The Eastern Macedonia Army Section ( el, Τμήμα Στρατιάς Ανατολικής Μακεδονίας, ΤΣΑΜ; ''Tmima Stratias Anatolikis Makedonias'', ''TSAM'') was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

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 ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It faced the initial German attack on Greece during the

Battle of the Metaxas Line A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, and was forced to capitulate after four days of fighting on 9 April 1941.

History

Pre-war Greek planning focused on a possible conflict with

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

in Macedonia and

Western Thrace Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, �υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a Geography, geograp ...

. For the defence of eastern Macedonia, the plans foresaw the creation of a Kavala Army Section (Τμήμα Στρατιάς Καβάλας), headquartered at

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 ...

and composed of a Group of Divisions (Ομάς Μεραρχιών) in the Axios River area, comprising 6th and 17th Infantry Divisions and the

's sole Cavalry Division, as well as of the IV Army Corps (

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

and

14th 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15. In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a s ...

Divisions,

and

Brigades) in the area of Kavala. Following the Italian attack on Greece on 28 October 1940, Kavala Army Section was mobilized, under the command of Lt. General Markos Drakos, but was renamed as the Eastern Macedonia Army Section in early November.

Leadership

Commanders

* Lt. General Markos Drakos (28 October 1940 – 7 February 1941) * Lt. General Konstantinos Bakopoulos (7 February – 9 April 1941)

Chiefs of staff

* Col. Kleanthis Boulalas (28 October – 19 December 1940) * Col.

Theodoros Grigoropoulos Theodoros or Theodorus ( el, Θεόδωρος) is a masculine given name, from which Theodore is derived. The feminine version is Theodora. It may refer to: Ancient world :''Ordered chronologically'' * Theodorus of Samos, 6th-century BC Greek s ...

(19 December 1940 – 7 February 1941) * Col.

Panagiotis Kalogeropoulos Panagiotis or Panayiotis ( el, Παναγιώτης, ), "Παν" (all) "άγιος" (holy or saint) suffix "-της" (which can mean "of the"), is a common male Greek name. It derives from the Greek epithet Panagia or ''Panayia'' ("All-Holy") for ...

(7 February – 9 April 1941)

Headquarters

* Serres (28 October 1940) *

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

(8 February 1941)

References

Sources

* {{Greece field armies Field armies of Greece Battle of Greece Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1941 Military units and formations of Greece in World War II Greek Macedonia in World War II