Evening star., 1941-04-13
r. A. F. and Armored Forces Unite
In Fighting Nazis on Balkan Plain;
Greeks Claim Repu|se Of Panzers
Enemy Retreoting
On 12-MiIe Front,
Athens Says
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
ATHENS, April 12.-The hardy
Greek armies of the Allied left
flank have battered heavy
German attacking force and
thrown it into retreat in the first
real test of the Greek British
line of defense thrown up across
Northern HellaS, the govern
ment announced tonight.
On a 12-mile battle front, German
panzer divisions - tanks. armored
cars and machine gun mounted mo-
torcycleS-followed by motorized in
fantry, broke against the Greek
lines.
They were repulsed and retreated,
suffering losses" the Greek official
spokesman announced.
This action took place yesterday
and. from the tone of tonight's
Greek High Command communique.
it appeared the Germans had tried
no main lunge at the line since. The
communique, covering Saturday ac-
tion, said merely:
Restricted activity at various
points on both Greek and Albanian)
fronts"
Powerful Wall Claimed.
The Athens radio reported late to-
night that German armored COL
umns are in contact with the central
front held by the main Greek and
British forces.
This forms powerful wall
against which the Germans will
have to give battle" the announcer
declared
The Greek Ministry of Public Sc
curity broadcast a report that 20
civilians were killed and 40 wounded
in German raids on Piraeus last
night.
"a New York recording of the
Athens radio also said Yugoslav
troops had launched a violent
counterattack, apparently in the
area southwest of Skoplje. This
appeared to be near Rusjaci.
TN general, YugoSlav resist
ance was described as stiffening,
and it was stated that a strong
Yugoslav contingent was driving
southwark from the center of the
country. breaking the German
efforts to check them"
The Germans themselves gave
no details of the fighting in
Northern Greece or Southern
Yugoslavia)
Poured Down Through Pass.
The array of German mechanical
might which Athens said struck a
snag in Northern Greece and poured
down through Bitolj tMonastir)
Pass into rugged triangle formed
by Bitolj, Yugoslavia. and Phlorina
and Vanitsa CVevD, Greece.
Fighting their way past British
armored patrols, one of which shot
up an infantry column as it was
unloaded from buses at Bitolj, the
Germans struck the main lines be-.
tween Phlorina and Vanitsa yester-
day and recoiled, the Greeks said.
LII J1lC cast, bTlIlSIl pdCTOlS
clashed with German advance
guards between Gianitsa and the
Aegean Coast, and the Greeks said
the Germans, who took Salonika,
had penetrated farther inland with
out establishing contact with the
defense lines.
The Allies previously acknowl-
edged that the Germans had taken
Gianitsa.
In every case. the details and ex-
tent of these preliminary maneuverS
were obscured in official silence.
Italian Attack Reported Repulsed.
On the Albanian front where the
Greeks have alternately smashed
or held Italian forces in check for
more than five months, the Greeks
said patrols and artillerymen still
were busy.
An italian attack north of the
Viosa River in Albania was beaten
back, the Athens radio said, with
heavy losses for the Fascists.