War in the Balkans: The Battle for Greece and Crete 1940-1941
Jeffrey Plowman's photographic history traces the course of the entire Balkan campaign from the first moves of the Italians through Albania and the invasion of Jugoslavia and Bulgaria by German forces through to the battle for Greece and the final airborne assault on Crete. ??He gives equal weight to every stage of the campaign he doesn't just combine the first stages and treat them as an introduction to the battle for Crete and he covers all the forces involved the Germans, the Greeks, the Commonwealth troops. By shifting the focus to the mainland, he views the campaign as a whole, and he offers a balanced portrayal of a conflict that is often overlooked in histories of this phase of the Second World War. ??Most of the graphic photographs he has selected have never been published before, and many come from private sources. They are a unique visual record of the military vehicles, tanks, aircraft, artillery and other equipment used by the opposing armies seventy years ago. They also show the conditions the soldiers faced, and the Balkan landscapes over which they fought, and they give a powerful impression of the reality of battle for the men themselves.
|
Contents
Photograph Sources
|
7 |
Introduction
|
9 |
The GrecoItalian Conflict 19401
|
11 |
Opposing Plans in the Balkans
|
17 |
Germany Enters Bulgaria and Jugoslavia
|
22 |
Opening Moves in Greece
|
44 |
From the Aliákmon Line to Thermopylae
|
64 |
The Flight of 1 Armoured Brigade
|
80 |
The Evacuation of W Force
|
90 |
Operation Merkur
|
107 |
The Battle for the Airfields
|
115 |
The Retreat to Sfakia
|
135 |
Epilogue
|
156 |
Back Cover
|
161 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
14.Panzer-Division 23 NZ Battalion 6.Gebirgsjäger-Division abandoned aircraft airfield Albania AlexanderTurnbull Library Aliákmon Aliákmon Line Amyntaio anti-aircraft ANZAC Armoured Brigade armoured cars arrived artillery Athens attack Australian Brigade Balkans Belgrade bombed bridge British Bulgaria Bundesarchiv Canea captured Charlie Grainger collection rights reserved command counter-attack Crete crew cruiser defence Dinko Predoevic Epirus evacuated eventually Fallschirmjäager-Regiment Freyberg Gebirgsjäger-Regiment Greece guns Heinz Richter Heraklion Hervé J’s collection Hitler Ian Collins infantry invasion Italian Italy J’s collection rights Jugoslav Jugoslavia Kozani landed Larissa Larry Te Koeti launched Luftwaffe Maleme Mark McKenzie Metaxas Line Mike Smythe Collection mountain troops night NZ Brigade NZ Division NZ Divisional Cavalry ofthe Olympus pass paratroopers Peneios Perivolia Porto Rafti pulled PzKpfw PzKpfw III Rafina rearguard Regiment Rethymno retreat road Robert Gregory Collection Royal Tanks Rumania Sfakia Shaun Winkler ships SirJohn White Collection soldiers Squadron Suda Bay Tavronitis track Wavell Wilhelm Weier withdraw Zealand Zealand troops