From 23 April to 25 April 1941

They heard that the Germans were now on Euboea on 23 April 1941. They sent reconnaissance aircraft to verify the story, but they did not see anyone. There were concerns about the 1/Rangers guarding the crossing at Khalkis. They needed to hold the crossing until the 6th Brigade could be south of there by the evening of the 25th. The 6th Brigade would leave a rearguard at Tatoi until they saw the Rangers withdraw through there.

Meanwhile, at Thermopylae, the British medium guns dueled with the German artillery. The troops were gradually withdrawing towards the beaches where they would withdraw. Some of the troops headed for the beaches at Marathon. An effort was made to post rearguards along the way that would move back in stages. There was some concern that the Germans might take the Delphi Pass, and cut off the line of retreat. The general state is reflected by the condition of the 4th Husssars, reduced to 12 light tanks, 6 carriers, and one armoured car by 23 April. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

Defending Thermopylae

Once the order had been given to withdraw from Greece, the 6th New Zealand Brigade was left to defend Thermopylae Pass. Altogether, they had men from five battalions: the 25th on the heights above the road and river, the 24th holding the road at Ayia Trias, and the 26th behind them on the road to Molos. The brigade had strong artillery support in the form of one medium, four field, and two anti-tank regiments. Carriers from the 5th Brigade were patrolling to the north during the night. The other two brigades moved at night on 22 April 1941. The 5th Brigade had destroyed its heavy gear before withdrawing to Ayia Konstantinos. The 4th Brigade pulled back to Erithrai. As this was happening, the Australians were being pressed by the Germans. 21 and 22 April saw heavy German air attacks on the defenders at Thermopylae. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

The Australian guns finally silenced: 22 April 1941

The two Australian guns on the side of the mountain, in an exposed position, had dueled with the German artillery for eight hours. The guns were 25 pounders. One gun finally had a recuperator oil leak and had to stop firing. The officer in charge, a young lieutenant, noticed that there were German infantrymen unloading from trucks that were too close to fire upon. The gun was sited in a pit, so they lifted the trail onto the back edge. That allowed them to fire on the infantry with reduced charges. They could have easily flipped the gun with full charges. That fire brought down medium artillery fire that disabled the remaining gun. The artillery duel had lasted eight hours by the time, at 4pm, when the gun was disabled. The men exposed on the hillside were finally hit by German fire and there were men killed and wounded. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

The gunners on 21-22 April 1941

At the Brallos pass on 21 April 1941, Brigadier Herring, the 6th Australian Division artillery commander was on the scene and directing the placement of field guns. They also had an Italian Breda 20mm AA gun with the field guns to provide cover. By 6pm, they could see the first Germans leaving Lamia, heading south towards the guns. At 10,900 yards, the guns opened fire and hit the leading vehicle. The rest of the Germans turned around and drove back into Lamia. From the heights, the gunners could see a large number of vehicles descending and driving into Lamia in the dark. Early on 22 April, four large German guns, probably medium guns, opened fire on the Australians from beyond the range that they could reach. More German vehicles headed south on the road, and were fired upon by the field guns. As the field guns fired, the medium guns returned fire,, becoming increasingly accurate. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

After Wavell's visit

General Wavell's visit where he ordered a withdrawal from Greece greatly shook up the command. The commanders had been thinking in terms of a last ditch defence and then surrender. Wavell told them that the men should not surrender, but if they were cut off, they should try and reach the islands, where they would be rescued later. Embarkations would take place at designated beaches. They would try and bring out guns, if possible. If they had to be abandoned, they would be stripped of breach blocks and sights. The men would travel light, with no packs. They would be taken off the beaches on three nights: 24/25, 25/26, and 26/27 April. They would be taken off in lighters, early landing craft, as we would call them now. As the preliminary moves took place, the artillery fire between British and Germans along the whole front became much more intense. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

The Decision to Withdraw from Greece

General Mackay has said later that he expected to stand in position for another two weeks and then be beaten by greater force. That is what he was apparently thinking late on 20 April 1941. Brigadier Vasey, commanding the 19th Brigade, thought the same thing at the time. Out of the blue, General Wavell arrived at the headquarters and ordered the force to withdraw from Greece, contrary to what everyone expected. What had happened was the surrender by General Tsolakoglou. That changed the picture completely, at least from General Wavell's perspective. Wavell was ready to take sympathetic Greeks with them, if they wanted to leave before the German occupation. General Wilson's plan for withdrawal was only issued on 23 April. He had already given verbal instructions, however, to Generals Blamey and Freyberg. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

The situation deteriorates: 21 April 1941

The positions that the British and Commonwealth troops were occupying on 21 April 1941 were becoming increasingly untenable. There was concern about German airborne troops landing behind the British lines on the plain of Thebes, news had been received of the Greek Army of Epirus surrender, and it looked like the Germans would be able to flank the position on the left. The British lacked a sufficient force to block the roads from German attack, as the Australians were decimated in part. The Leibstandarte Adolph Hitler Division was was to the west at Yannina, and posed a threat to the British position. The main delay to the German advance was crated roads. The Germans had strong forces, but the state of the roads were keeping them from pressing the British as hard as might be expected. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

Thermopylae from 19 to 22 April 1941

British troops waited at Thermopylae for the expected German attack. The army commander's headquarters was now at Thebes. ANZAC Corps headquarters would be at Levadia. General Freyberg was to have his headquarters near Longos. General Mackay was ordered to move his headquarters to a position near Ayla Marina. He was unhappy with such a move, as the forward troops defending Brallos would be 20 miles distant. 16th Brigade, now reduced to two "weak battalions" would hold the west side. At sunset on 21 April 1941, the 2/7th Battalion was about four miles forward of Brallos. The 2/6th Battalion was to the west. The 2/5th Battalion returned and was in reserve. The new positions were very weak and really needed divisions, not brigades. Although the New Zealand Division was still relatively intact, the 6th Australian Division had three battalions that greatly reduced in strength. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

A messy withdrawal: 20 April 1941

Allen's force straggled back towards the bulk of the division. The rearguard had finally pulled back after 5pm on 20 April 1941. Colonel Lamb had reached the division headquarters and realized that he had not seen Brigadier Allen since the morning. Men from the 2/2 and 2/3 battalions were straggling back towards the rear in small groups. By later in the day, there were seven officers and 297 men from the 2/2 Battalion near General Blamey's headquarters. Many of the men from the 2/3 Battalion were on trucks that were still on the road. By later on 20 April there were as many as 500 men from the 2/3 Battalion assembled. Some New Zealanders and more men from the 2/2 and 2/3 battalions arrived after having to abandon their vehicles and march towards the division headquarters. We find that Brigadier Allen had driven down a dead-end road, found some sixty men, assigned an officer to command them, and then instructed them to keep marching south. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

20 April 1941, more from the rearguard

In the afternoon of 20 April 1941, the rearguard at the Lamia Pass was being tested by the Germans. There was a rainstorm that enabled the Germans to bring mortars forward and they started firing on the Australians. As the Germans advanced across ground at the foot of the pass, they received accurate fire. Major Guinn decided that they would withdraw when they started to receive artillery fire. He gave the order to withdraw when the Germans opened fire with four light guns. One British tank was hit and had to be left behind. There were two cruiser tanks holding the road while the Australian infantry started to withdraw. One gun covered the engineers while they set off charges to damage the road. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

20 April 1941 the second rearguard

Late on 19 April 1941, the decision had been made to withdraw Brigadier Lee's brigade. Some troubling aspects were that there was a New Zealand brigade that no one knew where it was, not even the brigade commander. Another issue was that Some mistakes were made in the process of doing demolitions. Several anti-tank guns were lost as a result. They saw a vehicle arrive and start repairing demolitions and opened fire on them, not realizing that they were "British" (meaning British, Australian, or New Zealand).

A second rearguard was designated, this time a small detachment. Major Guinn was to command the rearguard and hold the road until the last Australian and New Zealand troops had gone past Lamia. This was on 20 April, and the men became aware of advancing German forces. The rearguard was well-concealed, so they surprised a team of German motorcyclists who were approaching. A small contingent of British tanks were concealed, ready to engage any approaching German tanks. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

General Mackay on 19 April 1941

General Mackay wanted to see what Brigadier Lee's force was enduring, so he spent time with the rearguard at Domokos from about 7:30am until 4pm on 19 April 1941. General Mackay understood what Rommel also understood: the importance of leading from the front lines. On 18 April, Brigadier Lee had four infantry battalions, engineers, and additional troops. At that point, he thought that there was little danger of being pressed by the Germans until after the Australian and New Zealand divisions had passed through Lamia. Because of that, he had sent one brigade of two battalions back to Thermopylae. General Mackay had approved the move early on 19 April. That was when the men discovered a train of valuable fuel and explosives two miles away. The Victorian railway men were determined to take the train to Athens. However, they were bombed by German aircraft and caused and explosion that destroyed the train. Miraculously, the Australian railwaymen survived. This is based on the account in Vol.II of hte Australian Official History.

On 20 April 1941, the last 15 Hurricanes in Greece took off and intercepted a German attacking force consisting of 100 divebombers and fighters. The British had 22 certain kills and 8 more probables. The British losses were five Hurricanes. During the night, General Wavell visited General Blamey's ANZAC Corps headquarters and ordered him to withdraw as soon as possible. The troops needed to reach the embarkation beaches on 24 April to be evacuated that night. The ANZAC Corps were mostly on the road with rearguard detachments protecting the retreat. The column on the road from Larisa to Lamia was attacked from the air in the morning. The senior officers were involved in the retreat and made sure that the men saw them along the roads. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

19 April 1941

The commanders in London had decided to withdraw the force in Greece. The Greek government actually agreed that would be the best thing to do. The only dissenters were the commander in Greece. General Wavell had arrived in Athens on 19 April 1941 to meet with General Wilson and other commanders. General Wilson was overoptimistic in thinking that the troops could hold the Thermopylae line for an extended period. They met with the Greek king and General Papagos, and General Papagos suggested that the Greek army was in dire straights. They had a message from Churchill that he did not want the force to withdraw without Greek concurrence. Independently, the rogue Greek army commander met with the Germans to surrender. The die was cast and the British would have done best by heading for a withdrawal. This is based on Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

The retreat on 18 April 1941

A retreating column of vehicles stretched some seventy miles during the day on 18 April 1941. This was happening on a day when the Germans dominated the air and were frequently present dropping bombs. The surprising thing was that the German bombing was not very effective. There were a few successes, such as the exploding ammunition truck that destroyed a bridge. The Generals Freyberg and Mackay were present, setting an example for the troops, ignoring the German air attacks. Both men had been inspiring leaders in the Great War and were demonstrating those same qualities in the second war. The results of 18 April lifted the mens' spirits and gave them a new resolve to continue the withdrawal from Greece in the face of German air superiority, which for their sakes, was largely and inexplicably ineffective. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

The 21st New Zealand Battalion at the Pinios Gorge

There is a good article about the 21st New Zealand Battalion in Greece in the Sunday Star Times newspaper (online). 21 Battalion had arrived in Greece in late March 1941. They arrived under German air attack that had set a nearby ammunition ship afire. The New Zealanders had put the fire out and saved the ship and themselves. From there, they were sent forward to Platamon. They were attacked by two German armoured divisions on 15 April 1941. The Germans attacked and broke the New Zealand line on 16 April, causing them to retreat after a desperate battle that lasted for some 36 hours. From there, they pulled back to the Pinios Gorge, where they defended the western end of the gorge. They were supported first by the 2/2 Australian Battalion and subsequently, by the 2/3 Battalion. They had destroyed the railroad bridge and blocked the tunnel. The New Zealanders had four anti-tank guns (2pdr) and two mortars that were inoperable by the time of the action at the Pinios Gorge. The Germans attacked starting at 5pm on 17 April and then by the morning of 18 April mounted a larger attack. They had gotten tanks across the river, by fording almost turret high water. The 21st Battalion was supported by Australian artillery, and together they stopped the initial attack. The Germans, with tanks, finally broke A company at about 4:30pm on 18 April. They were forced to retreat at that point. The commander, Colonel Macky, was treated shabbily, as he was relieved of his command and sent home after the fight. General Freyberg tried to apologize, much later, but Macky would not see him.

18 April 1941 involving Larisa

The British commanders spent the day of 18 April 1941 in a state of anxiety. They feared that one or both of the rearguards might be pushed past Larisa before the retreating columns could safely pass. The other concern was that German bombers might inflict heavy casualties on the forces on the roads. At 9:30am, a truck laden with explosives was hit by a bomb and exploded. The explosion blew a large crater in the road. Brigadier Steele, himself, the ANZAC Corps Chief Engineer was on the spot to personally supervise the repairs. A knocked out bulldozer made matters worse. They not only had to repair the crater but to create a detour. At 2pm, Brigadier Rowell had gone to see Mackay and Freiberg to see if they might postpone the withdrawal. The situation was so tenuous that it was not possible, but by then, the columns were able to continue on the detour and traffic moved forward. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

More on German movements 18/19 April 1941

A German mountain company cut the road between Allen's force and Larisa. They were fighting Australians who were attempting to move down the road to Larisa. The Australians were in trucks and carriers, without supporting arms. Late in the evening on 18 April 1941, the Germans captured a convoy of trucks and knocked out a carrier. Units of the 2nd Panzer Division joined the company and moved into Larisa on the morning of 19 April. At the same time, there was a battle at the Pinios Gorge while several armoured groups moved on Larisa. On the morning of 18 April, there was a large convoy of trucks moving south from Larisa. These seem to have been mainly Australians. The sky was clear and they fully expected to be bombed from the air. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

German movements from the 16th to 17th April 1941

When the attack on Servia failed, Stumme's corps was sent west towards Grevena while Boehme's corps moved around the east side of Mount Olympus. They left a weak force facing Servia. Stumme's corps consisted of the 5th and 9th Panzer Division, the Leibstandarte Adolph Hitler, at this stage of the war, a regiment-sized unit, and the73rd Division. Boehme's corps apparently consisted of the 5th and 6th Mountain Divisions, the 2nd Panzer Division, and the 72nd Division. The 2nd Panzer Division divided into two battle groups. One went towards the Olympus Pass while the other attacked the 21st New Zealand Battalion at Platamon. The group advancing on the Pinios Gorge was augmented to include 150 tanks and more infantry and artillery. They reached the Pinios Gorge on 17 April, early in the day. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

Savige's force on 18 April 1941

Brigadier Savige had put Lt-Colonel King in charge of a rear-guard located about five miles east of Kalabaka King commanded a small combined arms force, equipped with tanks, artillery, machine guns, and infantry. This was an Australian force. The 2/11th Battalion were moving towards Zarkos at dawn and arrived at 10am. By 11am, the engineers were blowing up sections of the road. Part of Savige's men crossed the Pinios by bridge, but the bridge was bombed. The bombs detonated the prepared explosives and destroyed the bridge. Vehicles were forced to detour a long ways to Tirnavos to cross the river. One bridge had not been prepared for demolition and still stood. An elite demolition party, led by Warrent-Officer went back and blew the bridge. By midnight, they had crossed the river and rejoined the rear guard. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.