World War 2, Europe, Greece, 1941

In Greece, Australians joined a New Zealand and British force to defend the country against a threatened German invasion. Hitler was concerned that if Greece became a British ally then oilfields in Romania, on which Germany relied for her fuel, might be open to air attack from Greece. The 6th Division arrived in Greece in early April 1941 and on 6 April the Germans began their invasion of Greece. Despite their efforts, the Allied force, together with Greek units, was unable to halt the rapid German advance down central Greece towards Athens. After a month of intensive fighting, the Allied force was evacuated from the Greek mainland
Some soldiers were taken back to Egypt but many were put ashore on Crete where with Greek troops, they formed 'Creforce'. On 20 May 1941 Germany launched a major paratroop landing at three different places along the north coast. Despite vigorous opposition to the Germans, the Allied force had eventually to be evacuated but many were cut off. About 39 percent of the Australia troops in Greece and Crete were either killed, wounded or became prisoners of war.More than 450,000 Greeks died during the next four years of German occupation, nearly 25,000 of them executed for assisting the allies.