Battle of Olympus (1941)

Battle of Olympus
Part of the Balkans Campaign during World War II
Nazi Germany's attack on Greece
Date 14–16 April 1941 Location Mount Olympus, Greece Result German victory
Belligerents
Axis:  Germany	Allies:  United Kingdom  Australia  New Zealand
Commanders and leaders
Generalleutnant Rudolf Veiel Major General Julius Ringel	Lieutenant-General Henry Maitland Wilson Lieutenant Colonel Ian Ross Campbell Brigadier James Hargest Lieutenant Colonel Neil Lloyd Macky Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Andrew Lieutenant Colonel A. S. Falconer Lieutenant Colonel George Dittmer
Strength
Germany: 2nd Panzer Division 5th Mountain Division 100+ tanks [1]	New Zealand: 5th Infantry Brigade 28th (Māori) Battalion 21st Battalion 22nd Battalion 23rd Battalion Australia: 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion Unknown number of artillery
Casualties and losses
Germany: Unknown number of men killed or wounded 12 trucks 2 tanks	New Zealand: 40 men killed 50 wounded 130 captured 9 artillery 10 Bren gun carriers 20 trucks

The German invasion of Greece on 6 April 1941 had already been anticipated by the Allied forces. So a defense line was created across the mountain passes near Mount Olympus consisting of British, Australian and New Zealand troops which would prevent the German forces from capturing Thessaly and thereby denying them the opportunity to advance into mainland Greece. However, the speed of the German invasion force had made sure that the endurance of the defending troops and the strength of their defences were very quickly going to be put to the test.^[1]