These have been on the painting desk for over twelve months and are the last of my WW2 Greek Bolt Action army. The figures are from Great Escape Games Hungarian Cavalry Range. Today I finally started them.
While many countries were mechanizing by World War II, the Greek Army still had a Cavalry Division and a Cavalry Brigade when the Greco-Italian War began in October 1940. These units were important in the early resistance to the Italian invasion.
The Cavalry Division, active from 1935 to 1941, included a Mechanized Cavalry Regiment, which was more like a motorized infantry unit than true armored cavalry.
A separate Cavalry Brigade also mobilized, operating as a mixed cavalry-infantry force before its units were later reincorporated into the Cavalry Division.
The Greek cavalry played a crucial part in the Greco-Italian War (1940-1941), engaging in fierce fighting, particularly in the Pindus Mountains, to halt the Italian invasion from Albania.
For instance, the Mechanized Cavalry Regiment was involved in the final stages of the Battle of Pindus against the Italian 3rd Alpine Division Julia. With the German intervention in April 1941, the Greek army faced overwhelming odds.
The Cavalry Division conducted a fighting retreat, attempting to cover the flanks of the Western Macedonia Army Section, battling to hold passes and delay the German advance, though ultimately they could not prevent the fall of key areas.
The Greek cavalry, especially the mounted units, were equipped with standard infantry weapons of the time, adapted for cavalry use. This included rifles and carbines such as the Mannlicher-Schönauer M1903/14, as well as various French-made rifles like the Berthier and Lebel.
They also used machine guns, likely Hotchkiss models, which would have been mounted on horses or in light vehicles for the mechanized elements.
Traditional equipment also included bayonets and possibly sabers, though these were not their primary combat tools. Horses, sourced from various countries and Greek bred, were fundamental.
The “Mechanized Cavalry Regiment” possessed some trucks and motorcycles, and later in the war, some captured Italian tankettes and British Universal Carriers were utilized in broader mechanized units.
Hopefully more on them tomorrow.