WW2 Greek Display Game ( Hill 731) for leeds show Fiasco Sun 31st October

[David]

Here is the story behind the game i hope to put on at Skelp
I Will show the progress as it goes along, plus i am going to use Triumph & Tragedy rules for the game.

There is much to be said about hill 731, and the Italian assault on 19th April 1941 is just the epilogue in an epic struggle that could be aptly described as the Verdun of the Greco-Italian war. In fact the description ("Two M 13-40S dodge enemy fire while assaulting Hill 731 in northern Greece on 19 April 1941... The April assault was a success and the Italian forces continued their advance into Greece") is misleading and seem to come from a contemporary Italian propaganda source. Bear in mind that the war ended just a few days after the supposedly successful Italian armoured attack against hill 731 (on 24th April 1941) and the Greeks were already abandoning their positions so as to avoid being encircled by the advancing Germans. The real struggle had already taken place on that hill nearly a month ago, and was a Greek defensive triumph against overwhelming odds.

The hill 731 is not to be found in Northern Greece, but inside Southern Albania, at a distance of about 80 kilometres in a straight line from the Greek border. The hill was one of the key positions along the central part of the front, which had stabilized in early March 1941 along the furthest limit of the Greek advance in the winter of 1940/41. Since the hill overlooked the Italian positions and dominated the terrain features to the right and to the left, it became the initial objective for the great Italian spring offensive (operation `Primavera') that was supposed to effect a breakthrough in the central part of the front and at least save the prestige of the Italian army through the achievement of a credible tactical victory before the anticipated German intervention would eventually defeat Greece. For this reason (the honour of the Italian army was at stake) the Duce himself arrived at the front to watch the offensive. Incidentally, this is the only Italian operation of World War II that was supervised personally from just behind the front by Benito Mussolini. The attack was planned by the Italian 11th Army which controlled three Army Corps (IV,VIII, and XXV). Eventually, eleven out of the thirty Italian Divisions in Albania participated in the offensive. The Greek forces opposite them consisted mainly of the B(êta = 2nd) Army Corps, that initially had six Infantry Divisions under command.

The attack started at 06:30 of 9th March 1941. The VIII Italian Army Corps attacked with 3 Divisions in the first echelon (`Pinerolo', `Puglie', and `Cagliari') and 2 Divisions in the second (`Bari', and `Siena'). `Pinerolo' was to assault hill `Kiafe Luzit' to the SW of hill 731; `Bari' to assault hill 731; and `Cagliari' to assault hill 717-`Bregu Rapit' to the NE of hill 731. Opposite them the Greeks had 3 Infantry Battalions in the first line, all belonging to the I Infantry Division: III/4 was on top of `Kiafe Luzit', II/5 on 731 and III/5 on 717. The initial attack was supported by 400 Italian mountain, field and heavy artillery pieces, plus their air force (around 400 aircraft of various types). A titanic struggle ensued, as the initial forces of both sides were decimated and replaced with fresh troops from the reserves, under the relentless bombardment of the opposing artilleries.

To make a long story short, the Italian offensive exhausted itself (after 18 days of continuous assaults) on 26th March 1941. Neither the hill 731 nor any other Greek front position was taken; and this despite 20 distinct attacks directed against hill 731. The local terrain was transformed from a wooded hill into a lunar landscape; a crater field where the bodies and parts of bodies of Italian and Greek soldiers were strewn and decomposing. The Italians eventually created their monument of the Greco-Italian War in the vicinity of 731. During their spring offensive they suffered about 11.800 casualties. The Greeks suffered about 5.300 casualties.

The Italian tank supported attack that is alluded in your post took place on the 11th day of the offensive (on Wednesday, 19th March 1941), as follows: The Italian command, after the failure of the Divisions `Pinerolo' and `Bari' to occupy hill 731, decided to use fresh troops from the `Siena' Division. The attack was preceded by a huge artillery bombardment all along the front of the Greek I Infantry Division, which started just before daybreak (at 06:15). The Greek Infantry Battalion that defended hill 731 was the III/19 under the command of Captain Koutridês. This unit originally belonged to the Macedonian VI I.D. but had been sent as reinforcements to the Thessalian I I.D. Its soldiers tried to survive the bombardment in their dugout shelters that had been made bombproof through the addition of rows of tree trunks on their top. All the sentries or observers that were watching for enemy activity from exposed positions during the drumfire were killed – in some cases disappearing without a trace of their bodies left. At 06:30 the Italian artillery concentrations were suddenly moved to the Greek rear and the `Siena' troops commenced their assault. In front was a M 13/40 tank leading the way. Immediately behind that tank came an elite `Arditi' Company (consisting of 5 officers and 146 men), individually selected from the troops of the 31st Infantry Regiment, and having had extensive training in the cooperation with tanks. Behind the `Arditi' followed two more tanks, with a fourth some way back. The tanks had approached unnoticed, their engine noise been drowned by the artillery preparation. The tank-`Arditi' group was approaching rapidly followed by the whole of the 31st I.R. which was advancing in three parallel battalion strength columns.

The first M13/40 crossed the Greek trenches before the defenders could get out of their dugouts and occupied the top of hill 731, all the time firing with its gun and machine guns. The defenders' two 65 mm. mountain guns had been neutralized by the bombardment, along with one of the two 37 mm. antitank guns. The crew of the second 37 mm. gun (pak 36) panicked and abandoned their weapon without firing. As the defenders realized that an attack was underway they tried to get into the firing trenches but these had already been occupied by the `Arditi.' A panic ensued and many men of the 9th and 10th Companies fled to the positions of the reserve 11th Company where they stopped.

There follows a personal account:
"Corporal Geôrgios Dêmêtriou, who belonged to the platoon of Sergeant Major Theodôros Zêkos, cried `The Italians are at the top!' One of the squad leaders of the platoon, Sergeant Theodôros Mylônas, was sheltering in a dugout along with six other men of his squad. He heard Italian voices outside the entrance of his dugout and immediately ordered his men in a low voice: `Do not move! The entrance to the dugout lies very low; they won't find us out!' However, rifleman Sôtêrios Dramigos who stood next to the dugout entrance panicked and before the others could restrain him jumped out of the dugout holding his hands high and tried to surrender to the Italians calling to them `Bono Italiano!' The Italians saw him and threw an offensive grenade that burst between Dramigos and the dugout entrance wounding him severely in the back.
One Italian soldier armed with a light machine gun approached the fallen Greek and finding the dugout entrance started jumping up and down and shouting `Greco, Greco!' He emptied the magazine of his weapon inside the dugout in a continuous burst. A second Italian approached and threw two grenades inside the dugout. Five out of six soldiers inside were hit, each one of them several times. Only rifleman Geôrgios Giomtzoglou survived unscathed because he was sheltering in the deepest part of the dugout. He later narrated that he heard the wounded Sergeant Mylônas cry out `(apply pressure and) stop my blood (from spilling), stop my blood!', but he was riddled by the machine gun fire and died a few moments later.

The counterattack of the 9th Company threw the Italians back and the Greeks regained the dugout entrance. They helped Giomtzoglou to come out. The first thing he saw was the Italian machine gunner lying dead in front of the entrance. He was helped by the others to drag the five Greeks from the dugout and they were all dead."

Meanwhile, the machine gun platoon leader Second Lieutenant of the Reserve Kônstantinos Rountos directed the fire of his 4 HMGs against the ports and slits of the tank, using belts of AP bullets, and managed to `blind' it so that its MGs stopped firing. Two Second Lieutenants, Mademlês and Tzathas, approached the tank and lobbed grenades at it. In fact Tzathas momentarily climbed on top of the tank looking for an opening to throw a grenade inside.

The tank reversed course and started to retreat towards the Italian lines. The tank leader (a second lieutenant) and the gunner (an NCO) had been killed by the AP bullets and the driver panicked and drove the tank back. The other tanks seeing the first one retreating and coming themselves under fire by the 2 65 mm. Greek guns that had been manned by their crews, as well as the general artillery defensive barrage landing around them, reversed course and abandoned the `Arditi' inside the Greek positions. The first retreating tank came to a halt after one of its tracks was broken and was abandoned.
After the Greeks inspected it they later wrecked it with artillery fire. One of the other tanks fell into the deep gorge of `Proï Math' and was likewise wrecked. The main body of the assaulting 31st I.R. fell into the Greek defensive artillery barrage and was decimated. It did not press with its attack.

In the meantime the Greeks counterattacked from the right with two platoons from the 11th (reserve) Company, led by the Company commander Captain Basileios Staurogiannopoulos. At the same time whatever troops could be found around the Battalion command post were led by the Battalion C.O. himself in a counterattack from the left. These simultaneous counterattacks, helped all along by the continuous fire of the machine gun platoon and the steady fire of the adjacent front line Companies (nos. 10/19 to the right and 9/19 to the left) that had not been shaken, started to press and surround the `Arditi.' After a two hour struggle with grenades and bayonets the `Arditi' were overcome and hill 731 was again in Greek hands (08:30). A Greek Second Lieutenant of the Reserve by the name of Dêmokritos Raphtoudês, who was a platoon leader in the 11th Company, killed an Italian with a single punch.

All the `Arditi' were killed except for a wounded Second Lieutenant, one Sergeant, one Corporal and two soldiers who were taken prisoner. No mercy was shown because they were seen killing Greeks who tried to surrender or defensless men immobilized inside the dugouts. As described previously two of the attacking tanks were wrecked by the Greek artillery and the other two retreated back to their own lines. Greek casualties were 3 Officers and more than 30 O.R. dead, as well as 4 Officers and more than 100 O.R. wounded.

The Italian artillery kept a steady bombardment of the hill during the morning. At 10:00 15 Italian aircraft bombed and strafed hill 731 and the interior of the defensive position. By 14:00 the front was relatively quiet. Two platoons of the II/33 I.B. were brought up to replace the casualties...

[Arlequín]

Sounds good and looking forwards to seeing how it progresses. 

[David]

Ok here an update
I have painted the Italian tanks
Should have washed the resin model M13-40 better, the undercoat did not seem to stick on some parts?





Not 100% sure about what Northern greece and Southern Albania (Lime stone mountains) looks like apart from The U tube film i saw in colour. any good colour pictures would be great?
so i hope it close

Here is a list of books i have so far, if you know of any others let me know

Air war for Yogoslavia Greece and Crete 1940-41 By  Christopher Shores
An abridged histroy of the Greek - Italian & Greek - German war 1940-1941(Land operation)
Greece against the Axis by S Cassson
Heroes fight like Greeks By Ronald J Drez
The Hollow Legions by Mario Cervi
The Balkans and north Africa 1941-1942 By Will Fowler
Italian Armored Vehicles of WW2 by Nicola Pignato.
Italian Medium Tanks in Action.
The Italian Army at war Europe 1940-41 By Philip Jowett & Dmitriy Zgonnik
Regio Esercito : the Italian Royal Army In Mussolini's wars 1935-1943 By Patrick Cloutier
The  next will be the Italian infantry

David

[tim in saskatoon]

That's a great looking collection there, David! Just Awesome!

<briefly considers dropping all current projects and buying some Italian tanks...>

<Must... resist...>

[Arlequín]

Nicely done David and makes a change to see Italian tanks out of desert yellow! 

[Tannenberg]

Dave, me old china!!!! They're really, really, really gorgeous....things of beauty...I am gobsmacked        I'm (sniff, sniff, sob) so proud of (sniff, sob) you.

[David]

There are ok 
But they look even better then the picture , camera not the best
i will buy a new one in a few months, after i have payed my caster 
only four weeks to go so i need to speed up and paint the rest of the display
David

[SBMiniaturesGuy]

Very nice, looking forward to more!

[arktos]

Nice looking M13 tanks and their ... babys.

[David]

I have found some new information from one of the books
I can see me painting my foundry German para's next for a fun game and use a scater dice for there weapons containers, and see if they can get there weapons before the Greek kill them read below

AT FIVE-THIRTY on April 6th, Germany formally declared war on both Greece and Jugoslavia. I jumped into my car once more and drove at full speed northwards. War had begun, and I was immensely grateful that our troops were in their positions and ready, few though they were in numbers. We drove with all possible speed and reached our quiet camp at nine at night. This time it was a different journey. We watched for the first enemy aircraft and for the inevitable Messer-schmitts and Dorniers who were bound to sully the Greek skies. But the skies were clear. At our Headquarters we worked late into the night, arranging for immediate liaison with the Jugoslav armies, and between them and the Greeks. It was reported that certain Jugoslav frontier elements had already joined hands with the Greeks. We strove to find out the Jugoslav dispositions and the German intentions.
The next day our own aircraft reported heavy German attacks all along the Greek fortress line. Air photographs revealed that the German batteries had concentrated on every fort. Great black smc; in darkened the snow of Mt. Beles ridge, and further east Rupel was an inferno of flame and shell. Later in the day we heard that two hundred German parachutists had dropped behind the Rupel fort, exactly in the region where we had warned the Greeks that parachutists were most likely to be dropped. It did not take the Greeks long to deal with this threat. Of those two hundred parachutists one hundred and seventy were killed and the rest taken prisoner. No better anti-parachutist troops will you find than Greeks, who have been accustomed to rough Balkan fighting of precisely the same kind. What the Balkan fighter lacks in equipment compared with the modern parachu-tist-de-luxe, he makes up in speed of action. Those German parachutists at Rupel had hardly had time to collect themselves and look round for their grenades, their heavy machine guns, their charges of explosive and their mortars, when the lightly armed Greeks were on them. Indeed, they seem to have fallen directly into an ambush prepared for them. Old proverbs have a solid core of truth. "Hoist with his own petard" seems the most appropriate comment on this event.

I am looking for other little actions like this to play. and does anybody do german mountain troops in 28mm?
David

[swiftnick]

Brigade do them and very nice they are too.
What figs are you using for Greeks?
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=22331.0

[David]

the one's by the wee tanks, which i got made for myself to fight my Italian's.
should have most of the range for a platoon out by the end of this month.
probley need to make some different heads with different head gear, since they used british and french helmets etc
Got some information from Greece today, which point out some information on the WWW greek army pictures was wrong.
but it does not effect what i have done so far.
The german mountain troops are in winter gear which is no good for Greece, if they did not have the thick gloves then you could get away with it

[David]

Ok just got some nice pictures of my greeks done today












What a difference a great camera makes.
Hope you enjoy them

[Remington]

Nice Greeks... Great painting! Who produces these miniatures? Or are you proxying?

I read that you were looking pictures of the mountain in the North-West of Greece. I might have some pictures from when I was there with my parents some years ago. Should they not be at their house in Greece, I'll post some here if you'd like. Other than that, have a look if there are any uploaded pictures in Google Maps.

[David]

I got them made for my self, i went round all the WW2 suppliers asking if they were going to make them and got a "No as a answer" I was not going to produce them for anybody else, due to how little time i have free.
But Marco in the club offered to do all the work, since he runs Rifraf miniatures.
The main reason is not many people will see this Display Game since it in Scotland.
Proxying no, just showing people the histroy of the Greeks in WW2, since they lasted longer than most countrys.
Plus i am going to translate loads of information from Greek to English and have it on a disk (CD or DVD)for Free so people can find out more about this period of Greek histroy, colour pictures of uniforms etc.
Since i knew nothing about the Greek campain and had not relasied there was one till 6 months ago and that was an shock since i have played WW2 for 30 years, but did know about Crete.
There is small bits on the web, but is hard to find. Books there is only 3 to 4 on the campain and not much detail.
I hope this answers you questions
David