Battle of Porta 1943
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 8 June 1943 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1943 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Greece | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Axis occupation of Greece, World War II | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 39.4667, 21.6167 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Porta (Greek: Μάχη της Πόρτας) was fought on 8–9 June 1943 at the Porta and Mouzaki passes in western Thessaly, between the partisans of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and the Royal Italian Army, during the Axis occupation of Greece.
In spring 1943, a wave of successes demonstrated the rise of the Greek Resistance against the Axis powers, particularly the Italians; large areas of the mountainous interior of the country were effectively liberated. In response, the Italian 11th Army planned a large-scale anti-partisan operation for June. Warned of Italian intentions, ELAS General Headquarters withdrew its dispersed detachments to the central Pindus massif.
In Thessaly the forces withdrawn from the Mount Pelion and Mount Kissavos areas were detailed to watch the Porta and Mouzaki passes, covering the withdrawal of the rest of the Thessalian partisans. Contrary to orders from ELAS GHQ to only engage in disruptive hit-and-run attacks against the Italian army, the commanders of these two detachments, numbering around 250 men with mostly light weaponry and scarce ammunition, decided to hold the passes against the expected Italian attack. Over two weeks, field works were erected in front of the passes and outposts established in the villages.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Porta (revision 1370272148), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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