the Campaign in Greece, 1941
This is the neglected story of another Anzac force, which fought not at Gallipoli, but in Greece, during the Second World War.
Desperately outnumbered and fighting in deeply inhospitable conditions, these Anzacs found themselves engaging in a long retreat through Greece, under constant air attack.
Most of the Anzac Corps was evacuated by the end of April 1941, but many men got only as far as Crete. Fighting a German paratroop invasion there in May, large numbers were taken captive and spent four long years as prisoners of the Nazis.
The campaign in Greece turned out to have uncanny parallels to the original Gallipoli operation: both were inspired by Winston Churchill, both were badly planned by British military leaders, and both ended in defeat and evacuation. Just as Gallipoli provided military academies the world over with lessons in how not to conduct a complex feat of arms, Churchill’s Greek adventure reinforced fundamental lessons in modern warfare — heavy tanks could not be stopped by men armed with rifles, and Stuka dive-bombers would not be deflected by promises of air support from London that were never honoured.
In this revised edition, based on fresh archival research, and containing a collection of previously unpublished photos, the truth finally emerges as to how the Australian, Greek, and New Zealand Governments were misled over key decisions that would define the campaign.
Scribe Publications, revised edition, 2016
Reviews and endorsements
‘Peter Ewer’s book is not simply a labour of love that restores the memory of the Anzac fighters in mainland Greece and Crete. It is a monument of scholarly research, historical interpretation and cultural awareness… Written in a fluent and engaging narrative style, it reveals an unfairly neglected chapter in the history of the Second World War.’
Professor Vrasidas Karalis
Sir Nicholas Laurantos Chair in Modern Greek
University of Sydney
‘Into his gripping tale of Anzacs at war Peter Ewer weaves a timely warning about how decisions are made in wartime. This gives his book real contemporary relevance.’
Professor Hugh White
Professor of Strategic Studies
Australian National University