TheEpirus Army Section (Greek:Τμήμα Στρατιάς Ηπείρου, ΤΣΗ;Tmima Stratias Ipeirou,TSI) was afield army of theHellenic Army active between 14 February and 20 April 1941 during theGreco-Italian War and theBattle of Greece.
The Epirus Army Section was established on 14 February 1941, with theI Army Corps andII Army Corps fighting on the western and central sections of theAlbanian front. Until that point, the two corps had been under the direct control of the General Field Headquarters atIoannina, led by the Greek commander-in-chief Lt. GeneralAlexandros Papagos. However, the increasing possibility of a German attack throughBulgaria necessitated the relocation of GHQ back to Athens and the establishment of a new higher command.[1] The first commander of the Epirus Army Section was Lt. GeneralMarkos Drakos, who until then had commanded theEastern Macedonia Army Section.[1]
After vehement disagreements with GHQ on the future course of operations, on 6 March Drakos was retired along with his two corps commanders, Lt. GeneralsPanagiotis Demestichas (I Corps) andDimitrios Papadopoulos (II Corps). Markos was replaced by the commander of theWestern Macedonia Army Section, Lt. GeneralIoannis Pitsikas. I Corps went toV Corps commander Lt. GeneralPanagiotis Demestichas and II Corps to3rd Infantry Division commander Major GeneralGeorgios Bakos.[2][3]
From9–24 March, II Corps faced successive attacks in theItalian Spring Offensive in theKlisura sector, which were repulsed.[4] At the end of March, the Epirus Army Section comprised I Corps, with the2nd Infantry Division,3rd Infantry Division and8th Infantry Division (threeEvzone and eight standard infantry regiments) plus a cavalry regiment, and II Corps with the1st Infantry Division,4th Infantry Division,5th Infantry Division,6th Infantry Division,11th Infantry Division,15th Infantry Division and17th Infantry Division (21 infantry regiments).[5]
Following the start of theGerman invasion of Greece on 6 April and the rapid progress of the German troops with the capture ofThessaloniki three days later, on 12 April GHQ in Athens gave the order of retreat to the Greek forces on the Albanian front.[6] The decision came too late. The Greek commanders were aware that, given the continued Italian pressure, the lack of Greek motor transport and pack animals, the physical exhaustion of the Greek army and the poor transport network ofEpirus, any retreat was likely to end up in disintegration. They had pressed in vain for a retreat already before the start of the German attack but now they petitioned Pitsikas to surrender. Although Pitsikas forbade such talk, he notified Papagos of these developments and urged a solution that would secure "the salvation and honour of our victorious Army".[7][8] Indeed, the orders to retreat, coupled with the disheartening news of theYugoslav collapse and of the rapid German advance, led to a breakdown of the morale of the Greek troops, many of whom had been fighting without reprieve for five months and were now forced to abandon hard-won ground. By 15 April, the divisions of II Army Corps, beginning with theCretan 5th Division, began to disintegrate, with men and even entire units abandoning their positions.[7][9][10]
On 16 April, Pitsikas reported to Papagos that signs of disintegration had also begun to appear among the divisions of I Corps and begged him to "save the army from the Italians", i.e. to be allowed to capitulate to the Germans, before the military situation collapsed completely. On the next day, the Western Macedonia Army Section (Lt. GeneralGeorgios Tsolakoglou) was renamed to III Army Corps and placed under Pitsikas' command. The three corps commanders, along with themetropolitan bishop of Ioannina, Spyridon, pressured Pitsikas to unilaterally begin negotiations with the Germans.[9][11][12] When he refused, the others decided to bypass him and selected Tsolakoglou, as the senior of the three generals, to carry out the task. Tsolakoglou delayed for a few days, sending his chief of staff to Athens to secure permission from Papagos. The chief of staff reported the chaos in Athens and urged his commander to take the initiative in a message that implied permission by Papagos, although this was not in fact the case. On 20 April, Tsolakoglou contactedObergruppenführerSepp Dietrich, the commander of the nearest German unit, theLeibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) brigade, to offer surrender. The protocol of surrender was signed at 18:00 of the same day between Tsolakoglou and Dietrich. Presented with thefait accompli, Pitsikas was informed an hour later and resigned his command.[13][14][15]
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