"And visited the sea": The Greek campaign, March 1944
With the relative failure of the February offensive in southern Moldavia, it became clear that any solution to the stalemate in the southern balkans was not going to be found by simply renewing direct attacks on the axis forces surrounding the Soviet enclave in Rumania and Bulgaria.
The option of a direct attack on Greece was raised. Not only would knocking Greece out of the war weaken the overall axis war effort but it would generate an immediate threat to Sofiya and southern Bulgraria, Yugoslavia and Albania.
So far the Soviet Navy had been used to interdict axis shipping as in the recent Baltic battles or support small scale landings within the Black Sea. What was now envisaged was a combined arms operation with the Fleet at the centre of planning. The main risk to any incursion into the Aegean was the large Italian Fleet and Airforce located on Rhodes. Stavka devised a solution that would at least allow the landings to go ahead.
(Black Sea Fleet OOB, with the latest Soviet Battleship, on its first operation)
First the submarines were withdrawn from the Central Mediterranean and concentrated on Italian shipping lanes around southern Greece. Over a four week period supply and fuel deliveries were strangled but there was no way of knowing what stocks were held on the island.
Secondly, several squadrons of the new Yak-9s (with the new fuel drop tanks) were assigned air interdiction both over Rhodes and over the northern aegean. Any attempt by the Italian naval bombers to interfere would be challenged and hopefully driven off.
Finally it was decided to committ Rall's fleet to a blocking position just north of Rhodes so as to prevent interference with the transports.
The actual invasion had to be with minimal force as there was only capacity to deliver the 3 divisions at a time.
(Soviet naval taskforce leaving Constanta)
The intial wave consisted of the improvised 6 Cavalry Corps (2 cavalry and a rifle division) put ashore at Volos on 5 March
and on 6 March, 2 divisions of paratroopers landed in the Peleponese to link up with the KKE/ELAS resistance groups, before attacking Athens from the south.
(Soviet paratroopers just before the main operation)
In the event, the campaign was over almost before it began. The Greek division at Salonika surrendered when the first Soviet marines moved ashore
and a tentative counterattack was quickly defeated. At Athens, the Greeks moved north to try and hold the pass at Amfissa but crumbled after a few hours fighting.
At the same time on the 8th, 1 Marine Division was landed at Salonika
(Soviet marines attacking Salonika)
despite interference by Yugoslav Torpedo Boats that had managed to slip past the main Soviet fleet.
The paratroops in the Peleponese had an almost unhindered entry into Athens and the Metaxos regime fled on the 13th. Quickly Soviet troops and ELAS partisans seized the country and the lightly equipped Paratroopers just managed to occupy the fortresses on the Yugoslav border before the German counterattack began.
At the same time, 18 Army went over to the offensive in Bulgaria to take advantage of the confusion. Pleven was taken on 26 March, Silven on 11 March
but an attempt by 2 Cavalry Corps to take Sofiya was broken off on 28 March due to strengthening German resistance. At the same time, German forces pushed the 76th Airborne Division from Giannitsa.
If the sudden gains in the southern balkans were to be retained and expanded it was critical that the axis pressure on the lightly armed paratroop, marine and cavalry divisions was relieved.
(Soviet marines in action in Northern Greece)
Equally, and combined with 2 Tank Army's Budapest offensive, all of a sudden the German position in the Balkans looked increasingly threatened.
Even as the Soviet fleet dispersed back to its starting positions, the extent of the gamble was made plain. Submarine squadrons moving back to positions off Sicily ran into the main Italian battle fleet as that, belatedly, moved to intervene in the Soviet operations in the Aegean. By the time the subs had broken off, some 50% of the most modern submarines in the Soviet arsenal had been sunk.
(The Sth-421 at Sevastopol, it was to be sunk on its first combat patrol)