The 20th Infantry Division ( el, 20ή Μεραρχία Πεζικού) was a short-lived formation 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 was founded on 24 January 1941, when Greece was already embroiled in the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

History

The division was formed in late February, near

Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...

, at a time when most available manpower and equipment were already employed in the

. Consequently, according to its first commander, Major General Karassos, it was "Formed in haste and in offhand manner...from two infantry regiments, without artillery, with officers mostly drawn from the reserves, personnel of every possible origin and type with a large proportion of completely or partially untrained men, with inferior armament, with many deficiencies in communications equipment, arms, men and above all pack animals", it was from the outset of "insufficient cohesion, reduced numerical strength and morale, and greatly reduced fighting ability". It was assigned to the

Central Macedonia Army Section The Central Macedonia Army Section ( el, Τμήμα Στρατιάς Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας, ΤΣΚΜ, ''Tmima Stratias Kentrikis Makedonias'', ''TSKM'') was an army corps-level command of the Hellenic Army established on 6 March 19 ...

(TSKM), forming part of the Greek–British "W Force", under the British Lt. General

Henry Maitland Wilson Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson, (5 September 1881 – 31 December 1964), also known as Jumbo Wilson, was a senior British Army officer of the 20th century. He saw active service in the Second Boer War and then during the ...

, assigned to hold the

Aliakmon River The Haliacmon ( el, Αλιάκμονας, ''Aliákmonas''; formerly: , ''Aliákmon'' or ''Haliákmōn'') is the longest river flowing entirely in Greece, with a total length of . In Greece there are three rivers longer than Haliakmon, Maritsa ( el ...

– Mount Vermion line against the expected

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 ...

. The division defeated and practically ceased to exist as a combat formation at the

Battle of Kleisoura Pass The Battle of Kleisoura Pass ( el, Αγώνας στενωπού Κλεισούρας) took place from the evening of 13 April 1941, when first contact was made, until the midday of 14 April, when Greek organized resistance collapsed. The battl ...

on 13–14 April.

Order of battle

As of early April 1941, before the German attack:''The end of an epopee, April 1941'', p. 306 * 35th Infantry Regiment (Reserve Col. Emmanouil Marinakis) * 80th Infantry Regiment (Lt. Col. Vasileios Matzouranis) *

Dodecanese Regiment The Dodecanese Regiment or Regiment of the Dodecanesians ( el, Σύνταγμα Δωδεκανησίων) was an infantry regiment of the Hellenic Army composed to a large extent of volunteers from the Dodecanese, Dodecanese Islands and was forme ...

(Reserve Lt. Col. Ioannis Nikolaou) * X Frontier Sector (Reserve Col. Aristotelis Sergos) * 20th Mountain Artillery Regiment (Lt. Col. Christos Delivogiatzis)

Commanders

* Major General Christos Karassos (24 January – 8 April 1941, appointed to command TSKM) * Colonel Miltiadis Papakonstantinou (8–14 April 1941)

References

Sources

* * {{Portal bar, Greece, World War II Infantry divisions of Greece 1941 establishments in Greece Military units and formations of Greece in World War II Military units and formations established in 1941 Battle of Greece