Metaxas Line

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

An image of a greece bunker of Metaxas Line:

Any idea about the gun?

Image from Ebay
Sturm78

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

Two images from EBay:
Any idea about the different types of bunkers used in the Metaxas line?

Sturm78

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

An image from EBay:

Sturm78

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

An image from EBay:

Sturm78

[ludvig]

Hello Sturm78 ,
Concerning the Metaxas line :
photo no 1 75 mm field gun
photo no 2 OP
photo no 3 OP
photo no 4 75 mm field gun
photo no 5 OP

ludvig

[Sturm78]

ludvig wrote
Concerning the Metaxas line :
photo no 1 75 mm field gun
photo no 2 OP
photo no 3 OP
photo no 4 75 mm field gun
photo no 5 OP

Thank you, ludvig.

Here, a detailed image of the gun inside of a Metaxas Line bunker. Can you identify the model of the gun ??

Image from Ebay
Sturm78

[ludvig]

Hello Sturm78 ,
The gun is an 75 mm Schneider - Canet Mle 1908 field gun
you can see it by the mustasjes under the gun muzzle .
Link :

http://www.trackhead.gr/02_research_GreekArtillery.html

ludvig

[Sturm78]

Thaks a lot, ludvig..

Regards Sturm78

[Tom from Cornwall]

Interesting photos and information, thanks for posting.

Does anyone know if there was any work done on the Albanian or Yugoslavian borders, or was the Metaxas Line strictly limited to the Greek-Bulgarian border?

Regards

Tom

[Idomeneas]

Hello to all,
Metaxas Line was a series of a complete fortifications covering the Greek-Bulgarian border.
This does not mean that there were not performed works on the Albanian and Yugoslavian borders, but in extremely lower levels.
The difference was that the fortifications against Bulgaria were built up with the aim to be fully impregnable.

Idomeneas

[jwsleser]

Tom

Greek fortifications

Greek military identified Bulgaria as the only likely opponent in the interwar period. Up until 1939, the Greek Army had two war plans. OPLAN B3 was war against Bulgaria; OPLAN SM which fulfilled the obligations in the Balkan Pact (of which Bulgaria wasn’t a member). Because of this assessment and the knowledge that Albania didn’t present a military threat, fortification work was focused on the Greco-Bulgarian border.

This work began in 1936 and had been basically completed by the end of 1939 (additional outworks were to be completed by 1942). Called the Metaxas Line, this was a system of 19 fort complexes that stretched from Mount Beles on the western end (the junction of the Greco-Yugoslavian border) to the Volakas Pass (north of Drama connecting to the Nestos River). Field fortifications (most made with steel-reinforced concrete) then took advantage of the river and terrain to complete the main fortification line along the river to its mouth. A system of field fortifications were continued eastward to the Turkish border backed by two more forts to cover the main roads into Eastern Macedonia. Several bridgehead were heavily fortified to support joint operations with the Turkish Army.

The Italian landing and occupation of Albania in April 1939 triggered activity on the Epirus front. In response, the Greek General Staff put the VIII and IX Divisions on alert and authorized them to take defensive measures within their areas to protect Greek soil. The Class of 1939 was called to the colors and other preparatory measures were taken. OPLAN IB was issued in May, addressing war against both Italy and Bulgaria. It was anticipated that the main Greek defensive line would be the Arahthos-Zigos Metsovo-Aliakmonas-Vermion Line to cover the mobilization of the army in the west, while the Metaxas Line would be held in the east. Both of these lines were back from the border, creating a frontier area used to delay the enemy while the army mobilized along the main defensive line. Work on defensive positions along the Kalamas River-Elea line in Epirus to cover the army’s mobilization were started at this time. In Western Macedonia, work was started on supplemental positions covering the border, especially between Lakes Doiranis and Kerkini as this was considered a weak point behind the frontier defenses.

With the continued build-up of Italian forces, the Greeks decided in August to fully mobilize VIII and IX Divisions, the IV Brigade, some cavalry assets and various higher headquarters support units. On 1 September, OPLAN IBa was approved. This plan took advantage of the increased readiness of the army and the main defensive line in Epirus was moved north to the positions already under construction in the frontier area. With the Italian withdraw from the Greek border in late September, the Greek Army began a slow demobilization but work continued on the new fortifications. All these positions were field works with a heavy use of reinforced concrete in their construction, but nothing like the forts of the Metaxas Line.

By October 1940 in Epirus, the Kalamas River-Elea Line had positions for automatic weapons and artillery, infantry trenches, limited wire obstacles, AT trenches, and a few number of infantry protective bunkers. Between the border and this line, the main avenues of approach had similar work completed to support delaying action back to the Kalamas River-Elea Line.

Pista! Jeff

[Tom from Cornwall]

Jeff,

Thanks, only just spotted this. Are the details from the Abridged OH?

Regards

Tom

[jwsleser]

Tom

The main info is from Papagos pages 241-242. Both the Greek and Italian officials mention the various fortifications in the text when discussing the battles, but neither gives a stand-alone discussion of the fortifications in the Epirus.

Pista! Jeff

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

Another image from Ebay. I think it is the same bunker of the first image of this thread

Sturm78

[nickzark]

great images