Battle of Thermopylae (1941)

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The Thermopylae Gorge today
Construction of a temporary bridge over the Sperchios during the Battle of Thermopylae

The Battle of Thermopylae during the Second World War on April 24th and 25th, 1941 began after the Allied retreat from northern Greece. British Commonwealth troops set up defensive positions at the Thermopylae Pass . Allied General Bernard Freyberg was entrusted with the task of defending the passage, while the defense of the nearby village of Brallos was taken over by Major Giffard Mackay. In the New Zealand sector, the 5th Brigade was posted along the coastal road, defending the hills south of the town of Lamia and positions on the Sperchios River . The 4th Brigade set up patrols to monitor the coastline against German landing attempts.

The 6th Brigade was kept in reserve. In the Australian sector, the 19th Brigade defended Brallos together with the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion and the 8th Australian Infantry Battalion. When the order to withdraw came on the morning of the 23rd, it was decided that two brigades should hold the pass as long as possible in order to secure the Allied retreat. In the following German attack on April 24, 1941, the Germans suffered heavy losses and lost, among other things, 15 tanks in the Allied defensive fire.

The Australians and New Zealanders held the position for about a day. After the dragging resistance, they withdrew towards the evacuation beaches. The battle ended with a breakthrough by German troops into southern Greece. The defense of Thermopylae, however, had enabled many Allied soldiers to be evacuated from Greece.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Official Histories - Second World War Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army Volume II - Greece, Crete and Syria (1st edition, 1953) (PDF; 2.9 MB) accessed 13 October 2006.
  2. ^ Bailey, p. 33.

literature

  • Kurt von Tippelskirch : The German Balkan Campaign 1941 , in: Wehrwissenschaftliche Rundschau , 5 (1955), pp. 49-65.
  • Detlef Vogel: The intervention of Germany in the Balkans , in: ders. / Gerhard Schreiber / Bernd Stegemann (eds.): The German Reich and the Second World War , Vol. 3, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1984, pp. 417-511 . ISBN 3-421-06097-5
  • Detlef Vogel: Germany and Southeast Europe - From Political-Economic Influence to Open Use of Force and Suppression , in: Wolfgang Michalka (Ed.): The Second World War - Analyzes, Basic Features, Research Balance, Verlag Piper, Munich / Zurich 1989, pp. 532-550 . ISBN 3-492-10811-3

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