The 20th Armoured Division "Macedonia" ( el, 20ή Τεθωρακισμένη Μεραρχία «ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΑ» ''Ikosti Tethorakimeni Merarhia «MAKEDONIA»'', abbrev. XX ΤΘΜ) is the only armoured division of the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

. It is headquartered in

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

, Macedonia.

History

The

's first attempt to form an armoured/mechanized division was the 19th Mechanized Division in early 1941, which was destroyed during the

German invasion of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

. These efforts were resumed after Liberation, with mechanized units being established in 1945 and fighting in the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

of 1946–49. The same period saw also the arrival of the first true tanks in Greece, the British

Centaur tank A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

s, which only began to be employed in 1947. From 1950 on, the Hellenic Army began receiving

M24 Chaffee The M24 Chaffee (officially Light Tank, M24) was an American light tank used during the later part of World War II; it was also used in post–World War II conflicts including the Korean War, and by the French in the War in Algeria and the Firs ...

tanks and

M18 Hellcat The M18 Hellcat (officially designated the 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 or M18 GMC) is a tank destroyer that was used by the United States Army in World War II and the Korean War. A top speed of up to was attained by keeping armor to a minim ...

tank destroyers. In 1954, 9th Infantry Division was converted into an armoured division, comprising two Battle Commands (Διοικήσεις Μάχης, ΔΜΑ). Due to the severe lack of tanks and other armoured vehicles, the division was armoured in name only. In 1956 the 9th Armoured Division was converted into the 20th Armoured Division, which was gradually formed over the next four years. With the arrival of the first

M47 Patton The M47 Patton was an American main battle tank, a development of the M46 Patton mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton. It was the second American tank to be named after General George S. Patton, command ...

tanks in 1957, the first Medium Tank Battalions (Επιλαρχίες Μέσων Αρμάτων, ΕΜΑ) of 55 tanks each, were formed. From 1964, the division began receiving the first

M48 Patton The M48 Patton is an American List of main battle tanks by generation#First generation, first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M2 ...

tanks and M113 armoured personnel carriers, which began replacing older material. By 1971, sufficient numbers of M48 tanks had arrived so that three new Medium Tank Battalions, 24th, 25th, and 26th, could be established so that each Battle Command comprised two Medium Tank Battalions. In 1977–79, the Battle Commands were formed into independent Armoured Brigades, with 3rd Battle Command forming the 23rd Armoured Brigade, 1st Battle Command forming the 24th Armoured Brigade, and 2nd Battle Command forming the 25th Armoured Brigade. 20th Division remained as an operational headquarters coordinating the latter two brigades. In 1985, 25th Armoured Brigade passed directly under IV Army Corps, and was replaced by 22nd Armoured Brigade.

Structure (2016)

* Division HQ Company (ΙΣ/ΧΧ ΤΘΜ) * 20th Signal Company (20ο ΛΔΒ) * 955th Military Police Company (ΛΣΤ) * Division Artillery Command (ΔΠΒ/ΧΧ ΤΘΜ) * 21st Armoured Brigade, based at

Komotini Komotini ( el, Κομοτηνή, tr, Gümülcine, bg, Комотини) is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-pr ...

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

** HQ Company (ΙΣ/ΧΧΙ ΤΘΤ) ** 211 Medium Tank Battalion (211η ΕΜΑ) ** 212 Medium Tank Battalion (212η ΕΜΑ) ** 646th Mechanized Infantry Battalion (646ο M/K ΤΠ) ** 140th Self Propelled Artillery Battalion (140η Μ Α/K ΠΒ) ** 21st Engineer Company (21 ΛΜΧ) ** 21st Signal Company (21 ΛΔΒ) ** 21st Support Battalion (21 ΤΥΠ) * 23rd Armoured Brigade, based at

Alexandroupoli Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It h ...

** HQ Company (ΙΣ/ΧΧΙΙΙ ΤΘΤ) ** 21st Medium Tank Battalion (21η ΕΜΑ) ** 24th Medium Tank Battalion (24η ΕΜΑ) ** 644th Mechanized Infantry Battalion (644ο M/K ΤΠ) ** 138th Self Propelled Artillery Battalion (138η Μ Α/K ΠΒ) ** 23rd Engineer Company (23ος ΛΜΧ) ** 23rd Signal Company (23ος ΛΔΒ) ** 23rd Support Battalion (23ο ΤΥΠ) * 25th Armoured Brigade, based at

Xanthi Xanthi ( el, Ξάνθη, ''Xánthi'', ) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi (regional unit), Xanthi regional unit of the modern regions of Greece, region of East Macedonia and Thrace. A ...

** HQ Company (ΙΣ/XXV ΤΘΤ) ** 22nd Medium Tank Battalion (22η ΕΜΑ) ** 25th Medium Tank Battalion (25η ΕΜΑ) ** 645th Mechanized Infantry Battalion (645ο M/K ΤΠ) ** 139th Self Propelled Artillery Battalion (139η Μ Α/K ΠΒ) ** 25th Engineer Company (25ος ΛΜΧ) ** 25th Signal Company (25ος ΛΔΒ) ** 25th Support Battalion (25ο ΤΥΠ)

Emblem and motto

The emblem depicts a

Centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

ready to fire an arrow. The body of the horse symbolizes strength and aggressiveness of armor/cavalry, and the human body symbolizes the soldier who controls the vehicle and directs the weapon. The motto of the 20th Armored Division is "In The Shade" ( el, Υπό σκιή, ''Ypo Skii''). The phrase is attributed to the Spartan soldier

Dienekes Dienekes or Dieneces ( el, Διηνέκης, from διηνεκής, Doric Greek: διανεκής "continuous, unbroken") was a Spartan soldier who fought and died at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. He was acclaimed the bravest of all the G ...

, who on the eve of the

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label=Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting o ...

, was told by a native of Trachis that the Persian archers were so numerous that their arrows would block out the sun. Dienekes replied with a laugh, "Good. Then we will fight in the shade."

References

Sources

* {{Greece divisions Divisions of Greece Armored divisions Kavala 1956 establishments in Greece Military units and formations established in 1956 Armoured units and formations of Greece