Battle of the Metaxas Line

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Battle of the Metaxas Line" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Battle of the Metaxas Line
Part of the Battle of Greece
German tank set on fire by Greek artillery, April 1941.
Date 6–9 April 1941 Location Greek-Bulgarian border Result German victory
Belligerents
Germany	Greece
Commanders and leaders
Wilhelm List	Konstantinos Bakopoulos
Strength
2nd Panzer Division XVIII Army Corps 6th Mountain Division 5th Mountain Division 2 armored divisions 5 infantry divisions 2 independent enhanced infantry regiments 650 aircraft	Eastern Macedonian Army 19th Mechanized Division 14th Infantry Division 18th Infantry Division 5 divisions 188 field artillery pieces 76 anti-tank guns 30 anti-aircraft guns 40 tankettes
Casualties and losses
1400+ killed 192+ missing 2,403+ wounded Total 3,995+	Unknown

The Battle of the Metaxas Line (German: Kampf um die Metaxas-Linie), also known in Greece as the Battle of the Forts (Greek: Μάχη των Οχυρών), was the first battle during the German invasion of Greece in World War II. The Germans succeeded in capturing several individual forts but failed to breach the fortified Metaxas Line in general. The 2nd Panzer division (XVIII Mountain Corps) with an enveloping move crossed the Yugoslavian borders, overcame Yugoslav and Greek resistance and captured Thessaloniki on the 9th of April. The capture of Thessaloniki forced the Greek East Macedonia Army Section to surrender on the 10th of April and the Metaxas Line battle was over.

German General Wilhelm List, commander of the German forces attacking Greece, admired the bravery and courage of these soldiers. He refrained from taking the Greek soldiers prisoner and declared that the army was free to leave with their war flags, on condition that they surrender their arms and supplies. He also ordered his soldiers and officers to salute the Greek soldiers (Beevor 2005, p. 20). At the time, the Metaxas line was poorly manned, as most of the Greek Army was involved in the Greco-Italian War on the Albanian front.