''THERMOPYLAE OF WW2 - Battle of ''Hill(Height) 731''

October 28th 1940

Italy , belonging to the Axis block, declared war to Hellas (Greece) after its denial,for leting Itallian troops pass and use free its Land.  The war wasn't going very well for the Italians despite their superiority in means and personel. The allies had their first victories thanks to Hellas . This fact  show to the rest of the world that Axis isn't unbetable!

One of the greatest battles Hellenes (Greeks) gave from 9-26 of March 1941, was for the ''Hill 731''  located 20kms north of Kleisoura at Tepeleni Albania .

Let's start going to January 1941 . Mussolini meets Hitler.

Mussolini's prestige is badly damaged after all these defeats by Hellenes. In a meeting with Hitler, assured him that by April 1941 ,he would have "corrected" things in the Balkans(Hellenic troops had pushed back Italian troops , 30 to 80kms inside Albania's land) and time pressed him. You see, from the very first moment, Hitler was opposed to the opening of a front in southern Europe. "Ducce"(Mussolini) with the invasion in Hellas created a de facto situation for his ally , and now the English bombers that operated from Hellas could hit oil wells in Romania. Something that was bad for the ''Barbarossa'' operation. Italy was ready for a massive counter attack with the code name ''Primavera'' and Mussolini said that Hitler would read in newspapaers about Hellas occupation. 

 The numbers ... are terrifying, as the Italians gathered 25 divisions, one armored, 20 battalions of blackdressed, five battalions of Albanian volunteers, hundreds of guns, bombers and tons of war material

to break the Hellenic lines that consisted from 12 divisions, with clearly inferior means nad not enough food to feed them .

But there was one important parameter which made the difference. The distribution of personel to the Hellenic army was such that all those who came from Epirus, Western Macedonia and Thessaly had been ranked in those divisions, as of course tens of thousands of others from the Sterea, Peloponnese, islands, etc. Even the volunteers of the Dodecanese(those years under Italian domination) was sent to Epirus, so apart from the patriotism, the soldiers were fighting for their homes and their families. 

March 2nd 1941

On March 2, Mussolini piloting his own plane, reached the front line to inspect the Italian units.

The upcoming battlewas so important, and for that he had sent a personal letter to all the prominent members of the fascist party, for their relatives to take part in these units that would take part in the operation, so the status of the regime would be re-established . 

The commencement of operations was set for March 9th and maximum military significance for the attackers was the occupation of the hill 731 located about 20 kilometers north of Kleisoura in the Tepeleni area.

If they were occupied, the Hellenic troops in Kleisura would be circled and the road to Giannina would be open, as a void in the Hellenic lines would have been created.

The headquarters in Athens comprehended the importance of this position and had informed officers in the area that they would absorb most of the Italian attacks. At a front length of about 5 kilometers, dominated the hill 731, Hellas had 7 divisions. In the wider area of the heroic hill were men from the 5th and 19th infantry regiments, of the 1st Division .

March 9th 1941

Major Dimitrios Kaslas commander on "731" of the II/5 Infantry Battalion is writing in the daily commands to the line officers:

''We will defend our occupied positions to the last.No one will move backwards. You encourage your men and stimulate their morale. A lustful attack of the enemy is preached, which will be blocked and crashed. Keep me informed with tactical status. I repeat, then only the enemy will pass from our site when we all die over our positions. Dawn of 9 March 1941 is coming....''

The place is on fire, as the Italians start a "raging" bombing. It is estimated that over the first 3 hours more than 100,000 projectiles were thrown, while the Hellene soldiers were guarded in burrows that had been dug in the previous days. Trees, barbed wire and anything else on the hill shake in the air. The Italian troops are charging, believing that the artillery shots have broken up every resistance. "I want everything powdered," Mussolini shouted, watching the operation in ''731'' with his binoculars from ''Komarit'' location.

But it seems not ordinaty people were defending the hill...

The words of a lieutenant of the Italian army are characteristic: "When we first charged 731, I thought we would not meet a single living Hellene on the hill. So blatant were the bombings that preceded it. But they were there and were waiting for us "

At the sight of the Italian infantry, the Hellenic artillery began fire, while Mussolini's commanders had made a huge mistake. In a small space they had a large number of soldiers, which was an easy target. As soon as the Italians suffered heavy casualties from the artillery fire and started climbing up the hill, they did not perceive the well-camouflaged Hellenes,the hiding places of which, apart from all others, were covered by soil, as a result of the bombing.

Thus the first units began to broadcast that there were no survivors on the hill, and at the Italian headquarters everyone was smiling. But then the machine guns ... started fire,

hundreds of grenades began to hurl off ... from nowhere and the Italians retreated in panic . This was the first of the dozens of attacks they would have tried - apart from the constant bombings - until March 26, when the hostilities were stopped.

"The Hellenes often waited for us to stand upright in front of their shattered shrieks with the spears in their weapons. Often they laughed hard and shouted. They had surpassed man.They were no longer people. I believe this, they were beasts'' Same Italian lieutenant, writes among others.

There are two characteristic incidents, which clearly show that the Hellenes were the masters of the field

1.The Italians, in the first few days, wishing to raise their men's morale made a raid by shouting "Avanti Air" rather than the classical denomination that referred to the name of "Ducce", thus imitating the Hellenes. Of course after their first fruitless attacks and listening to the defenders to shout "air," they realized this did not help.

2.They made a short-term truce proposal after the first few days to bury their dead, lying around the hill. Besides, the view of the deadly bodies affected their men psychology. The Hellenes accepted, but only on the condition that it will be announced that the ceasefire was made at their request, which they did not accept, since this would affect the prestige of "Ducce" even more.

The end of attack..

The spring assault and the one at "731" ended with the coup in Yugoslavia on March 26, when the country's friendly to Axis government headed down. Now the Italians' "backs" would not be covered, and with this pretext, they stopped the operation. But essentially it was completed two days before when Mussolini disappointed left for Rome and told his trusted Lieutenant Pico: "I feel disgust for the generals. They misled me "

At that time several famous divisions such as Bari, Cagliari and others had ceased to exist, the composition of many others was less than 50% and the Spring Attack had failed. In front of the hill the Italian losses are estimated at 10,500, while from the Hellenic side, from those who were on the hill from the first day - about 400 officers and soldiers - the survivors were only 70. 

The hill had to change name..

In "731" the morphology changed.The specific locations take their name from their height, but the particular hill , on the later Albanian maps is referred to as "725" or "728". Obviously and ... it diminished as a result of the bombings it suffered.

Monument in Trikala town for those who fought in hill ''731''

Sources:

For images i google searched for battle of Hill 731 images, WW2 Italian army/artillery/airforce images, WW2 Greek army/artillery images

For articles in Greek :

http://pheidias.antibaro.gr/1940/731.htm

http://www.gazzetta.gr/weekend-journal/article/1056471/upsoma-731-oi-syghrones-thermopyles

For videos i searched the youtube for ''the battle of hill 731''

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