Part 72
South-west of Kythera, March 30th, 1941
Dawn had revealed the degree of carnage that had taken place overnight. Of Demestichas squadron only HMS Bonaventure had been fitted with radar, enough to allow Demestichas to place himself in the path of the Italians under cover of the night but not much else. But while the Greeks, following British practice and in fear of superior Italian numbers, have been training for years for night action the Regia Marina has been notably deficient in night training. When the Greeks, British and Australians under Demestichas opened up the Italian ships main batteries were not ready for action. The Italian crews had managed to clear for action with commendable speed but for a crucial few minutes the Italians were in the receiving end of near uninterrupted fire without firing back. Within the first five minutes of battle Zara, mistaken by Salamis for a battleship before Salamis had turned her fire on Vittorio Veneto, was sinking, Bolzano under fire by Lemnos at point blank range had been turned into a floating wreck and allied destroyers already making their runs for a torpedo attack against the Italian fleet. Three more torpedoes had got an already heavily damaged Vittorio Veneto, Zara and Bolzano had been finished off and the destroyers Alfredo Oriani and Vincenzo Gioberti sunk. With Campioni dead on the Vittorio Veneto, admiral Iachino on the Littorio had taken over and despite his tactical disadvantage still outnumbered Demestichas two to one in battleships and cruisers and three to two in destroyers. But this was discounting Cunningham. Thus Iachino had broken contact under cover of a torpedo attack of his own, sinking the destroyer Aspis and damaging Niki at the cost of two more of his own destroyers. This would not be the last of the Italian woes as the fighting against the Greeks had given Cunningham just enough time for his slower battleships to catch up with the Italians before dawn. This time the Italians were ready for battle, but were outnumbered and had no radar. The resulting engagement had left HMS Barham and HMS Gloucester damaged but Andrea Doria, Trento and four more destroyers had been sunk by RN ships and aircraft and Littorio hit by several 15in shells before Iachino's ships could run away to safety. But now daylight had come, the RN and the RAN and the HN had dozens ships with various degrees of damage and crews that had had almost no sleep within range of German and Italian bombers...
Thessaly, April 1st, 1941
The 2nd Panzer Division entered Larisa. To the south of the city Greek and Yugoslav cavalry, what remained of the Greek armoured brigade and the BEF where covering the rear of the retreating allied army. At least Axis air attacks had been notably fewer the past few days as German and Italian medium bombers were apparently otherwise engaged.
Baghdad April 1st, 1941
Soldiers were on the streets as king Gazi had launched another coup. But the population was mostly jubilant. After all it was a coup overthrowing the British puppet government. At RAF Habaniya, the British and allied personnel training there hunkered down for a clash. Further north in what 25 centuries before had been Assyria, the last remnants of the ancient nation start preparing to fight as well. Three hundred thousand Assyrians had been massacred in 1915-18. King Gazi had already shown where he stood with the Assyrian population when he had endorsed the Simele massacres. If now he wanted to ally with the Turk, Assyrians were not going to stand idle and be massacred again. Not without a fight...
Off Derna, April 2nd, 1941
HMS Bonaventure had survived a bomb from a Ju-88 two days before. It did not survive the spread of four torpedoes from a lucky Italian submarine. Three had hit it. It was a painful loss for the allied fleets, massed German and Italian air attacks the previous days had also finished off HMS Barham and HMS Gloucester, sunk HMS Ajax and four British and one Greek destroyer. But after Cythera and Lesvos, there wasn't much doubt who controlled the seas...
Thessaloniki, April 3rd, 1941
Thanasis Klaras had lost his artillery unit during the retreat from Doiran and had gone to the ground in Thessaloniki. Now he was getting exasperated by his fellow local party members. "I don't care if the Soviet Union is currently neutral. What is comrade Zachariadis saying that's what we should care about."
"He is saying that Greece should ask the Soviet Union to negotiate a peace treaty with the fascists upon the status quo of November 7th and all foreign imperialists leave Greek soil."
"Exactly. Till comrade Stalin intervenes our duty is to kick out all foreign imperialists. We'll attack the Germans and Italians. If any Anglofrench show up we'll deal with them in turn."
"Come now Mizerias. We should wait for instructions by the central committee"
"The central committee is in Athens. We are here. And call me Ares. Ares Makedon."
Someone in the room raised the volume on the radio, tuned on the now German controlled Thessaloniki radio station "Dear Greek listeners, Greece freed in 1821 was struggling since 1915 against Anglo-French tyranny. Remember the crimes of Sarrail's hordes in Macedonia. Remember..."
"Who's this idiot?"
"George Kyriakis it says."
"That monarchofascist that had tried to shoot Venizelos in 1920? Do you really want us to be seen on the same side with the monarchofascists?"
"If the party says so..."
"But it does not! It says that ALL imperialists should leave."
A pause. "Perhaps you are right... Ares. We shall act. And lets hope are are still in the party after they learn of what we are doing"
And thus the "People's Liberation Front" was born...
Thessaly, April 5th, 1941
Karditsa fell to the Centauro division and Volos to the Germans. But supply was starting to become a serious issue. There was only a single railroad coming south from Thessaloniki to keep the Wermacht and Italians in supply and the allies had done their level best to wreck it during their retreat. There was admittedly also the railroad going from Agioi Saranta in Epirus to Ioannina, Metsovo and Larisa. But the retreating Greeks had wrecjed that as well and with the Italian army to the south of Ioannina it was facing even more acute supply problems, the port of Durres was too far from the frontlines over muddy mountain roads to be useful.
Domokos, Pthiotis, April 7th, 1941
The German army entered the little town, but encountered its first serious resistance since breaking through the Olympus passes...
Dawn had revealed the degree of carnage that had taken place overnight. Of Demestichas squadron only HMS Bonaventure had been fitted with radar, enough to allow Demestichas to place himself in the path of the Italians under cover of the night but not much else. But while the Greeks, following British practice and in fear of superior Italian numbers, have been training for years for night action the Regia Marina has been notably deficient in night training. When the Greeks, British and Australians under Demestichas opened up the Italian ships main batteries were not ready for action. The Italian crews had managed to clear for action with commendable speed but for a crucial few minutes the Italians were in the receiving end of near uninterrupted fire without firing back. Within the first five minutes of battle Zara, mistaken by Salamis for a battleship before Salamis had turned her fire on Vittorio Veneto, was sinking, Bolzano under fire by Lemnos at point blank range had been turned into a floating wreck and allied destroyers already making their runs for a torpedo attack against the Italian fleet. Three more torpedoes had got an already heavily damaged Vittorio Veneto, Zara and Bolzano had been finished off and the destroyers Alfredo Oriani and Vincenzo Gioberti sunk. With Campioni dead on the Vittorio Veneto, admiral Iachino on the Littorio had taken over and despite his tactical disadvantage still outnumbered Demestichas two to one in battleships and cruisers and three to two in destroyers. But this was discounting Cunningham. Thus Iachino had broken contact under cover of a torpedo attack of his own, sinking the destroyer Aspis and damaging Niki at the cost of two more of his own destroyers. This would not be the last of the Italian woes as the fighting against the Greeks had given Cunningham just enough time for his slower battleships to catch up with the Italians before dawn. This time the Italians were ready for battle, but were outnumbered and had no radar. The resulting engagement had left HMS Barham and HMS Gloucester damaged but Andrea Doria, Trento and four more destroyers had been sunk by RN ships and aircraft and Littorio hit by several 15in shells before Iachino's ships could run away to safety. But now daylight had come, the RN and the RAN and the HN had dozens ships with various degrees of damage and crews that had had almost no sleep within range of German and Italian bombers...
Thessaly, April 1st, 1941
The 2nd Panzer Division entered Larisa. To the south of the city Greek and Yugoslav cavalry, what remained of the Greek armoured brigade and the BEF where covering the rear of the retreating allied army. At least Axis air attacks had been notably fewer the past few days as German and Italian medium bombers were apparently otherwise engaged.
Baghdad April 1st, 1941
Soldiers were on the streets as king Gazi had launched another coup. But the population was mostly jubilant. After all it was a coup overthrowing the British puppet government. At RAF Habaniya, the British and allied personnel training there hunkered down for a clash. Further north in what 25 centuries before had been Assyria, the last remnants of the ancient nation start preparing to fight as well. Three hundred thousand Assyrians had been massacred in 1915-18. King Gazi had already shown where he stood with the Assyrian population when he had endorsed the Simele massacres. If now he wanted to ally with the Turk, Assyrians were not going to stand idle and be massacred again. Not without a fight...
Off Derna, April 2nd, 1941
HMS Bonaventure had survived a bomb from a Ju-88 two days before. It did not survive the spread of four torpedoes from a lucky Italian submarine. Three had hit it. It was a painful loss for the allied fleets, massed German and Italian air attacks the previous days had also finished off HMS Barham and HMS Gloucester, sunk HMS Ajax and four British and one Greek destroyer. But after Cythera and Lesvos, there wasn't much doubt who controlled the seas...
Thessaloniki, April 3rd, 1941
Thanasis Klaras had lost his artillery unit during the retreat from Doiran and had gone to the ground in Thessaloniki. Now he was getting exasperated by his fellow local party members. "I don't care if the Soviet Union is currently neutral. What is comrade Zachariadis saying that's what we should care about."
"He is saying that Greece should ask the Soviet Union to negotiate a peace treaty with the fascists upon the status quo of November 7th and all foreign imperialists leave Greek soil."
"Exactly. Till comrade Stalin intervenes our duty is to kick out all foreign imperialists. We'll attack the Germans and Italians. If any Anglofrench show up we'll deal with them in turn."
"Come now Mizerias. We should wait for instructions by the central committee"
"The central committee is in Athens. We are here. And call me Ares. Ares Makedon."
Someone in the room raised the volume on the radio, tuned on the now German controlled Thessaloniki radio station "Dear Greek listeners, Greece freed in 1821 was struggling since 1915 against Anglo-French tyranny. Remember the crimes of Sarrail's hordes in Macedonia. Remember..."
"Who's this idiot?"
"George Kyriakis it says."
"That monarchofascist that had tried to shoot Venizelos in 1920? Do you really want us to be seen on the same side with the monarchofascists?"
"If the party says so..."
"But it does not! It says that ALL imperialists should leave."
A pause. "Perhaps you are right... Ares. We shall act. And lets hope are are still in the party after they learn of what we are doing"
And thus the "People's Liberation Front" was born...
Thessaly, April 5th, 1941
Karditsa fell to the Centauro division and Volos to the Germans. But supply was starting to become a serious issue. There was only a single railroad coming south from Thessaloniki to keep the Wermacht and Italians in supply and the allies had done their level best to wreck it during their retreat. There was admittedly also the railroad going from Agioi Saranta in Epirus to Ioannina, Metsovo and Larisa. But the retreating Greeks had wrecjed that as well and with the Italian army to the south of Ioannina it was facing even more acute supply problems, the port of Durres was too far from the frontlines over muddy mountain roads to be useful.
Domokos, Pthiotis, April 7th, 1941
The German army entered the little town, but encountered its first serious resistance since breaking through the Olympus passes...
