Greek invasion of Albania (1941)

The Greek invasion of Albania was part of the Greek counteroffensive during the Greco–Italian War. The Greeks initially were successfully in invading Italian occupied Albania but were later forced to retreat due to German intervention and Italian counteroffensive.

On December 28, 1940, the Greek high command ordered the suspension of all major offensive operations as a result of increasing Italian resistance, harsh weather, supply problems, and rising casualties from frostbite. The suspension was officially initiated on January 6, and minor and local attacks to realign Greek forces for combat were permitted until the weather ameliorated, if not improved. During this timeframe, Italy began to significantly increase its troop strength in Albania with eleven infantry divisions, four Alpine divisions, the 131st Armored Division "Centauro", and the incoming 6th Infantry Division "Cuneo" and 7th Infantry Division "Lupi di Toscana", almost twenty Bersaglieri battalions, as well as grenadiers, cavalry, Blackshirt troops, and Albanian units. By official figures on January 1, 1941, there were more than 10,600 officers, 261,000 overall troops, more than 7,500 vehicles, and roughly 33,000 animals in the theater. With these reinforcements present, General Ugo Cavallero who took command of Albania after General Soddu was recalled reported that the immediate crisis was essentially resolved, in addition to beginning preparations for a counteroffensive aimed at recapturing Korçë in early February.^[1]

The Italian Spring Offensive, which Mussolini personally directed after his arrival in Tirana on 2 March 1941, was launched on 9 March by General Carlo Geloso with heavy artillery and aerial bombardment directed against the Greek positions.^[2] Eleven Italian infantry divisions with the support of the 131st Armored Division "Centauro", conducted successive attacks: the Greek 1st Division was subjected to over 100,000 artillery shells falling across an approximately 6 km front; attacks were also directed against the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 11th, 15th, and 17th Greek Divisions based between the Osum and Vjosa rivers in proximity to Mount Trebeshinë. The Italians made a total of at least 18 attacks on height 731 and undertook daily bombardment until ceased on 24 March, but failed to break through the Greek lines of defence, which prompted General Ugo Cavallero to encourage Mussolini to give orders to end the Italian offensive on 14 March. The defence from the Greeks remained active, and encouraging artillery as well as morale prevented any Italian positions.

Giovanni Messe commanded the Special Army Corps during the Greco-Italian War^[3] in late 1940 and early 1941, gaining some early success against Greek forces under Alexandros Papagos.^[4][5] However, the Italians were soon pushed back as the Greeks counterattacked and entered parts of Italian-held Albania. Mussolini then ordered General Ugo Cavallero to keep the Italian troops on the defensive while Germany prepared to invade Greece. On April 4, Hitler told Mussolini that defending Albania was crucial for Operation Marita. In early April, Papagos launched new attacks toward Elbasan, Berat, and Valona, but despite some initial gains, the Greek advance slowed as Italian defences strengthened. Giovanni Messe launched an counterattack from South Albania occupying the Western coast of Greece,^[6] with the Second Italian Spring offensive and German and Bulgarian invasion, the Albania Front was secured which further helped the Axis powers for occupying Greece and plan their invasion of Yugoslavia.