Greek Infantry Brigade

[David W]

Would anyone have a Middle East War Establishment for theInfantry Battalions of the Greek Brigade in 1942 please?

[Andy H]

Hi David

Not what your after but just for others who haven't heard about the Greek Brigades:-

On 23 June 1941 the Army commander, Lieutenant-General Tzanakakasis formed the 1st Greek brigade, under Brigadier Katsotas, in Palestine with 4,500 men, mostly from escaped Greek military personnel from Greece and Crete and volunteering Greek resident overseas like for example from a large Greek community in Egypt. The Order of Battle of the 1st Greek Brigade was as follows:
- 1st Infantry Battalion
- 2nd Infantry Battalion
- 3rd Infantry battalion
- 1st Artillery Regiment (battalion-strength)
- 1st Engineer Company
- 1st Machine-Gun Company
and
- 1st Medical Battalion

The 1st Independent Armoured Regiment (battalion-strength), formed with jeep-mounted recoilless guns, was later absorbed after heavy losses into 1st Artillery Regiment. On 27 July 1942 the 2nd Greek Brigade was formed at Almiriya Camp, Egypt with 5,th, 6th and 7th Infantry Battalions, 2nd Artillery Rgt. and other auxiliary units.

The 1st Greek Brigade fought well at El-Alamein from 23 October to 4 November 1942. However due to know development in Egypt in April 1944, the brigade was disbanded immediately, reforming on 4 June 1944 with 3,500 loyal troops as the Greek 3rd Mountain Brigade ("Mountain" was a courtesy title as all Greek infantry were mountain-trained). In August 1944 the 3rd Mountain Brigade embarked for Italy joining 1st Canadian Division, with which it breached the Gothic Line and entered Rimini after heavy fighting on 21 November 1944. It returned back to Greece in December 1944 with other British and Indian troops to prevent ELAS seizing power after the departure of the Germans.

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=19818

Regards

Andy H

[David W]

Andy. Thanks for that.

Middle East War Establishment for a Greek Infantry Battalion would refer to numbers of....

Bayonet strength.
Tommy Guns.
Brens.
Vickers .303.
Vickers .50.
Anti tank rifles.
Carriers.
2" Mortars.
3" Mortars.
2Pdrs.
6Pdrs.

David.

[Andy H]

Hi David

I did know what ToE's were but the clarification for those that didn't is useful.

Do you have any reason to believe they would be substantially different from a regular British Bde?
I could see them being lower initially with aspirations conducive to there growth & operational usage.

Regards

Andy H

[David W]

Hi Andy,

My clarification wasn't aimed at you, I had not clearly defined what I wanted in my opening post,.

No, I don't think that they would have been substantally different. (But I've been wrong before!).
The differences between South African, New Zealand, Australian and Indian are fairly minor.

I also suspect that they might have begun life under strength.

Best wishes,
David.

[Alanmccoubrey]

Where did the Greeks got "Jeep mounted recoilless guns" from in 1942 ? Could this be a mis-translation of something more mundane ?

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Alan,

There appears to be some confusion as regards the "jeep-mounted recoiless guns."

I think the link confuses the short-lived Greek Armoured Car Regiment, which, if memory serve me correctly, was equipped with South African Marmon-Herrington light armoured cars with Boyes anti-tank rifles in their turrets, and the Greek Sacred Squadron/Battalion/Regiment, which was an SAS -type unit equipped with jeeps. (It claimed credit for capturing a lightly damaged Tiger tank in Tunisia).

As neither unit was part of any Greek infantry brigade, they lie outside the parameters of this thread.

Cheers,

Sid.