Battle of Pindus | |||||||
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Part of the Greco-Italian War | |||||||
Italian Invasion of Greece 1940 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Italy | Greece | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Mario Girotti |
Konstantinos Davakis Vasileios Vrachnos Georgios Stanotas Sokratis Dimaratos | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
28 October: Julia:[1] 10,804 officers and men 20 guns mid-November:[2] 23,000 men 112 guns |
28 October: 2,000 men 4 guns 13 November: 32,000 men 114 guns[3] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
5,000 killed, wounded and missing[4] | Unknown |
The Battle of Pindus (Italian: Battaglia del Pindo, Albanian: Beteja e Pindit, Greek: Μάχη της Πίνδου Máchi tis Píndou) took place in the Pindus Mountains in Epirus and West Macedonia, Greece, from 28 October – 13 November 1940. The battle was fought between the Greek and the Italian armies during the first stages of the Greco-Italian War. The elite Italian 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" invaded Greece from the Pindus sector. After its initial advance, the division was surrounded by the Greek army and forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses. In the aftermath, the Greeks were able to push back the Italians, advancing deep into Albanian territory.