The End of Epirus (19-21 April) 391
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the end of epirus (19-21 april) 391 Chapter Fourteen the end in epirus (19-21 april) at around 7.00 a.m., 19 april, the leading elements of the German thrust towards larissa, the ‘ambush’ company of mountaineers from the 143rd regiment and an advance guard of the 3rd armoured regiment, enter- ed the town together. Meanwhile, the leading elements of the 5th armoured division, which had earlier crossed the Venetikos river and pushed its reconnaissance elements forward on the heels of savige’s force through Kalabaka, moved southeast towards the main highway south of larissa. this put lieutenant General Fehn’s formation ahead of the main bodies of both the 2nd armoured and 6th Mountain divisions. once again a German armoured formation in Greece had demonstrated the difference between ‘difficult’ and ‘impossible’ terrain for mechanized forces. the successful advance of the 5th armoured division convinced list to throw his full sup- port behind it, and Fehn was from this point given primary responsibility for pursuing W Force. thus, those 9th armoured division troops in the vicinity of servia and elasson were ordered to advance no further. since it no longer looked as though it would be needed for the pursuit of allied forces, the 9th armoured division was re-designated as the 18th Corps reserve and eventually redeployed to Germany for rest and refitting. For their part, Battle Groups 1 and 2 (2nd armoured division) were diverted towards what list thought was an ongoing British evacuation at Volos. the continuing pursuit towards the thermopylae line was now on a single axis with the 5th and 6th Mountain divisions (and the 2nd armoured division after having cleared Volos) moving behind the 5th armoured division.1 Concurrent with the German breakout onto the larissa plain, by 19 april the 12th army had begun pacification operations in eastern Macedonia, Western thrace and the aegean islands. the northeastern part of Greece 1 entry for 19 april 1941, ‘KrieGstaGeBuCh nr. 2 der 6.GeB.diV.’, Ba Ma rh 28-6/8; entry for 18 april 1941, ‘Kriegstagebuch nr. 1 9. pz division Begonnen: 11.7.40 abgeschlossen: 18.5.1941.’, Ba Ma rh 27-9/2; entries for 19, 20 and 21 april 1941, 2. panzer division, ‘Kriegs- tagebuch nr. 4 ia und anlagen 1.1.41 – 14.6.41.’, Ba Ma rh 27-2/20, pp. 40-3. ‘Fighting in central and southern Greece’, reviewed and edited by Field Marshal s.W. list and General h. von Greiffenberg, 9 June 1947, aWM 54, 624/7/2; Blau, Invasion Balkans!, pp. 93, 99; McClymont, To Greece, p. 347. 392 chapter fourteen was occupied by the 30th Corps, with the German 50th division moving to salonika and remaining there for the rest of the campaign. the islands of samothrace and thasos had been taken earlier by troops of the 164th divi- sion with the aid of Greek fishing boats, followed by German assault craft. thasos was solely defended by the inmates of a military convalescence home and had fallen on 16 april, and samothrace, which had no Greek garrison, three days later. the same division, with the aid of a transport steamer carrying a German infantry battalion and artillery battery, went on to secure lemnos on 25 april. in this case the battery was set up on deck to provide improvised fire support on landing. With no lifeboats, luftwaffe support, and reports of British submarines in the area, the German navy had grave concerns about this operation. nonetheless, the force approached the island by night and landed on the north coast at dawn in assault boats carried in the steamer. resistance at the coast and in the interior was weak and the island was occupied speedily and with few losses. the italian navy then placed two destroyers at the 30th Corps’ disposal for the occupation of Khios. these vessels ferried German troops forward and once again the occupation unfolded without major incident and the island fell on 4 May. While preparations to seize samos were underway the island was occupied by the italians, operating from the dodecanese islands. German airborne units, together with elements of 6th Mountain division, subsequently seized some of the larger Cyclades islands such as Milos and the sporades islands later in May.2 Back on the mainland, despite the clear and detailed tasks allocated by list during 19 april, very little ‘pursuit’ actually took place. in fact, by night- fall the 6th Mountain division’s forward reconnaissance patrols were only 15 kilometres south of larissa. it was a welcome respite for W Force’s forward troops, most of whom had only just managed to escape south through the larissa bottleneck the previous night. the day was best described, in this sense, as a sort of ‘operational pause’ for the Germans. it was to be the only rest day in the campaign for 6th Mountain division, whose troops had been covering 50 to 60 kilometres a day in forced marches. the chief reason was 2 entries for 15, 19, 20, 21 april 1941, Generalkommando XXX.a.K., abteilung ic, ‘tätig- keitsbericht “südost” Begonnen am 9.1.1941 in rosiorii de Vede Beendet am 21.5.1941 in Kawalla Geführt durch oblt. hammer, o.3 Vom 9.1. Bis 21.5.1941’, Ba Ma rh 24-30/110, pp. 38, 40, 42-3; unsigned, a.o.K.12, ia nr.833/41 geheim, 10.30, 18 april 1941, ‘Fernschreiben’ an Gen.Kdo. XXX.a.K., Ba Ma rh 20-12/93, pp. 1-2; ‘occupation of the aegean islands’, reviewed and edited by Field Marshal s.W. list and General h. von Greiffenberg, 9 June 1947, aWM 54, 624/7/2..