062 - Mussolini plays Hitler like a Fiddle - The Invasion of Greece - WW2 - November 2, 1940

They did what? What about Egypt? Okay… November 2, 1940 Although Italian leader Benito Mussolini has said to his German ally that he has no designs on Greece until after taking Egypt, that is not the case, for this week, Italy invades Greece. I'm Indy Neidell. This is World War Two. Last week, Adolf Hitler met with Vichy French and Spanish leaders to try and get them to join him in a coalition against Britain. It didn't work out how he wanted. Meanwhile, Italy was preparing to invade Greece, and as I said, that begins this week. Around 3 AM the morning of the 28th, the Italian ambassador to Greece issues an ultimatum, but it's basically a declaration of war since the Italians are crossing the border from Albania before it even expires and the Greco-Italian war begins. The Italians hope that Bulgaria will also attack Greece. Now, different sources claim that Hitler does not know or likely does know that this was coming. Martin Gilbert says Hitler gets the news on the train to Florence to meet Mussolini the night of the 27th. John Keegan says that Hitler likely knew since his meeting back on the 4th with Mussolini. Either way, Hitler is not happy, thinking this attack a strategic error and that moving on Crete or Alexandria would have made more sense. Italian General Sebastiano Prasca leads 8 divisions in from Albania. They attack in three lines, the main one in center. Now, General Alexandros Papagos, Greek Commander in Chief, has not deployed near the border because he didn't want to provoke the Italians. He plans on using 8 divisions as well, but he's leaving 4 divisions in Thrace and Eastern Macedonia in case the Bulgarians do also attack. His line of defense is from Lake Prespa and then along the river Tiamis to the coast. He does not have tanks or anti-tank guns, nor much in the way of modern aircraft. The weather the first few days is terrible, though, and denies the Italians any air support. This might not be the best time of the year for an attack. Italian troops advanced in a heavy downpour. They did not get far. It had already rained solidly for two days. Torrential streams and rivers washed away bridges, and the Greeks, well aware of the attack, which had been an open secret in Rome, blew up others. Unpaved roads became virtually impassable in the thick mud. The Battle of Pindus begins the 28th. Trasca doesn't think the Pindus Mountains will be a problem for his troops to cross, but that might not be the case. Still, the Iulia Division, some of the best Italian troops, cover 40 km of mountainous ground and take Volvosa by the end of the week. Their goal is Metsovo. Greece's Pindus Detachment under Colonel Konstantinos Davakis is deployed along the 30 or so km that separate the Epirus and Macedonia sectors. They're the link, but Davakis is seriously wounded at the end of the week. Still, by that time, other than the Iulia Division, the Italians have not gotten very far. They do bomb Salonika the 2nd, though. Here's a war story, also from the 2nd. Greek pilot Marinos Mitralexis runs out of ammunition in a dogfight, so he rams his plane into an Italian Savoia Marchetti SM-79 bomber, lands his own damaged fighter, and captures the bomber crew who have parachuted from their plane. That's pretty cool. Well, I said earlier that Hitler was heading to Florence to meet Mussolini. At that meeting, Hitler conceals any anger at not being told about the Italian plans beforehand, and says that German troops will be available if they need to keep Britain out of Greece and away from the Romanian oilfields. Greece is Britain's only continental ally at this point. Mussolini claims that if he didn't do this attack, then Britain would establish bases in Greece. But if this is the case- and really his purpose of the attack was to emulate Hitler and gain glory- but if this is the case, then it immediately backfires, for the British occupy Crete and Lemnos and begin to mine Greek coastal waters. On the 1st, a small British bomber force arrives to help the Greeks. British PM Winston Churchill will order more planes to go in over the next few days. In fact, half of the RAF strength from Egypt goes to Greece. Churchill feels it very necessary to act on the guarantees Britain has given to Greece. This should help public opinion in neutral places like Turkey or in the Balkans. Greece is careful, though, not to allow the British anything more than short range facilities. Hitler does have concrete reasons to be upset. The British will be within bombing reach of those oilfields, Germany's main oil supply, if they get bases near Salonika. It also can maybe mess things up in the Balkans. Hitler's idea at the moment is that the region could be made satellite states by diplomacy. This Italian aggression could be a spanner in the works there. And this cannot help but provoke the USSR, and that is the last thing Hitler wants to do since he plans to ambush them next spring. And he's meeting Soviet FM Vyacheslav Molotov November 12th, so he's gonna start thinking of contingency plans. I'll talk more about them in a couple of weeks. For now, I'll say this. He tells Fedor von Bock, his Poland Army Group commander, What will transpire in the east is still an open question. Circumstances may force us to step in to forestall any more dangerous developments. There are developments that may prove to involve danger this week to the south. At a meeting in Khartoum the 29th to discuss future African strategy, South African PM Jan Smuts thinks the British should keep the Italians guessing where and when they will attack, should prepare for rapid attacks, and should capture the port of Kismayu at the beginning of any offensive against Italian Somaliland. Douglas Dickinson, in charge of the East Africa Force, wants to split the South African forces he commands and only use them for defense. He doesn't quite realize how influential Smuts is with Churchill. Dickinson is also pretty unpopular in Nairobi. Well, long story short, or short story shorter, it is not entirely clear who made the actual decision to relieve him of his command, but Wavo delivered the news. His replacement in charge of the Commonwealth and British forces in East Africa is Lieutenant General Sir Alan Cunningham, brother of Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, commander-in-chief of the British Mediterranean Fleet. Actually, General Francis Noseworthy was the original choice to be sent to Nairobi from Britain. Noseworthy needed to have a minor operation that would delay his departure, so Cunningham got the nod instead. There is fighting between British and Italian forces this week. The Italian sub Skire is just off of Gibraltar. The plan is to attack the naval base there with manned torpedoes. Now, these are an Italian secret weapon. The Maiale- the pig- has a little electric motor, and men in diving suits ride astride it, guiding it slowly and cumbersomely- hence the nickname- towards the target. Once there, the warhead of the torpedo can be detached and used as a limpet mine. The attack the 31st is a pretty daring plan, but it fails and it has a consequence. A faulty torpedo that is ditched is detected and recovered by the British. They take it for analysis and it will become the master for future British manned torpedo designs. Britain is still being attacked by Italy at home as well. On October 29th, 15 Italian BR-20s with a strong fighter escort attack Ramsgate by day. This is in response to the bombing of several Italian cities. The planes are painted bright blue and pale green, which is not the best camouflage over Britain. And as for the German attacks on Britain, October 31st marks the last daylight raid by the Germans on Britain, and many people consequently call that date the end of the Battle of Britain. This means the end of trying to defeat Fighter Command to secure the skies over Britain, which is necessary before any invasion. The Blitz will continue, but with a change. See, in October, six times as many tons of bombs were dropped on Britain by night as were by day, and from now on the Blitz will be entirely by night. Germany has finally acknowledged that the losses are too great to continue the daytime attacks. In August and September, Britain's Fighter Command lost 832 fighters and the Luftwaffe 668, but Germany lost almost 600 bombers. This is what really swung the balance. But Britain has many interests far from home to think about as well. On the 31st, British Military Intelligence reports a huge motorization program in the German army and a long-term and steady movement of troops from Western Europe to Poland. They say 70 German divisions are now in the east. What they do not know is whether these forces are going to be used for actions against the Soviet Union or in the Middle East. They're pretty certain, though, that they are going to be used for actions. I notice, though, that this week American President Franklin Roosevelt, hot on the campaign trail before next week's election, is promising no action for the American people. I've said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again. Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars. And so the week comes to an end. A week where a great new battle begins in Greece and a great old one ends over Britain. Plans are debated in Khartoum and an Italian secret weapon attacks at Gibraltar. End of the Battle of Britain. I think I'll end today with two quotes from John Keegan about that. It had been a heroic episode. The few deserved their epitaph. Some 2,500 young pilots had alone been responsible for preserving Britain from invasion. The majority were citizens, but significant numbers were Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, and South Africans. A few were aliens- Irishmen and Americans- and a vital minority were refugees- Czechs and Poles. The latter, who formed 5% of the few, were responsible for 15% of the losses claimed to have been inflicted on the Luftwaffe. And this- The victory of the few was narrow. Had Hitler and Goering been privy to the extent of their success during the height of the battle, when a quarter of Fighter Command's pilots became casualties, they undoubtedly would have surpassed their effort. Had they done so, the Luftwaffe might then have made itself the first air force to achieve a decisive victory in combat as an independent strategic arm. As it was, the pragmatism of Dowding and his Fighter Command staff, the self-sacrifice of their pilots, and the innovation of radar inflicted on Nazi Germany its first defeat. True, it isn't the defeat of a land invasion. Nazi Germany is 100% successful so far in that respect. But Britain does live to fight another day. If you'd like to know more about air force development, you can check out a B2W episode about aviation that we did. That is right here at some point. Our Patron of the week is Kelsey, who is a big fan of the show and I am a big fan of hers because of her support. So do like Kelsey and join the TimeGhost Army at patreon.com or timeghost.tv. Subscribe, click the bell, see you next time.