Battle of Greece order of battle


This is the order of battle of the German, Greek and British Commonwealth units on 5 April 1941, prior to the German invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia. The German invasion and conquest of mainland Greece is known as the "Battle of Greece".

German forces

The German forces were grouped under Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm List's 12th Army, which comprised:
The 1st Panzer Group did not participate in any significant way in the conquest of Greece. After the unexpected coup d'état in Yugoslavia on 27 March, the objective of the Panzer Group was changed to invading Yugoslavia and capturing Zagreb. As such, its command was handed over to General Maximilian von Weichs' 2nd Army, which was invading Yugoslavia from the north.

Greek forces

The Greek Army had been fighting against the Italians since 28 October 1940, and the bulk of its forces was still committed against the Italian Army and within Albania. The forces available to face the expected German attack in Macedonia were mostly newly formed divisions manned with reservists, lacking heavy weapons and equipment. At the same time, the Greek GHQ did not agree with the British as to the deployment of its forces, being unwilling to abandon all of northern Greece in favour of the shorter Vermion Mountains–Haliacmon River line favoured by the British. Consequently, the Greek forces in Macedonia were divided in two major groupings, which fought separate battles.
The Eastern Macedonia Army Section under Lt. Gen. Konstantinos Bakopoulos covered the pre-war fortifications of the Metaxas Line, between Mount Beles and the Nestos river.
The Central Macedonia Army Section under Lt. Gen. Ioannis Kotoulas was assigned to the 'W' Force in holding the Vermion Mountains–Haliacmon line:
In total, the Greek forces facing the Germans numbered 65,110 men, only about half of whom were combat-worthy.

Commonwealth forces

The Commonwealth forces were constituted as the "'W' Force", named after its commander, Lieutenant General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson: