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Greek soldiers with flag in North Africa After the fall of Greece to the Axis powers in April–May 1941, elements of the Greek Armed Forces managed to escape to the British-controlled Middle East. There they were placed under the Greek government in exile , and continued the fight alongside the Allies until the liberation of Greece in October ...
The nucleus of the Raider units was the Sacred Squadron (Ieros Lochos), a Free Greek unit of commandos attached to the Allied 1st Special Air Service (1 SAS) Brigade during the Second World War. Its members consisted of mainly officers and NCOs who had fled to North Africa after the fall of Greece to Axis forces. [3]
The exiled Greek government also formed armed forces of its own, which served and fought alongside the British in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy. Mainland Greece was liberated in October 1944 with the German withdrawal in the face of the advancing Red Army , while German garrisons held out in the Aegean Islands until after the war's end.
The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers.It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert War), in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), and in Tunisia (Tunisia campaign).
As it became likely Germany would attack Greece, four British divisions were switched from North Africa to reinforce Greek Army. [63] The advanced guards of these troops began arriving in March 1941, triggering the entry of German forces into Bulgaria, which made clear the German intent to invade Greece. [64]
Immediately after the German occupation of Greece in April–May 1941, the Greek government fled to Egypt and started to form military units in exile. [6] The plethora of officers in relation to the number of ordinary soldiers, led Air Force Lt. Colonel G. Alexandris to suggest the creation of an Army unit, formed by officers, with soldier's duties.
The Hellenic Army traces its origin to the regular units established by the Greek provisional government during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829). The first of these, an infantry regiment and a small artillery battery , were established in April 1822, and were commanded by European Philhellenes (such as Joseph Balestra and others).
Although the first regular army units were raised as early as 1821–1822, on the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, the first rudimentary general staff organization, in the form of the General Staff Officers Corps (Σώμα Γενικών Επιτελών), was created only in 1833, after the establishment of the independent Kingdom of Greece.