Battle of Menina: When the Greek Resistance Dealt a Major Blow to the Nazis
The Battle of Menina between the Greek Resistance and the Nazis ended on this day (August 18) in 1944 with the Greeks crushing the German occupiers and their Cham allies.
It was a major blow against the German occupation forces. EDES, the national guerrilla force, known as the Greek Democratic National Army, and led by Lieutenant Colonel Vasilios Kamaras, captured the fortified junction of Menina after fierce clashes beginning on August 17, inflicting heavy losses on both the German troops and their Cham allies.
The Battle of Menina was one of the most significant clashes fought by a Greek Resistance force against the occupiers.
Menina, a small village in the Thesprotia region was built between steep hills and was inhabited by Chams, a sub-group of Albanians. Its location made it an important transport hub on the Ioannina-Igoumenitsa road.
Due to its pivotal position, the Germans, with the help of the Chams, had converted Menina into a complex of forts with warehouses full of ammunition. The area was guarded by several machine gun posts built on the surrounding hills, giving the impression that the Menina complex of forts was impregnable.
A turning point in World War II
After the successful landing of the US forces in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the Greek Resistance emphasis was placed on the effort to damage the supply of the Germans who were fighting Russia on the Eastern Front. The leaders of the allies planned to create a bridgehead in Western Greece to land troops that would fight in the Balkans. Since the Western Greece region was mainly under the control of EDES, Napoleon Zervas, leader of the group, was ordered to clear of the region.
Zervas had already formed the X(10th) Division at the end of February 1944 with the aim to liberate Thesprotia. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Kamaras, the X Division had to face not only the Germans but the Chams as well, who were a real scourge for the Greeks of Thesprotia.
Ioannis Archimandritis in his book “Pain and Tears of Thesprotia” states that in the summer of 1944 the Germans occupied Igoumenitsa, Paramythia, Parga, Filiates and the strategically important Menina. The Nazis had 3,500 men, motorized vehicles and heavy weapons. On their side they had 2,500 well-armed Chams.
The X Division had only 1,200 men, little ammunition and a machine gun with 4 mortars. Nevertheless, the EDES forces managed to liberate Paramythia on June 27, 1944. It was the first Greek town to be liberated from the occupying Germans. EDES only suffered two deaths and one wounded in the operation.
On June 29, the guerrilla units captured Parga without a fight. On June 30, the great battle of Agioi Theodoroi was fought, the first in a lowland area. The Chams could not stand the loss of Paramythia, as they had to abandon their houses there filled with treasures they had obtained from looting the villages of Fanari.
The Nazis and their Cham allies
A German prisoner confessed later that one of the Cham leaders bribed the German commander of the Menina forts with 1,000 gold pounds to capture Paramythia. Three hundred Germans and 100 Chams attacked the EDES men in the village of Agioi Theodoroi at 5:30 am. Fighting heroically, the Greek guerrillas sent the Germans and Chams into disorderly flight.
Around 11:30 am, the battle ended victoriousy for the Greeks. In the battle of Agioi Theodoroi, EDES only lost one man and five fighters were wounded. But the loot was rich: Two cars, one anti-tank gun, 320 anti-tank gun shells, two radios, 10 pack animals, five machine guns, 35 Mauser rifles, many cartridges and medical supplies.
The German casualties were 38 dead and 42 wounded and the Chams had 30 dead and wounded. In the following days, new clashes followed between the Greek Resistance EDES men and the Germans. However, towards mid-August, the Greek forces turned toward the Menina area.
August 17, 1944: The battle of Menina starts
The commander of the EDES X Division Kamaras and his men approached the village of Neochori, which is 2 km from Menina, and reconnoitered the area at 5 am on August 14, 1944. He pointed out the machine gun posts, mapped the entire area and after three hours returned to Paramythia. He then radioed the general headquarters located in the village of Dervizana, informing that the division was ready to attack Menina on the morning of August 17.
The general headquarters at 13:15 on August 15, by order of the chief of staff, Colonel Dimitrios Olympios, determined that the attack would begin at 4 am on August 17. Despite the short time they had, the Greek forces managed to be in their departure positions at 11 pm on the 16th of August.
The headquarters of the Greek guerrilla forces was in Neochori. Members of the allied mission in Greece also took part in the battle of Menina. The English Major David Wallace joined the 16th Regiment of EDES. Two American captains named Rogers and Anderson also joined the Greek Resistance in the battle against the Germans.
At 4 am, however, when the attack was scheduled to take place, there was limited visibility and there was a risk that the EDES men would fall on the mine wires in the darkness.
At 5:15, the German bugler sounded the alarm and the X Division commander gave the signal for a general attack. Germans and Chams were literally caught sleeping. With selflessness and bravery, the EDES forces managed to neutralize all external resistance by 8:30 am and the defense of the Germans and Chams was limited to the central building fortress of Menina. However, they decided to fight until the end, in hope that reinforcements will arrive from Igoumenitsa or Ioannina.
A hard battle to fight
The anti-tank weapon the Greek Resistance men had should be moved closer in order to hit the central fortress of Menina. Dragging it closer, posed a serious risk for the guerrillas as they would be exposed to enemy fire during the move.
At the same time, the fierce battle continued and the X Division suffered many losses. The British Major Wallace was killed, while one of the two guerrillas accompanying him was also killed and the other was wounded. Wallace was later buried with honors in Paramythia, while a main street in the town was named after him (David Wallace Street). During the first day, many officers of the X Division were killed.
At 6 pm and the battle situation had stagnated. At that time, a small car arrived at Menina at breakneck speed from Igoumenitsa. Despite the barrage of gunfire it received, its passengers managed to enter the German building complex. In the meantime, night fell. The men of the 10th Division were ordered to remain in their positions.
At that moment, about 60 Chams, taking advantage of the darkness, fled north from Menina and after crossing the Kalamas River, headed toward Filiates where German forces were stationed. The 10th Division attack on August 18 1944 was set at 10 am. After moving the anti-tank gun to proper position, the EDES men made their task easier. With well-aimed shots at the building complex where the Germans were, they forced them to raise a white flag and surrender. It was 14:30 pm on August 18, 1944.
The guerrillas then began to transport the weapons and ammunition that were in the forts. Weapons and ammunition that could not be transported were destroyed on the spot. The captured Germans confessed that when the guerrilla attack began, their commander unsealed the envelope containing the orders for the garrison, which had to be defended to the last. This explains the fierce resistance of the Germans, who surrendered as their seriously wounded comrades could not stand any longer.
The aftermath
As soon as the EDES men left Menina, strong German forces arrived from Filiates, apparently having been notified by the Chams. The reinforcements, thinking that the Greeks were inside Menina, began to pound the forts. Officers and guerrillas of the 10th Division from the neighboring mountains of Neochori watched the Germans shadow battle
On the evening of August 19, the Germans re-entered Menina, where they found only dead, as those who survived were captured. Their rage against the innocent Greeks was unfathomable. They killed several elder men and women from Neochori.
After the victory of the Greek Resistance at Menina, Greece’s Middle East Headquarters sent the following telegram to the 10th Division of the EOEA-EDES: “The bravery and fighting spirit of your men have aroused the admiration of the Greek people, the Allies and the whole world. Your exploits have revived the glory of the Greek Arms and are writing new epic pages for Greece.”
When the Germans retook Menina, they reported finding 90 dead and a large number of missing. Hugo Lenderer from Munich testified at Nuremberg: “The sight that presented itself to us was horrible: the dead, about 90, had not been buried, they were all naked and in an advanced stage of decomposition.”
German author Hermann Frank Mayer, in his book Bloodied Edelweiss, writes:
“Without a doubt, this was the most important battle between the Germans and the EDES throughout the war.”
The battle of Menina was the toughest between EDES and the Germans. It was the beginning of the withdrawal of the Chams from Thesprotia. The triumph of EDES boosted the morale of resistance organizations throughout Greece. Finally, Paramythia and the surrounding villages were saved from complete destruction.
The Special Criminal Court of Ioannina, with decision number 344/23-4-45, sentenced 1,930 Chams to death in absentia as war criminals. Their properties were confiscated with the BD 2185/1952 and the Law 2781/1954, while with the decision number ΑΠ50862/1947 of the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Chams were deprived of Greek citizenship.
PR Newswire
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