All photos © by Panagiotis Kostidis, submitted exclusively to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission

Text by Pierre Kosmidis

Florina, with approximately 17,000 inhabitants, is one of the most beautiful towns in northwestern Greece.

Today, visitors from all over Greece, as well as neighbouring countries, are visiting Florina for its wonderful climate, the nice architecture and the majestic mountains, which overlook the town.

 

Things were quite different 80 years ago:

German forces invaded Greece through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in the first week of April 1941.

On the morning of 10 April, the German XL Panzer Corps advanced from Monastiri to capture Florina, 13 km south of the Yugoslav border, via the Monastiri Pass. The next objective was to reach Kozani, divide the Greek and British forces and, in cooperation with the XVIII Mountain Corps, encircle the British Expeditionary Force. The reinforced, brigade-level, Mechanized Regiment LSSAH, under the command of Sepp Dietrich , with the support of the 9th Panzer Division, advanced further south and captured the town of Vevi on 11 April.

The Allies decided to try to delay the invaders. A mixed formation of Australians, British, New Zealanders and Greeks, known as “Mackay Force” , was hastily formed with the aim, as the commander of the British Commonwealth forces in Greece, General Henry Maitland Wilson , put it, ” to stop the war in the Florina Valley “. The formation was named after its commander, Australian Maj. Gen. Iven Mackay.

Following WW2, a bitter, bloody full-scale Civil War erupted in Greece: Florina found itself again in the maelstrom of the war: From 11 to 13 February 1949 during the Greek Civil War an attempt wasmade by the Democratic Army of Greece (Communist controlled army ΔΣΕ-DSE) to capture the city of Florina from the Hellenic Army (British and US backed Greek Government Army).

The communist leadership attached great importance to the capture of Florina, hoping that it could establish its government there. Its proximity to the Albanian and Yugoslav borders was a key long-term advantage.

The DSE attack began at 3:30 a.m. on February 12. The aim was to capture the heights around the city while it was still dark, and then enter it at dawn. The attacks were carried out almost simultaneously and led to the capture of several heights. The Greek Army immediately counterattacked successfully, and promptly confronted one of the four DSE brigades that managed to briefly penetrate the city. 200 DSE men were taken prisoner and held in a building in the city. In the afternoon of the same day, the DSE launched a final attack, which also failed.

It is estimated that the DSE suffered losses of over 800 dead and 930 wounded. The dead of the DSE were laid out in rows in a field on the outskirts of the city. The prisoners were taken to the scene to identify the bodies of their officers. Later the bodies were buried en masse in huge pits.

According to the General Staff of the Hellenic Army, the DSE had 713 dead, who were buried in a mass grave east of the city, and 350 captured and surrendered – and the government had 44 dead, 284 wounded and 35 missing.

According to the General Headquarters of the DSE, from the government controlled Greek Army 404 were killed, 976 wounded and 82 captured – while, according to the DSE General Dimitris Vlantas, the losses of the Democratic Army rose to 334 dead, 867 wounded, 14 deserters and 199 missing.

Following the end of the Civil War, the mountains around Florina were littered with all sorts of war relics, unexploded ordnance, testament of the fierce fighting in the area. It would take decades to render these areas safe again, a role which fell on the shoulders of the Greek Army’s EOD personnel.

Mr. Panagiotis Kostidis, a Greek Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Officer shared exclusively with www.ww2wrecks.com a series of photos he shot, during the unexploded ordnance identification and safe disposal process.