255: Greece Pt. 7 - The Invasion Ends

255: Greece Pt. 7 - The Invasion Ends

From History of the Second World War by Wesley Livesay

April 22, 2026 · 24 min · Season 4 · Episode 67

About this episode

This episode covers the chaotic final weeks of the British evacuation from Greece during World War II.

Just ten days after Germany launched Operation Marita, the decision was made to evacuate all British forces from Greece — and this episode covers the chaotic final weeks of the campaign as that decision unfolded. Greek military commander Papagos had largely given up hope by mid-April, the Greek government and royal family fled to Crete, and the 200,000-strong Greek force in Albania surrendered to the Germans on April 20th in a quiet deal that deliberately excluded the Italians. The RAF fought its last battles over Athens before withdrawing, and the Royal Navy scrambled to organize a night-only evacuation using destroyers and converted liners under constant Luftwaffe pressure that would ultimately destroy 26 ships and kill 2,000 men. Communication failures plagued the effort — at Kalamata alone, twice the expected number of troops arrived at the beaches, and half were left behind when the ships pulled away before dawn. In total roughly 50,000 men were brought out of Greece, but around 14,000 were left to be captured, all without their heavy equipment, and the entire expedition would be recorded as yet another British disaster — setting the stage for the fight to hold the island of…

People in this episode

Host: Wesley Livesay

Topics covered

  • military history
  • World War II
  • evacuation
  • Greece
  • British forces
  • chaos

Keywords

  • Greece
  • evacuation
  • Operation Marita
  • RAF
  • Royal Navy
  • World War II
  • Papagos
  • April 20th

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: RAF, Royal Navy

Places: Greece, Albania, Crete

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