Cretan Participation in the Greco-Italian War

Enlisted in the ranks of the Greek army, thousands of Cretans fought on the Albanian front. The Cretan unit par excellence was the 5^th Division, which won glory at the Battle of Mount Trebesina and at Kleissoura. Once the front collapsed in the wake of the German invasion, and units in the Greek army surrendered, very few men succeeded in returning to the island before it too was invaded. The main bulk of Cretan soldiers were marooned on mainland Greece, mainly in Athens; more than a few fell victim to the terrible famine that ravaged the capital in the first winter of the occupation.