This is theorder of battle of theGerman,Greek andBritish Commonwealth units on 5 April 1941, prior to the German invasion of Greece andYugoslavia ("Operation Marita"). The German invasion and conquest of mainland Greece is known as the "Battle of Greece".
The German forces were grouped underGeneralfeldmarschallWilhelm List's12th Army, which comprised:[1]
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.
TheGreek Army had been fighting against the Italians since 28 October 1940, and the bulk of its forces (15+ divisions) was still committed against the Italian Army and withinAlbania.[2] The forces available to face the expected German attack inMacedonia 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 shorterVermion Mountains–Haliacmon River line favoured by the British. Consequently, the Greek forces in Macedonia were divided in two major groupings, which fought separate battles.
TheEastern Macedonia Army Section (Τμήμα Στρατιάς Ανατολικής Μακεδονίας, ΤΣΑΜ) under Lt. Gen.Konstantinos Bakopoulos covered the pre-war fortifications of theMetaxas Line, betweenMount Beles and theNestos river.[3]
TheCentral Macedonia Army Section (Τμήμα Στρατιάς Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας, ΤΣΚΜ) under Lt. Gen.Ioannis Kotoulas was assigned to the 'W' Force in holding the Vermion Mountains–Haliacmon line:[5]
In total, the Greek forces facing the Germans numbered 65,110 men, only about half of whom were combat-worthy.[6]
The Commonwealth forces were constituted as the "'W' Force", named after its commander, Lieutenant GeneralSir Henry Maitland Wilson:[7]