Churchill and Greece in 1940 and 1941

In 1940 and 1941, Churchill tended to appoint commanders who were his friends and who he respected. Two examples were General Henry Maitland Wilson and General Bernard Freyberg. Italy attacked Greece on 28 October 1940. The Greek ruler, General Metaxas, had originally counciled against Britain getting involved. Churchill's foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, insisted that the British were required to intervene if Greece were attacked without any provocation. Italy hoped to make a lightning advance into Greece, taking control of "the southern Balkans and the Aegean Sea". We would say that Churchill had not authority to appoint commanders, although he did fairly regularly. Once General Alan Brooke became the CIGS, that changed, although Brooke had to persuade Churchill of what he believed were the right men to appoint.
The immediate reaction was to fly squadrons into Greece. Fairly soon, four squadrons were operating from Greek air fields against Italian forces in Albania. By November 1940, a "weak" infantry brigade "group" was flown into Crete. Also, anti-air craft gunners and "air force ground staff and depot troops" were transported to Athens.
In late 1940, the British were mounting an defense of the island against a German invasion. This was what they called "the Battle of Britain" where the main combatants were British and Commonwealth fighter pilots and bombers operating against Germany. They were also fighting in North Africa against Italy. The Greeks successfully fought the Italian army based in Albania. There were some 14 Greek Divisions fighting Italian divisions in the Albanian border area. This is based on the account in "Greek, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long, where we are writing from the New Zealand perspective.