Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Dominions were treated badly over Greece

The Australian Official History at least in part blames the Australian Prime Minister, Mr. Menzies, and the senior army officer, General Blamey, for not being in better communication. We have seen that the British, probably in form of General Wavell had mislead the men about any agreement with the British plan for Greece. Without consulting the Dominions, the British had promised the Greeks an army of three divisions: two Australian and one New Zealand. They had committed the Australians and New Zealanders without their permission. To get their acquiescence, they lied about the circumstances. The British acted very badly all through this process.

The Greek army got no better treatment from the British. The British commander expected the worst of the Greek army, when they made a good-faith effort that delivered results, considering the bad equipment and training of the Greek Army. The Greeks, however, were sold out by a corrupt German sympathizer who surrendered a significant portion of the army. That was after the British had undercut the Greek defensive posture. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

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