Greece was considered as the weakest of the three main allies, since it had suffered a humiliating defeat against the Ottomans in 1897, and was not expected to contribute decisively against the Turkish army. It was able to field only ca. 110,000 men during the first stages of the war, but it had a strong navy, which was vital to the League, as only it could prevent Turkish reinforcements from being rapidly transferred by ship from Asia to Europe. The army, recently reorganized by a French military mission, was grouped upon mobilization in two Armies. The "Army of Thessaly", under Crown Prince Constantine, with Lt Gen Panagiotis Danglis as his chief of staff, fielded 7 infantry divisions, a cavalry brigade and 4 independent Evzones battalions, equalling roughly 100,000 men. It was expected to overcome the fortified Turkish border positions and advance towards western and central Macedonia, with Salonica being the coveted prize. Further 10-13 thousand men in 8 battalions, were assigned to the "Army of Epirus" under Lt Gen Konstantinos Sapountzakis, which was intended to advance into Epirus. As it had no hope of capturing its heavily fortified capital, Ioannina, its initial mission was simply to occupy the Turkish forces there until sufficient reinforcements could be sent from the Army of Thessaly after its successful conclusion of operations. The Greek Navy, in the meantime, was expected to seize the islands of the Aegean Sea that were still under Ottoman rule and secure naval supremacy. The "Fleet of the Aegean", under Rear Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis, was assiged this task, and deployed 3 ageing battleships, the brand-new cruiser Averof and 7 destroyers. Small task forces of destroyers and torpedo boats were assigned to scour the Aegean and Ionian seas of small Ottoman vessels.
Operations
The Greek army advanced towards Thessaloniki from the south, and after successfully overcoming Ottoman opposition at Sarantaporo and Giannitsa, the city and its garrison surrendered to the Greeks on October 27 (O.S.)/November 9. At the same time, the Bulgarians had dispatched their 7th 'Rila' division from the north in the direction of the city, but arrived there a day after its surrender.
On November 4/17, the Bulgarians launched their attack on the Chataldja Line, but were repulsed. In the same time, the Greeks had begun transferring several divisins from Macedonia to Epirus. Gen Sapountzakis was replaced by Crown Prince Constantine, who supervised the siege of Ioannina.
Battle of Pente Pigadia
The Battle of Pente Pigadia was held during the First Balkan War. ("Πέντε Πηγάδια" means "Five Wells" in Greek.)
The Epirus sector was of a secondary nature to the Greek High Command, which was focused the operations of the "Army of Thessaly" towards Macedonia and Thessaloniki. The initial Greek strength in the area consisted of barely 8000 men of the 15th Infantry Regiment and 5 independent battalions, supported by 24 field-guns, under Lt Gen Konstantinos Sapountzakis. The Ottomans had at their disposal the under-strength 23rd Regular Division, and upon mobilization, formed the 23rd Reserve Division. Both had around 7000 men each, supported by 32 guns, under Esat Pasha.
The small strength of the Greek forces forbade a direct effort against the city of Ioannina, which was defended by the strong Turkish fortified position at Mt. Bizani, equipped with 112 guns. Therefore the Greek Army had to limit itself to the liberation of Preveza (October 21, 1912 (O.S.)) after a victory at Nicopolis the previous day.
Esat Pasha, having set up his headquarters at Pente Pigadia, began an attack against the Greek positions on October 23 with 5 battalions. Due to bad weather and the early onset of snow, the attack petered out to local actions, which ended with the Turkish withdrawal on the 30th. The Greeks suffered 26 dead and 222 wounded.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pente_Pigadia"
Battle of Skra-di-Legen
Battle of Skra di Legen
Part of World War I
Date May 16–May 18, 1918
Location Skra, Greece
Result Greek victory
Combatants
Allies Central Powers
Battle of Skra di Legen'(Skora di Legen) was a two day WWI battle which took place on May 16, 1918. Victory of the allied troops with a decisive Greek contribution. In May 1918 Greek military units held a leading part in the battle of Skra di Legen, the most important among the local offensives, that resulted in the capture of a particularly fortified position, controlled until then by the Central Powers, chiefly Bulgarian troops. The battle of Skra confirmed in the eyes of the allies the fighting readiness of the Greek army that has practically just been restructured. After that the preconditions for the allied counter-attack have been laid, that was launched in September 1918. This has been marked by a series of victories and continuous advances of the allied troops against the Central Powers.
Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas
Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas
Part of Second Balkan War
Date June 19–June 21, 1913
Location Kilkis, Greece
Result Greek victory
Combatants
Greece Bulgaria
Commanders
King Constantine I General Ivanov
Strength
ca. 85000 men, 170 guns (73 Infantry Battalions, 8 Cavalry Companies) ca. 40000 men, 62 guns (32 Infantry Battalions, 1 Cavalry Regiment)
Casualties
8,652 killed and wounded est. 7000 killed and wounded, ca. 2500 captured
The Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas took place during the Second Balkan War between Greece and Bulgaria for the town of Kilkis in Macedonia. The battle lasted three days from June 19, 1913 to June 21st. The Greek army defeated the Bulgarian army.
During the night of 16-17 June, 1913, the Bulgarians, without official declaration of war, attacked their former Greek and the Serbian allies, and managed to evict the Serbs from Gevgeli, cutting off communication between them and the Greeks. However, they failed to drive the Serbs away from the Axios river line. After repulsing the initial Bulgarian attack of June 17, the Greek army, under King Constantine, advanced with 8 Divisions and a Cavalry Brigade, while the Bulgarians (1 Infantry Division, 3 Brigades, and elements of other units, under General Ivanov) retreated to the naturally strong defensive position of the Kilkis-Lahana line.
The Greek forces established contact with the Bulgarian positions on the night of June 19, and the attack commenced on the whole front the next day. The Greeks made slow progress, paying with many casualties against the well-entrenched Bulgarians, primarily because of their close deployment on open field and the frontal attack tactics of their High Command. Despite this, the town of Kilkis fell on June 21, forcing the Bulgarian commander to retreat, but managing to prevent a rout.
Due to its significance, the Battle of Kilkis gave its name to a Greek battleship, the Kilkis, in 1914.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kilkis-Lahanas"
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