the event of war. Vermion line, to gain time for the completion of mobilization. With the completion of partial mobilization of the frontier formations, the plan was revised with variants "IBa" 1 September and "IBb" 20 April Plan "IB" foresaw it covering the left flank of the bulk of the Greek forces in western Macedonia, securing the Metsovon pass and blocking entry into Aetolia-Acarnania , "IBa" ordered the covering of Ioannina and the defence of the Kalamas river line.

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Katsimitros had discretion to choose the defensive line and chose the Kalpaki line, which lay astride the main invasion axis from Albania and allowed him to use the Kalamas swamps to neutralize the Italian tank threat. Nevertheless, given the enormous numerical and material superiority of the Italian military, the Greek leadership, from Metaxas down, was reserved and cautious, with few hopes of outright victory in a conflict with Italy.

The General Staff's plan for the defence of Epirus envisaged withdrawal to a more defensible line, and it was only through Katsimitros' insistence that the Italian attack was confronted close to the border. Metaxas himself, during a briefing of the press on 30 October , reiterated his unshakeable confidence on the ultimate victory of Britain, and hence of Greece, but was less confident on the short-term prospects, noting that "Greece is not fighting for victory.

It is fighting for glory. And for its honour. A nation must be able to fight, if it wants to remain great, even with no hope of victory. Just because it has to. In the Epirus sector, the XXV Ciamuria Corps consisted of the 23rd Infantry Division Ferrara 12, men, 60 guns and 3, Albanian auxiliary troops , the 51st Infantry Division Siena 9, men and 50 guns and the st Armoured Division Centauro 4, men, 24 guns and light tanks, of which only 90 operational. In addition, it was reinforced by cavalry units in a brigade-level command operating on the extreme Italian right along the coast 4, men and 32 guns.

The XXV Corps comprised 22 infantry battalions, three cavalry regiments, 61 artillery batteries 18 heavy and 90 tanks. Along with Blackshirt battalions and auxiliary troops, it numbered c. XXVI Corps totalled 32 infantry battalions, about ten tanks and two cavalry companies, 68 batteries 7 heavy for a total of c. On 28 October, the Greek army had 14 infantry divisions, one cavalry division and three infantry brigades, all at least partly mobilized since August; four infantry divisions and two brigades were on the border with Albania; five infantry divisions faced Bulgaria and five more with the cavalry division were in general reserve.

Many senior Greek officers were veterans of a decade of almost continuous warfare, including the Balkan Wars of —13, the First World War , and the Greco-Turkish War of — In Epirus, the 8th Infantry Division was already mobilized and reinforced with a regiment and the staff of the 3rd Infantry Brigade , fielding 15 infantry battalions and 16 artillery batteries.

The total forces available to TSDM on the outbreak of war consisted of 22 infantry battalions and 22 artillery batteries seven heavy. It comprised 45 fighters, 24 light bombers, nine reconnaissance aircraft, about 65 auxiliary aeroplanes and 28 naval cooperation aircraft. It consisted of the 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th pursuit squadrons, the 31st, 32nd, 33rd bomber squadrons, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th military cooperation squadrons, the Independent Military Cooperation Flight and the 11th, 12th and 13th naval cooperation squadrons.

The Royal Hellenic Navy had the elderly cruiser Georgios Averof , two modern destroyers , four slightly older Italian destroyers and four obsolete Aetos -class destroyers. There were six old submarines, fifteen obsolete torpedo boats and about thirty other auxiliary vessels. The Greek official history of the Greco-Italian War divides it into three periods: The Greek commander-in-chief, Alexandros Papagos , in his memoirs regarded the second phase as ending on 28 December ; as the historian Ioannis Koliopoulos comments, this seems more appropriate, as December marked a watershed in the course of the war, with the Greek counter-offensive gradually grinding to a halt, the German threat becoming clear, and the beginning of British attempts to guide and shape Greek strategy.

According to Koliopoulos, the final three months of the war were militarily of little significance as they did not alter the situation of the two combatants, but were mostly dominated by the diplomatic and political developments leading up to the German invasion. Italian forces invaded Greece in several columns.

On the extreme Italian right, the coastal group moved south in the direction of Konispol with the final aim of capturing Igoumenitsa and thence driving onto Preveza. In the central sector, the Siena Division moved in two columns onto the area of Filiates , while the Ferrara Division moved in four columns against the main Greek resistance line at Kalpaki with the aim of capturing Ioannina.

On the Pindus sector, the Julia Division launched five columns aiming to capture Metsovo and cut off the Greek forces in the Epirus sector from the east. The Army General Staff, which functioned as the main field staff throughout the war, was handed over to Lieutenant-General Konstantinos Pallis , recalled from retirement. On the Epirus sector, Katsimitros had left five battalions along the border to delay the Italian advance, and installed his main resistance line in a convex front with the Kalpaki pass in the centre, manned by nine battalions.

Further two battalions under Major-General Nikolaos Lioumbas took over the coastal sector in Thesprotia. The swamps of the Kalamas river, especially before Kalpaki, formed a major obstacle not only to armoured formations, but even to the movement of infantry. A further battalion and some artillery were detached to the Preveza area in the event of an Italian landing, but as this did not materialize, they were swiftly moved to reinforce the coastal sector.

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During these three days, the Italians prepared their assault, bombarding the Greek positions with aircraft and artillery. In the meantime, the developing Italian threat in the Pindus sector forced Papagos to cable Katsimitros that his main mission was to cover the Pindus passes and the flanks of the Greek forces in western Macedonia, and to avoid offering resistance if it left his forces depleted. The scheduled Italian amphibious assault on Corfu did not materialize due to bad weather.

The Italian navy commander, Admiral Domenico Cavagnari , postponed the landing to 2 November, but by that time Visconti Prasca was urgently demanding reinforcements, and Mussolini ordered that the 47th Infantry Division Bari , earmarked for the operation, be sent to Albania instead. The main Italian attack on the Kalpaki front began on 2 November. An Albanian battalion, under the cover of a snowstorm, managed to capture the Grabala heights, but were thrown back by a counterattack on the next day. On the same day, an attack spearheaded by 50—60 tanks against the main Kalpaki sector was also repulsed.

The Greek units east of the Kalamas were withdrawn during the night. On 5—7 November, repeated assaults were launched against the Grabala and other heights; on the night of the 7th, Grabala briefly fell once more, but was swiftly recaptured. On 8 November, the Italians began withdrawing and assuming defensive positions until the arrival of reinforcements. The Greek covering units were forced south of the Kalamas already on the first day, but the bad state of the roads delayed the Italian advance. Igoumenitsa was captured on 6 November, and on the next day, the Italians reached Margariti.

This marked their deepest advance, as the Thesprotia Sector began receiving reinforcements from Katsimitros, and as on the other sectors the situation had already turned to the Greeks' favour. As evidence of the Italian offensive's failure mounted, on 8 November, Visconti Prasca was relieved of overall command in Albania and relegated to command the Italian forces in the Epirus front, while General Ubaldo Soddu , State Undersecretary of War, assumed his place. Soddu's report from Albania underlined Greek resistance in Epirus and the mounting threat of the Greek concentration in western Macedonia, and recommended taking up defensive positions "while awaiting the reinforcements that would permit us to resume action as soon as possible".

By 13 November, the Greek forces once again stood at the Kalamas river along its entire length. A greater threat to the Greek positions was posed by the advance of the Julia Alpine Division, under Mario Girotti, over the Pindus Mountains towards Metsovo, which threatened to separate the Greek forces in Epirus from those in Macedonia. The situation worried the TSDM, which began sending whatever reinforcements it could muster, and assigned the Pindus sector to the 1st Infantry Division. Despite the onset of snowfall on the 29th, the Julia Division continued pressing its attack on the Greek centre and left during 29—30 October, forcing the Greeks to withdraw towards Samarina.

Command in the Pindus sector passed to 1st Division and Major-General Vasileios Vrachnos , while additional forces—the Cavalry Division, 5th Brigade, and he newly formed Cavalry Brigade—were deployed on the flanks of the Italian salient and in the rear to secure the vital passes. That same day, Davakis was gravely wounded during a reconnaissance mission near Fourka.

The commander of the Julia Division requested from the Italian headquarters relief attacks and Italian reserves were thrown into the battle. Thus, Visconti Prasca sent forward the Bari Division to its aid, but it was unable to reach the cut-off Italian forces. In the meantime, the assistance of the local civilians, including men, women, and children, to the Greek forces proved invaluable. By 14 November, the Italian forces in Albania had been reorganized in two field armies: The 3rd , 4th , and 5th Infantry Divisions , as well as the 16th Brigade, were kept in reserve.

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From the first days of November, III Corps had undertaken limited advances into Albanian territory, and already on 6 November, it submitted plans for a general offensive. Judged too ambitious for the moment, Papagos postponed the offensive for 14 November. The plateau lay behind the Morava and Ivan mountains on the Greco-Albanian frontier, which were held by the 29th Piemonte , the 19th Venezia , and the 49th Parma divisions. Due to the lack of tanks or anti-tank weapons to counter Italian armour, the Greeks decided to limit their movement along the mountain ridges, never descending to the valleys.

To achieve surprise, the attack was not preceded by an artillery barrage. The Italian forces were indeed taken by surprise, allowing the Greeks to force several breaches in the Italian positions on 14—16 November. II Corps would form the pivot of the movement, securing the connection between I Corps and TSDM, advancing in step with its western neighbour in the direction of Berat. Mussolini's speech in Palazzo Venezia , 18 November [] [].

Pogradec was captured unopposed by the 13th Division on 30 November. The news of the fall of Pogradec and the pessimistic reports of the Italian commanders in Albania reportedly caused Mussolini to consider asking for a truce through the Germans but in the end he recovered his nerve and ordered Soddu to hold fast.

The Greeks would be worn out, since they had " The division had suffered considerable losses but took over 1, prisoners, several artillery pieces and thirty tanks. Papagos refused and ordered the plan to continue, with III Corps relegated to a passive role. This decision was later criticized, coupled with the onset of winter, it immobilised the Greek right wing. On 28 December , the Greek GHQ took the decision to halt large-scale offensive operations in view of the stiffening Italian resistance, the worsening supply situation and the bad weather, which inter alia led to a large number of frostbite casualties.

This decision took effect on 6 January, whereby only local offensive operations would take place to improve Greek lines until the weather improved.

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There were also two independent Bersaglieri regiments, a grenadier regiment, two cavalry regiments, Blackshirt and Albanian battalions and other units. According to official Italian documents, on 1 January , Italy had 10, officers, , men, 7, vehicles, and 32, animals in Albania.

II Corps attacked on 8 January, with 1st Division on the left and 15th Division, followed by the 11th Division, on the right flank. The 15th Division faced the Julia Division, and after a hard struggle managed to capture its positions in a costly success. The 11th Division followed up on 9 January next day captured the pass. The commander and the chief of staff failed to coordinate its two regiments, which became entangled on the same mule track. Despite attacking downhill and facing a numerically inferior enemy, the division lost a battalion to encirclement and were driven back to their starting positions after two days.

By 16 January, the division had disintegrated and "ceased to exist as an organized force", with only officers and men immediately available and over 4, casualties. As the threat of a German invasion from Bulgaria increased, the need to transfer Greek divisions to the Bulgarian frontier forced Papagos to launch a final effort to capture Valona as quickly as possible.

The RAF agreed to challenge the air superiority of the Regia Aeronautica , which had recovered with the loss of much of the RHAF in ground-attack operations, rather than continue ineffective attempts at interdiction. With reinforcements from Egypt and the drying of a landing-ground at Paramythia , the RAF managed close support sorties by the end of February.

The Italian defensive success was costly, and signs of an imminent Italian offensive in the central sector of the front forced a return to the defensive. By early February , the Greek Army was down to less than two months of artillery ammunition overall and had shortages in every area of material, while the Italians possessed ample reserves, endangering their position. The Greeks appealed to the United States for material aid, but the British ensured that they themselves got first priority for US production.

Furthermore, there were shortages of materials and even food across the country. Continuing degradation of their logistical capability would soon mean the end of effective Greek resistance. British material and air support had been provided, but at this point it was "relatively small. The front commanders in Albania represented their views to GHQ in Athens and in early March, Papagos moved to replace virtually the entire leadership in the Albanian front: II Corps continued limited offensive action as late as 8 March to improve its positions.

Despite repeated assaults and heavy shelling, the positions of 1st Division held during 9—10 March. A flanking manoeuvre on 11 March ended in Italian defeat. The exhausted Puglie Division was withdrawn and replaced with the Bari Division during the subsequent night, but all attacks until 15 March failed. The Italian offensive resumed on 19 March with another attack on Height the 18th thus far. Attacks, preceded by heavy artillery bombardments, followed daily until 24 March, the last day of the Italian offensive, without achieving any result.

Although it failed, the Italian Spring Offensive revealed a "chronic shortage of arms and equipment" in the Greek Army. Even with British support, the Greeks were fast approaching the end of their logistical tether. British intelligence estimated that Greece's reserves, although numbering ,—, partly-trained men on paper, could not be mobilized for lack of arms and equipment, which were being consumed by the Albanian front. Requests were sent to London after the Italian Spring Offensive for 5 million 75mm, , mm, , 85mm, , mm, and 75, mm shells, as well as 41 million rifle rounds.

The British had already supplied, among other goods, 40 million 7. Worse, while the Italians still had reserves of men and materiel, the Greek defences of Macedonia and Thrace, which would face the German attack, were left undermanned and underequipped due to the demands of the Albanian front.

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British planners disagreed with the Greek plan to hold on to the Metaxas Line, as well as the insistence of not ceding a single bit of ground to the Italians, noting that the Greek forces—"a small force" spread over "an impossibly long front"—were insufficient to prevent or resist a German breakthrough.

They had few automatic weapons and faced even shortages of basic supplies such as tents and helmets. In an effort to keep Greece in the fight, British aid drastically stepped up in March and April, which included uniforms, weapons, and ammunition of various types. However, the Greeks still didn't consider this sufficient for successfully prosecuting the rest of the war.

On 2 April, the Greek Prime Minister implored the British in a message to immediately supply , more shells and 30, more rifles. Even if the British could spare these stocks, they could not transport them to Greece in a timely manner. With most of the Greek army on the Albanian border, Operation Marita began through Bulgaria on 6 April, which created a second front. Greece had received a small reinforcement from British forces based in Egypt in anticipation of the German attack, but no more help was sent after the invasion.

The Greek army was outnumbered; the Bulgarian defensive line did not receive adequate troop reinforcements and was quickly overrun. The Germans outflanked the immobile Greek forces on the Albanian border, forcing the surrender of the Eastern Macedonia Field Army section in only four days. The British Empire forces began a retreat. For several days Allied troops contained the German advance on the Thermopylae position, allowing ships to be prepared to evacuate the British force.

The Germans reached Athens on 27 April and the southern shore on 30 April, capturing 7, British troops.

The conquest of Greece was completed with the capture of Crete a month later and Greece was occupied by the military forces of Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria until late The attack began on 7 April and the 13th Division made some progress, but the Yugoslav army, attacked by the Germans , rapidly collapsed and the operation was cancelled. Advice to retreat before the start of the German attack had been rejected and they petitioned Pitsikas to surrender. Pitsikas forbade such talk, but notified Papagos and urged a solution that would secure "the salvation and honour of our victorious Army".

By 15 April, the divisions of II Army Corps, beginning with the 5th Division, began to disintegrate, with men and even entire units abandoning their positions. It is not exactly clear why oranges are the fruit of choice, and in previous decades, beans or apples were used instead. Each year, hundreds of thousands of kilograms of oranges are imported from Sicily to the northwestern town. Spectators can choose to wear a red hat to mark themselves as a bystander donning the hat also means you cannot throw any oranges yourself or stay safe from flying pulp by sheltering behind the nets which are put up to protect Ivrea's buildings.

Other rituals include a large bonfire, again symbolic of the revolt but also of the arrival of spring, as well as the musical and theatrical performances common to many Italian carnivals. Nine curious Easter festivals that take place across Italy. Iceland may have a population of just over , people all with equally unpronounceable names but that doesn't stop it churning out a stream of globally-renowned people. Take our quiz to discover your Icelandic spirit animal. Search Italy's news in English. News categories Milan Naples Turin More…. Membership My account Gift voucher Corporate Help center.

Jobs in Italy Browse jobs Post a vacancy. Email newsletters Newsletter sign-up Edit my subscriptions. Other pages Apartment rentals Noticeboard. Why thousands of people join a massive food fight in this Italian town each year Catherine Edwards. Ivrea's Battle of the Oranges is one of Italy's most famous and messiest carnivals.

Italy is home to many spectacular spring carnivals, from masks and extravagant costumes in Venice to political satire in Viareggio. But one of the most unusual festivals takes place in a small town in northwestern Italy, where thousands gather each February to wage war Eight spectacular Italian carnivals to explore outside Venice Participants in this year's carnival. Sign up for our free This week in Italy newsletter.

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