An Overlooked Operation in the German Invasion of Greece

Jeffrey Plowman’s German Breakthrough in Greece: The 1941 Battle of the Pineios Gorge is part of the long-running “After the Battle” series. This effort covers an important yet overlooked aspect of the fighting in Greece in 1941. Focusing on the Pineios Gorge fighting, it goes into great detail as to the Commonwealth efforts to hold a crumbling defense line as the Germans attempted to outflank them.

Plowman is the author of many armor-centric, and otherwise military related texts, to which this book is another contribution. He has particular interest in New Zealand’s contribution to the Commonwealth, which this book covers. It is heavily weighted toward the photographs lavishly presented, both period black & white and modern color images of the various Greek locales discussed. Plowman takes the reader on a historical journey to see where the battle was fought in 1941 and shows us what some of it looks like today, a mixture of historical narrative, plucky sleuthing and battlefield archeology. From the standpoint of the images provided, this book, like the “After the Battle” series, has few analogues. There is a sources section, with a substantial mix of sources presented (archival, primary and secondary.) While the book does not contain citations, it is full of convincing details.

Plowman addresses the British involvement in Greece in early World War II, how their effort might well face Royal Navy evacuation and, given the paucity of British means at the time, the entire escapade to help their ally Greece comes into question. “W Force,” led by British General Wilson (hence the “W”) consisted of two Commonwealth divisions (one Australian, the other of New Zealanders) and a British armored brigade, was dispatched to assist the Greeks. Unfortunately, circumstances proved they were unable to hold the advancing Wehrmacht spearheads of Operation Marita. Soon W Force conducted a retreat southward until eventually some of it managed to escape via Royal Navy evacuation. Part of the Commonwealth survivors reached Crete which led to another difficult experience, well-chronicled elsewhere, as Operation Mercury.

The actual Commonwealth force (“Allen Force”) trying to delay the German advance at the Pinerios Gorge consisted of two Australian battalions of the Second Imperial Force (as 2/2d and 2/3d drawn from the 16th Australian Brigade) and another of New Zealanders (21st Battalion) with limited attached artillery; roughly a brigade-sized force. While this sounds like a modestly powerful defensive force, the Commonwealth units were not at full strength, nor did they have all their equipment. In particular, with regard to the NZ artillery, they were low on ammunition which severely limited their fire support. They faced Kampfgruppe Balck, a battle group of the Second Panzer Division built around Oberst Hermann Balck’s Panzer Regiment 3 and other attached assets.

Plowman takes the reader on a thorough day-to-day treatment of the campaign from both the defending Commonwealth and attacking German sides, with lots of detail that helps to bring the relatively obscure period alive for the reader. His argument revolves around the Anzac success in delaying the Germans enough to allow their escape to the south amidst challenges not only for themselves, but also with their own leadership. Fortunately for them, the Germans contributed their own missteps and outright blunders which helped to spare the Anzac forces a greater defeat than was actually suffered. The more robust defense encountered in Greece was contrary to some of the German experiences in France which forced them to pause and adjust, much as logistics and other challenges. Plowman offers this closing summarization, “…though they [Kampfgruppe Balck] had broken through at the Pineios gorge and captured Larissa their inability to pursue the vanquished Anzacs puts this battle into the category of a Pyrrhic victory.” [p. 172]

While the Ultra intercepts stand out as important and get due coverage from Plowman, the photographs themselves are one of the great strengths of the book. First, some of the period photographs in the book originate from the war reporters or combat cameramen (Bildberichter) of the 690th Propaganda Company (Propaganda Kompanie 690) personnel that accompanied the invasion of Greece. [pp. 66-67] These photos are an invaluable insight into the struggles of the invader and defender alike, especially the images documenting damaged, foundered or wrecked vehicles. Additionally, the modern photos taken by the author compared with historical images gives poignant update to the particular location discussed in the book, which is also satisfying. We can see what the building, ravine or other landmarks look like today, eight decades later, which is specific to the “After the Battle” series.

Finally, in the chapter entitled “Sinking a Panzer Division (May 15-21),” Plowman discusses the loss of two German merchant ships to British mines laid by minelayer HMS Abdiel just west of the Peloponnese, which proved very costly. The Marburg and Kybfels, as part of a second convoy, were transporting elements of Second Panzer’s men and equipment which they had embarked at Patras for shipment to Taranto, Italy and then via railroad back to Germany. [p. 152] Their significant loss explains why the Second Panzer did not take part in the initial June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, an overlooked and important detail.

Jeffrey Plowman’s German Breakthrough in Greece: The 1941 Battle of the Pineios Gorge is a welcome addition to any World War II library, not only for the relatively obscure developments it chronicles but also due to the vast number of valuable photographs it contains. These images give the reader a virtual trip to the Pineios Gorge from their easy chair, a look at a largely unfamiliar pre-Barbarossa German offensive operation in the Balkans, and help to remind of the importance that lesser battles and campaigns of the conflict should be given.

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Our Reviewer: Professor Schultz (Luzerne CC) has taught history and political science to community college undergraduates for over 20 years. Specializing in military history, particularly World War II and the Cold War-era, he has presented papers at the McMullen Naval History Symposium, the Society for Military History Annual Meetings, the Midwestern History Conference, and other venues. He contributed Chapter 12 “The Reich Strikes Back: German Victory in the Dodecanese, October-November 1943” to On Contested Shores: The Evolving Role of Amphibious Operations in the History of Warfare, edited by Timothy Heck and B.A. Friedman (2020). His previous reviews for us include Warrior Spirit: The Story of Native American Patriotism and Heroism, Home Run: Allied Escape and Evasion in World War II, The Spanish Blue Division on the Eastern Front, 1941-1945, The ‘Blue Squadrons’: The Spanish in the Luftwaffe, Malta’s Savior: Operation Pedestal, Flawed Commanders and Strategy in the Battles for Italy, Lawrence of Arabia on War, Dogwood: A National Guard Unit's War in Iraq, and Defeat and Division: France at War, 1939-1942.

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