Chapter 85 Volume 3, Chapter 12, The Greek Campaign

Naval victory off Cape Matapan on 28th March Disappointing news from General Papugos as we send troops to Greece Devastating attack on Port Reeus Yugoslavia is overrun and capitulated Dangerous on our left General Papgos advises us to retreat to Thermopylae I telegram Wavell on April 17 Prime Minister of Greece commits suicide I April Instructions of the 18th. Enemy forces intercepted. Hopes to maintain the position of Thermopylae. Decision to withdraw troops made on 21.04. Greece's final surrender of Namsos on 24.04. Reenactment at Nafplio The catastrophe that occurred Royal Navy's achievement Four-fifths of our troops rescued Greeks Martial spirit undiminished President's broad-minded estimate My reply to his telegram on May 4th My broadcast on May 3rd.

Towards the end of March it became evident that the Italian fleet was about to move out on a large scale, perhaps to the Aegean.Admiral Cunningham decided to keep our convoy out of the way for the time being, while he himself took the Wospite on the evening of March 27th with Valiant and Barham, the aircraft carrier Formidable and Nine destroyers left Alexandria.A light fleet of four cruisers and four destroyers, then stationed in Crete under the command of Vice-Admiral Pridham Wipper, was ordered to join the Commander-in-Chief south of the island the next day. At dawn on the twenty-eighth an aircraft from HMS Formidable reported that four enemy cruisers and six destroyers were heading southeast.At 7:45 in the morning, the Orion, the flagship of our cruiser fleet, also saw these ships.The Italian fleet had three cruisers with eight-inch guns, while all British cruisers had six-inch guns.However, after half an hour of deadly fighting, the enemy ships retreated and the British cruisers chased after them.Two hours later Orion spotted an enemy battleship, the Vittorio Veneto, and fired at it from a distance of sixteen miles.This time, the two sides switched roles.

The Orion headed back with her cruisers in the direction of the main British fleet, which was approaching at full speed, some seventy miles away.A strike force from HMS Formidable came to the scene and attacked the Italian battleship, which immediately retreated northwest. At this time, my scout plane spotted another enemy fleet of five cruisers and five destroyers about a hundred miles north of my advancing fleet. The battleship Vittorio Veneto was clearly damaged by repeated attacks from aircraft from the Dreadnought and bases on the coast of Greece and Crete, and her speed could not exceed fifteen knots.At night, aircraft from HMS Formidable for the third attack found all enemy ships protecting the battered battleship with anti-aircraft guns.Our planes made no attempt to penetrate the fire net, but hit the heavy cruiser Pola, which was seen withdrawing from the order of battle and anchored.At night, Admiral Cunningham decided to send the destroyers to sortie, and risked a night battle with the main fleet in order to destroy the wounded battleships and cruisers and keep them out of the cover of aircraft from their home coast bases .Traveling in the dark, he surprised the enemy with an attack on two Italian cruisers, the Fiume and the Zara, both armed with eight-inch guns, who were helping Pola.At close range, Fiume was immediately overwhelmed and sunk by broadside salvos from the fifteen-inch guns of Waspette and Valiant.The Zara was besieged by three of my ships-of-the-line, and immediately burned to the ground.

Subsequently, Admiral Cunningham, in order not to mistake the friendly ship for the enemy ship, ordered the fleet to retreat, leaving only the destroyer on the scene to deal with the damaged cruiser and the two destroyers escorting the ship.They also spotted the damaged Pola and sank it.In this fortunate night battle, by chance, the British fleet suffered no losses.In the morning, our planes failed to find the Vittorio Veneto, so our fleet sailed back to Alexandria.At this critical juncture, thanks to this timely and welcome victory off Cape Matapan, no one could challenge British command of the seas in the Eastern Mediterranean.

According to the order of boarding, the troops dispatched to Greece included the British 1st Armored Division, the New Zealand Brigade and the 6th Australian Division.These units are fully equipped with weapons taken from other forces in the Middle East.Next to Greece were the Polish Brigade and the 7th Australian Division.The troops began to move out from March 5th.The plan was to hold the Aliakmon Line from the mouth of the Aliakmon River through Foria and Edessa to the Yugoslav border.Our army will join forces with the Greek troops deployed on this front, which will consist of the following units: the twelfth and twentieth Greek divisions (each with six battalions and three or four batteries), the nineteenth division ( motorized), the division was undernumbered and poorly trained, and about six battalions from Thrace.

This force, nominally seven divisions, was to be commanded by General Wilson. These Greek troops were far fewer than the five excellent Greek divisions that General Papagos had originally promised. [1] At that time the bulk of the Greek army, about fifteen divisions, was in Albania, confronting Berat and Vlora, which they had not been able to capture.They repelled an Italian attack on March 9, and the rest of the Greek army, three divisions and border guards, were in Macedonia, and General Papagos refused to withdraw them.Therefore, as soon as the German army attacked and fought for four days, it was defeated.The Greek 19th (Motorized) Division, which followed, was also annihilated or dispersed.Our air force in Greece had only seven squadrons (eighty combat aircraft) in March, and operations were hampered by lack of landing grounds and poor signal communications.Although a few reinforcement aircraft were sent in April, the RAF was still far outnumbered by the enemy.Two of these squadrons fought on the Albanian front.The remaining five squadrons, supported by the two squadrons of Wellingtons brought in from Egypt for night operations, were to meet all other operational requirements.What they are facing is a Luftwaffe with more than 800 combat aircraft.

[1] Papgos has always claimed that his initial agreement to defend the Aliakmon line was based on clarifying the situation with the Yugoslav government, but the situation has not been clarified. Ordered to attack southern Yugoslavia and Greece was the German Twelfth Army, which had fifteen divisions, four of which were armored.Of these divisions, five, including three armored divisions, were tasked with attacking Athens south.The weakness of Aliakmon's position was his left flank.If the Germans advanced through southern Yugoslavia, this left flank would be outflanked.We had very little contact with the Yugoslav staff, and neither the Greeks nor we knew the extent of their defensive plans and preparations.But we had hoped that the Yugoslavs would hold the enemy at least for a while in that troubled area they had to cross.Such hopes turned out to be unfounded.General Papgos believed that withdrawing troops from Albania to counteract such an outflank was simply not feasible.Not only would this seriously affect morale, but the Greek army was so short of means of transportation and the traffic situation was so bad that it was impossible to make a large-scale retreat when the enemy was close.When he wanted to change his decision later, it must have been too late.Under such circumstances, my 1st Armored Brigade moved forward on March 27, and the New Zealand Division followed suit a few days later.

In the early hours of April 6, the German army attacked Greece and Yugoslavia, and at the same time launched a violent air attack on the port of Piraeus.The transport fleet of my dispatched army is unloading at the port.The English ship Clan Fraser, which was moored at the quays of the port, was carrying two hundred tons of high explosives. The explosion of this ship almost completely destroyed the port.This unfortunate incident obliged us to divert the munitions from other and smaller ports.This attack alone cost us and Greece 11 ships totaling 43,000 tons. From then on, the Allies continued to maintain their troops by sea under increasingly large-scale air raids, for which there was no effective countermeasure.The key to the sea problem was control of the enemy's air base at Rhode Island, but sufficient forces could not be mobilized to carry out this task.During this period, the loss of a large number of ships is inevitable.Happily the recent battle of Cape Matapan, as Admiral Cunningham said in his report, has taught the Italian fleet a lesson which will keep them from going out for the rest of the year.During this period, the active participation of the Italian fleet would have made it impossible for our navy to carry out its missions in Greece.

While heavily bombing Belgrade, German troops, already massed on the frontier, attacked Yugoslavia in splits.The Yugoslav staff did not intend to deal a fatal blow to the Italian rearguard.They believed that Croatia and Slovenia must not be abandoned, so they had to try to defend the entire border.The four Yugoslav corps deployed in the north retreated swiftly and irresistibly as they encountered German armored columns and German and Italian troops advancing towards Zagreb.The Hungarian army across the Danube was supporting the German armored column.The main force in Yugoslavia was forced to retreat southward in a hurry, so German troops entered Belgrade on April 13.

At this time, the German Twelfth Army, which General Lister had assembled in Bulgaria, had marched towards Serbia and Macedonia.They entered Monastir and Janina on the 10th, thus cutting off any link between the Yugoslav and Greek armies, and routed the Yugoslav forces in the south. Mr. Campbell, my Minister in Belgrade, left the capital with the defenders when the resistance in Yugoslavia had collapsed.He then asked for instructions, and I sent him the following telegram: Prime Minister's Letter to British Ministers in Yugoslavia April 13, 1941 It was impossible at any time to send British naval vessels or British or American merchant ships or transports across the Vlora and then north of the Adriatic.The reason for this lies in the air force. In the last battle, there was actually no air force.The ship was seen being sunk, and the air force could hardly help.All the aircraft we have allocated to the Yugoslav theater have been put into use by the Yugoslav General Staff through Air Force Admiral Dobiak.There are currently no more aircraft available.You should remember that Yugoslavia has not given us the opportunity to help them, and it has refused to enter into a common plan, but it is useless to complain, so it is up to you to decide how far such bad news should be conveyed to them.

2. We do not understand why kings or governments should leave their country, which is vast, mountainous, and full of armed warriors.German tanks could undoubtedly travel along roads and byways, but infantry had to be brought in to subdue the Serbian army.That way, there is a chance to kill them.Surely the young king and ministers should do something about it.However, if at any time the king and his small entourage were forced to leave the country and aircraft were difficult to find, Britain could send a submarine to Kotor or elsewhere in its vicinity. 3. Apart from the effective defense of the mountains, the only means by which any part of the Serbian army can obtain our munitions by land is to establish communication with the Greek forces in Albania via Monastir.In this way, they can participate in the defense of Greece and share the common relief.If all else fails, the combatants should be evacuated to nearby islands or to Egypt if possible. 4. You should continue to do your best to inspire the Yugoslav government and army, reminding them how Serbia managed to turn the corner in the last war. However, guerrilla warfare in Yugoslavia is still a matter for the future.On April 17, Yugoslavia surrendered. 【１】 [1] King Peter evacuated from Kotor in a Sunderland seaplane of the Royal Air Force.Sir Ronald Campbell traveled to the Adriatic coast.On April 18, he and his staff fell into Italian hands.We tried to rescue him and his staff; a week later the British submarine HMS Regent was ordered to sail for the Bay of Kotor.The submarine's crew discovered that the Italians had captured Kotor.An Italian officer was taken aboard the submarine as a hostage, and an officer was sent on board to agree with the army to negotiate the release of the British diplomatic corps.At this moment, three Stuka dive bombers flew over, dropped bombs on the Regent, and fired with machine guns, injuring the captain and crew.The boat had to sail to the surface and escape the minefield under fire from coastal artillery.British diplomatic officials and staff were sent to Italy for detention: in June, after negotiating with the Italian government, they were repatriated to the UK in accordance with international practice. This sudden collapse dashed the main hope of the Greeks.This is yet another instance of each breaking.Through no fault of ours we pushed for joint action and failed.At this time, we all felt that the future was extremely dangerous. When the Germans invaded Greece, the British 1st Armored Division had reached the Vardar River.The New Zealand Division was in the Aliakmon River area.To their left were the Twelfth and Twentieth Greek Divisions.The main force of the 6th Australian Division is also coming.By April 8, it became clear that the resistance of the Yugoslav army in the south was breaking down and that the left flank of the Aliakmon position was about to be threatened.In order to cope with this situation, an Australian brigade was dispatched to block the enemy's advance from Monastir, and the 1st Armored Brigade then joined the brigade.The enemy's advance was delayed by damage to the road and several effective RAF bombardments, but by April 10 the enemy began an attack on my flank.After two days of hard fighting in bad weather, the enemy's attack was stopped. Farther west, with only one Greek cavalry division in contact with the troops in Albania, General Wilson decided that his battered left flank must be withdrawn to Kozani and Gravenna.The operation was completed on 13 April, but in the process the 12th and 20th Greek Divisions had begun to disintegrate and were no longer effective.From then on, my dispatched army had to fight alone.By April 14, the New Zealand Division had also been withdrawn to defend the dangerous pass north of Mount Olympus.A brigade of the division was covering the road to Larissa.The enemy attacked violently several times, but failed.However, Wilson's left flank was still threatened and it was decided to retreat to Demobile.He traded with Papagos.Papagos agreed, and by this time he had advised the British to withdraw from Greece. Prime Minister to General Wilson (in Athens) April 13, 1941 I am glad to see that the Greek 20th Division and Cavalry Division will close the gap between the western Greek army and your army.If the Germans advance south through this gap, they will obviously outflank your Aliakmon position, and will more surely encircle the entire Greek army in Albania.I can't understand why the western Greek army didn't resolutely withdraw to Greece.According to the Chief of the Reich General Staff, these points have been raised repeatedly, but to no avail.I wish you all the best during this unforgettable time. I am also happy to hear that the King is not leaving Greece at present.He has a great chance to make his name in history.But should he, or any part of the Greek army, be compelled to withdraw from Greece, we shall provide them with every facility in the island of Cyprus, and send them there as far as we can.In view of the fact that Crete can obtain supplies by sea, it is also a very advantageous thing if a good Greek army is stationed on the island. The days that followed were decisive.Wavell telegraphed on the 16th that General Wilson had held a meeting with General Papagos, who said that the Greek Army was under great pressure and that it was facing logistical difficulties because of the air raids.He agreed to retreat to the Thermopylae position.The evacuation has already begun.Papagos reiterated his recommendation that we should withdraw the British troops immediately, lest Greece suffer major damage.Wilson believed that such operations should begin with the capture of new positions, and that immediate arrangements should be made for the evacuation.Wavell instructed Wilson to continue fighting alongside the Greeks as long as they could resist, but allowed him to continue to retreat if necessary.We have issued an order that all ships bound for Greece should return immediately, all ships should not be loaded with personnel or supplies, and all ships that are loading or have been loaded should be unloaded immediately.He imagined that a formal request on the matter should be received from the Greek government before our troops actually boarded and withdrew.He thought Crete was defensible. I sent an immediate reply to this serious, but not unexpected news. Prime Minister to General Wavell April 17, 1941 You have given us no news of the situation of the imperial troops on the Greek front. 2. We cannot stay in Greece against the wishes of the commander-in-chief of the Greek army, causing his country to suffer war.Wilson or Palerit [1], after receiving Papagos' request, should obtain the approval of the Greek government for this request.With the approval of the Greek government, the withdrawal shall begin without prejudice to the withdrawal to the position of Thermopylae in cooperation with the Greek army.Of course, you should try to save as much material as possible. 【1】British Minister to Greece.translator 3. Crete must be held to the best of its ability, and you should be prepared for this when you redeploy your forces.The elite troops of the Greek army, together with the king and government, should stand firm in Crete.We will do our best to support and maintain the defense of Crete. On the seventeenth General Wilson drove from Tiffo to Tetoy Palace, where he received the King, General Papagos, and our ambassador.It was admitted that a retreat to the Thermopylae line was the only possible plan.General Wilson was convinced that he could hold the line for the time being.The subject of discussion was the method and sequence of withdrawal.The Greek government will not leave Greece for at least a week thereafter. I have already mentioned Mr. Korissis, Prime Minister of Greece.He was chosen to succeed Metaxas upon his death.He has no qualifications for public office other than a clean private life and clear and firm convictions.It seems that he is unable to save the motherland from peril, or is unable to bear his own heavy responsibility.Like Count Teleki of Hungary, he was determined to redeem himself by death.On the eighteenth he committed suicide. When future generations recall him, they should pay tribute to him. In this turbulent situation, we should try our best to arrange the priorities of various tasks.Air Lieutenant General Longmore asked for instructions on how to use his overstretched air force.I therefore sent a directive to the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, which they unanimously endorsed, and sent the original text to the Commanders in the Middle East. Committee of the Chiefs of Staff to the Commanders in Chief April 8, 1941 The following are instructions from the Prime Minister and Secretary of Defense. 1. None of our tasks can be completely neglected, so it is impossible to set priorities precisely among these tasks.However, the following sections can be used as a guide.Rescuing New Zealand, Australian and British troops from Greece was a major concern of the entire empire. 2. Since Tobruk still has enough munitions for two months, it should be possible to arrange for ships to and from Tobruk before or after the tense phase of withdrawal from Greece begins. 3. You should make a clear separation between covering the retreat and supporting the Libyan campaign. However, if there is a conflict between the two which may be avoidable then a victory in Libya should be given priority. 4. There is no need to worry about Iraq at the moment.Things seem to be going well there. 5. Crete was originally only used as a place to accommodate various supplies rescued from Greece.The overall defense of the island should be left to future planning.During this period, all troops on the island should use scattered methods to prevent air attacks. If paratroopers or intruders who landed by air are found, they should use bayonets to deal with them. 6. According to the general situation mentioned above, winning victory in Libya is the first issue, and withdrawing troops from Greece is the second.Shipping to Tobruk should be arranged at any time according to convenience, unless it is necessary to win the victory.Iraq can be ignored, and the defense of Crete can be left for later. The retreat to Thermopylae was a very difficult military operation, since the enemy was blocked in the Tambo Valley, the Olympus Pass, and other points, and all our troops had to pass through the narrow bottleneck of Larissa.Anticipating the most dangerous threat to his western flank, Wilson placed a brigade at Kalabaka to meet this threat.The crisis, however, occurred to the east, in the Tambo Valley and the Olympus Pass.The 5th New Zealand Brigade held the pass for three days, which is the three days that must be held.The Tambo Valley was even more critical, as it was the shortest German route to Larissa.Initially held only by the 21st New Zealand Battalion, it was later reinforced by an Australian Brigade.This place, too, was held for three days, the three days necessary for the whole of our army to pass through crowded Larissa. Before April 13, the weather was so bad that the enemy could not make full use of his air superiority which was ten times as great as mine.However, at dawn on the 15th, the enemy air force stormed the airfield near Larissa, blowing up many of my remaining aircraft.The rest of the planes were diverted back to Athens because there was no landing place en route.Both the 16th and 17th were cloudy, but it turned sunny later, so the Luftwaffe was dispatched in large numbers and continued to attack my continuous stream of troops heading for Thermopylae.They were not without resistance, and in a raid near Athens twenty-two of the enemy planes were shot down, while my Tornados lost five. These tenacious and skilful rearguard battles stopped the oncoming Germans on every front and caused them to suffer heavy losses.The capture of the Thermopylae position was not completed until April 20.The front of this position is strong, but our army needs to defend the coastal road, prevent the enemy from invading from Euboea, and most importantly, prevent the enemy from moving to Delphi, so their task is very tense.But German advance was slow, so the position was never seriously tested.On this same day, Greek troops on the Albanian front surrendered. However, I did not give up hope of finally gaining a foothold in the Thermopylae position.Thousands of years have passed since the famous battles of antiquity [1].Couldn't there be another immortal martial art now? [1] Thermopylae is the only way to enter the central part of Greece from the north of Greece. In history, several famous battles took place here, such as the battle where the Greeks resisted the Persian attack in 480 BC. The battle of the Greeks against the Gauls in 279 BC.translator Prime Minister to Foreign Secretary April 20, 1941 The more I think about it, the more I believe that if the generals on the scene think it is possible to hold the position of Thermopylae for two or three weeks and keep the Greek troops fighting, or keep enough Greek troops, then, as long as the concerned dominions agree, we will definitely support it. They hang on.I do not believe that if the enemy suffers heavy losses, our retreat will be more difficult.Conversely, as long as the enemy's air force is kept in Greece, the situation in Libya will stabilize and allow us to send more tanks (to Tobruk).If we could do this reliably, and hold the Tobruk position, we might even feel strong enough to send reinforcements from Egypt.I would very much hate to see our troops withdraw from Greece, and if it were only British troops, and if the question could be decided on military grounds alone, I would urge Wilson to fight to the end as long as he thought he could. In any event, the matter should be formally brought to the Dominions after tomorrow's Cabinet meeting before we agree to withdraw our troops.Of course, I don't know how our troops will fare when they reach the new important positions. On the 21st, General Wavell asked the King of Greece how the situation of the Greek army was, and whether the Greek army could immediately give effective assistance to the left wing of Thermopylae.The king said that it was too late to send any organized Greek troops to support the British left flank before the enemy could attack.General Wavell replied that, in that case, he felt it his duty to take immediate steps to get on board that part of the British force which he was able to rescue.The King was in full agreement, and seemed to have already intended to do so.In his conversation, he said that he deeply regretted that he had put the British army in such a situation.General Wavell then urged the king to keep absolute secrecy and take all measures to make the boarding a success, such as maintaining order in Athens; delaying the move of the king and the government to Crete as much as possible; The Greek army in Sri Lanka should stand still and prevent the enemy from taking any opportunity to advance from the west along the northern shore of the Gulf of Corinth.The king promised to help as best he could.But all this is empty talk.On April 24, Greece finally capitulated under the overwhelming force of Germany. Now we are facing another retreat at sea like we had in 1940.Under normal circumstances, an organized evacuation of more than 50,000 people from Greece seemed impossible.However, our Royal Navy, under the command of Vice Admiral Pridham Wipper (on board) and Rear Admiral Bailey Groman (on shore) in conjunction with Army Headquarters, has fully accomplished the task.In the Battle of Dunkirk, we generally had air supremacy.In Greece it was the Germans who controlled the skies so completely and absolutely that they could carry out almost continuous raids on the ports and retreating troops.Troops apparently could only board ships at night, and during the day the troops had to avoid detection by enemy aircraft near the beach.This is a reenactment of the Namsos [1] scene, but on a scale ten times larger. 【1】See Chapter 36 of the first volume of this book, page 580 of the original book.translator Admiral Cunningham devoted almost the entirety of his light fleet, consisting of six cruisers and nineteen destroyers, to this task.These ships, along with eleven transport and raiders and many smaller craft, began rescue operations in small ports and beaches in southern Greece during the night of April 24. The work continued for five nights.On the 26th, the enemy used paratroopers to attack and captured the important bridge across the Corinth Canal. Since then, the German army has poured into the Peloponnese Peninsula. On the way, he was attacked continuously.On the night of the 24th and 25th, 17,000 people were transported out, and two transport ships were lost.On the night of the 26th, about 19,500 people were transported from five boarding places.A catastrophe occurred in the bay of Nafplio.The transport ship Slamat was parked too long in order to maximize the number of people on board (a heroic but ill-conceived effort).It was sunk by dive bombers shortly after dawn, just as it was leaving the shore.Most of the 700 soldiers on board were rescued by the destroyers Adamantine and Khan, both of which were sunk in air raids a few hours later.There were no more than fifty survivors on the three ships. On the 28th and 29th two cruisers and six destroyers worked to rescue 8,000 troops and 1,400 Yugoslav refugees on the beaches near Kalamata.A destroyer, which had been ordered first to arrange boarding, found the town already occupied by the enemy, with several fires, and had to abandon most of the rescue effort.Although a counteroffensive drove the Germans out of the town, the four destroyers rescued only about 450 people from the eastern beaches in their small boats.During the night of the same day, Ajax and three destroyers rescued 4,300 people from Monimphisia. These few events signaled that the main retreat was drawing to a close.In the following two days, small groups of scattered soldiers were rescued from various islands or small boats on the sea, and in the following months, the Greeks risked their lives to help 1,400 officers and soldiers separated from each other. Return to Egypt alone. A total of 50,662 people were rescued to safety, including Royal Air Force personnel and thousands of Cypriots, Palestinians, Greeks and Yugoslavs.This figure is equivalent to about 80% of the original number of troops sent to Greece.These achievements are entirely due to the courage and dexterity of my Royal and Allied Merchant Marines, who did not flinch from the most ruthless efforts of the enemy to thwart their work.From April 21 to the end of the retreat, we lost twenty-six ships to enemy air attacks.Twenty-one of them are Greek ships and include five medical ambulance ships.The rest were British and Dutch ships.The Royal Air Force, in conjunction with a naval air force dispatched from Crete, tried to ease the difficulties of the retreat, but the enemy aircraft were overwhelmingly superior and could do nothing.Even so, the small number of air squadrons that had been deployed to Greece since November had done well.They destroyed 231 enemy aircraft and dropped 500 tons of bombs.They themselves lost 209 planes, 72 of which were lost in air battles. The losses were heavy, but their record was worth emulating. At this time, the Greek navy, which was small but capable, came under British command. A cruiser, six modern destroyers, and four submarines fled to Alexandria, arriving on 25 April.Since then, the Greek Navy has repeatedly made outstanding achievements in our Mediterranean operations. If the narrative of this tragic story gives the impression that the British Empire and the British Army did not receive effective military assistance from their Greek allies, do not forget that the Greeks fought against the The three-week battle against Italy was the hardest part of their five-month struggle against Italy, in which they had almost exhausted the country's vital forces.In October they were suddenly attacked by an enemy force at least twice their own strength, and after initially repelling the invaders, they pursued them for forty miles in a counter-offensive and drove them back into Albanian territory.They fought hand to hand with a larger and better equipped enemy force in the mountains throughout the severe winter.The Greek army in the northwest had neither transport nor roads to make a quick march to counter the powerful new German offensive from its flank and rear at the last moment.Its strength was nearly exhausted in a long and heroic battle to defend its homeland. We didn't blame each other.The Greeks showed sincere friendship and assistance to our troops, and this noble attitude continued to the end.The people of Athens, and those of other places of retreat, seemed to be more concerned with the safety of those who might save them in the future than with their own fate.The martial spirit of the Greeks still shone brightly. So far I have given the important facts of our adventure in Greece.It is easy for men to choose the proper positions, spiritually and morally, which must be taken after the matter has passed.My account is written according to the actual situation of the incident and the actual course of the actions taken.The future, when all is clear, will judge; and, at last, after our lives have passed, history will draw its cool, just, and meaningful conclusion. There is no doubt that the crimes of Hitler and Mussolini in the ravages of Greece, and our efforts to resist the tyranny and rescue from its clutches all that could be saved, deeply moved the American people, and especially the man who led the United States A great figure of the people.At this time I had a touching telegram exchange with the President.He said: My thoughts on the Eastern Mediterranean region are: Your work in Greece is not only heroic but very useful, and since the German army must be massed on a large scale, its manpower and material resources will be greatly lost, so that your territorial losses have been exceeded. compensate. You have sent all the men and equipment you can spare to Greece beforehand, so you can fight a protracted war which is absolutely necessary, and which can also be used in other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean, including North Africa and the Near East.Furthermore, if further retreats from elsewhere were required, it would be part of a plan to shorten the British front, greatly lengthen the Axis front at this stage of the war, and force the enemy to expend considerable manpower and equipment.I feel with satisfaction that here and in Britain there is a growing recognition in public opinion that even if you need to withdraw a little further in the Eastern Mediterranean area, you will not allow any mass collapse or surrender, and that, in the final analysis到底，海軍對印度洋和大西洋的控制，終將使你們贏得戰爭。 我的覆電可能被認為與這封胸襟寬廣的來電應該得到的回答並不相稱。我覺得自己受當前事件的束縛過甚，同時也清楚了解美國的情緒正在高漲，因此我將內容放在談論未來。 former navy personnel to president roosevelt 一九四一年五月四日 你的友好的來電使我深信，任何暫時的、不論是多麼嚴重的挫折，都不足以動搖你支持我們直到獲得最後勝利的決心。 我們不可過分自信，以為喪失埃及和中東不會帶來嚴重的後果。那會大大地增加大西洋和太平洋上的危險，並且肯定會延長戰爭，以致帶來由此而引起的一切災難和軍事上的危險。我們在任何情況下都將戰鬥到底，但是，請記住，西班牙、維希、土耳其和日本的態度最後可能取決於這一戰場上戰鬥的結果。我不能贊同這樣的意見，喪失埃及和中東不過是順利進行一場海洋上的持久戰的準備。如果歐洲全部和亞洲及非洲的大部分地區，由於征服或脅迫而變為軸心國體系的一部分，那麼，由英倫三島、美國、加拿大和大洋洲對這個龐大集團進行的戰爭將會是艱苦、長期而且前景黯淡的。 因此，如果你現在或在最近不能採取更積極的態度，則各方面的力量對比可能變得對我們極為不利。總統先生，我確信，如果我毫不掩飾地道出我心中的話，你是不會對我發生誤會的。在土耳其、近東以及西班牙，悲觀情緒日見增長，據我看來，唯一足以扭轉這種趨勢的決定性力量，便是美國立刻作為一個交戰國參加我方。如果這是可能的話，我毫不懷疑，我們當能維持地中海區域的局勢，直到你們的軍火的威力支配全局的時候。 我們決心為埃及從其前哨據點托卜魯克和克里特島戰鬥至最後一寸土和最後一滴血。我們曾為此冒了極大的危險。我個人認為，儘管用坦克和飛機進行增援有實際困難，我們仍將獲勝。不過，我懇求你，總統先生，切勿低估可能隨著中東的崩潰而來的後果的嚴重性。在這場戰爭中，每一個前哨據點都是決勝的據點，我們還要喪失多少個這樣的據點呢？ 關於維希方面，我們切盼你能帶頭用又打又拉的辦法從他們那裡盡量得到實惠。只有你能制止德國人進入摩洛哥。【１】一旦他們在那裡站穩，便無需從陸上進軍；不久，他們就要派遣空運部隊前往達喀爾。 我在急切地等待著你打算發表的那篇新的廣播演說。這可能是最重要的轉折點。 讓我向你致以感謝之忱，謝謝你採取措施，在船舶和油船方面給我們莫大的幫助，謝謝你在各方面對我們及共同事業進行的慷慨無私、見義勇為的幫助。 我在前一天晚上的廣播演說中，不僅企圖表達英語世界人們的共同心情，而且要說明支配我們命運的那些主要事實。 我們在縱觀歐洲和非洲正在發生的事件和在亞洲可能發生的事件時，難免是憂心忡忡，焦灼不安；但是另一方面，我們卻千萬不可失去判斷的能力，以致悲觀失望或驚慌失措。當我們以冷靜沉著的目光注視著擺在我們面前的種種困難時，如果回憶我們已經克服了的那些困難的話，新的信心便會油然而生。現在發生的事，就其嚴重性來說，沒有一件比得上我們去年所經歷的那些危險。將來可能發生於東方的問題，沒有一件可以和正在西方發生的問題相比。 當我上次對你們講話的時候，我曾引用朗費羅的詩句，這是羅斯福總統親筆寫給我的。我還想起另外幾行詩來，雖然沒有那幾行著稱，但是，在今天晚上，用以說明我們的命運，似乎是貼切中肯的。而且我相信凡是說英語的地方，凡是飄揚著自由旗幟的地方，人們的想法都是這樣。 當那疲乏無力的浪花向岸邊空自衝擊， 彷彿是寸步難進的時候， 遠遠地，通過小河小灣的流灌， 已靜靜地匯成一片汪洋。 當晨光初照人間， 那光芒豈止透過東窗； 太陽在前面緩緩地上升，多麼緩慢啊！ 但是請看西邊，大地已是一片輝煌。 【１】 【１】本詩摘自一八四九年十月十三日阿瑟‧休‧克拉夫致威廉‧阿林厄姆的信，該信原件於一九四一年六月由查爾斯‧斯克里布納贈送給邱吉爾先生。作者（克拉夫是英國詩人，一八一九｜一八六一。譯者）