page_title: 6th Division (Australia)
section_title: Greece, Crete and Syria
hierarchical_section_title: 6th Division (Australia) / Greece, Crete and Syria
caption_attribution_description: English: Soldiers from the Australian 6th Division arrive in Alexandria after being evacuated from Crete, June 1941
context_page_description: The 6th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army. It was raised briefly in 1917 during World War I, but was broken up to provide reinforcements before seeing action. It was not re-raised until the outbreak of World War II, when it was formed as a unit of the Second Australian Imperial Force. Throughout 1940–41 it served in the North African Campaign, the Greek campaign, on Crete and in Syria, fighting against the Germans, Italians and Vichy French. In 1942, the division left the Middle East and returned to Australia to meet the threat of Japan's entry into the war. Part of the division garrisoned Ceylon for a short period of time, before the division was committed to the New Guinea campaign. In New Guinea, its component brigades had a major role in the successful counter-offensive along the Kokoda Track, at Buna–Gona and around Salamaua–Lae in 1942–43. Throughout late 1943–44, the division was re-organised in Australia before being committed as a complete formation to one of the last Australian operations of the war around Aitape–Wewak in 1944–45.
context_section_description: Hitler was concerned that if Greece—which since 28 October 1940 was fighting against the Italians in Albania—became a British ally then the Ploesti oilfields in Romania, on which Germany relied for her fuel, might be open to air attack from Greece. As the Germans were planning an invasion of Russia for June 1941, they could not allow such a threat to their essential oil supplies, and so they began planning an invasion of Greece. In March 1941, Prime Minister Robert Menzies,  of Australia, with the concurrence of his Cabinet, agreed to the sending of Australian troops to Greece to defend against a German attack. Both Menzies and the I Corps commander, Blamey, felt that the operation was risky and might end in disaster, but Menzies stated that Greece should be supported against German aggression and that the defence of Greece was a "great risk in a good cause".
  The 6th Division arrived in Greece in late March and early April 1941, where they joined with a New Zealand and British force. On 6 April the Germans began their invasion of Greece, sending a total of 27 divisions. After arriving in Greece, the Australians were transported north towards the Yugoslav border, where they took up defensive positions around the Florina Valley. During the fighting around Vevi that followed, troops from the 2/4th and 2/8th Infantry Battalions and the 2/3rd Field Regiment, from Brigadier George Vasey's 19th Brigade, fought against the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler brigade. Despite their efforts, the Allied force, together with Greek units, was unable to halt the rapid German advance down central Greece towards Athens. The Allies were outflanked by the Germans, and by 27 April they were driven off the Greek mainland, with a final act of defiance being made around Porto Rafti. The division's casualties in Greece amounted to 320 killed, 494 wounded and 2,030 captured.
  After the withdrawal from Greece, while some elements of the division were evacuated back to Alexandria, the majority of the 6th Division was sent to Crete where they were cobbled together to form a hasty garrison. The 19th Brigade had been landed intact with all of its infantry battalions, while only elements of the 16th and 17th Brigades had been landed and these two were combined together to form composite battalions. In addition to the infantry, two of the division's field artillery units, the 2/2nd and 2/3rd Field Regiments had also been landed. They had both lost all of their equipment in Greece and as a result the 2/2nd were thrown into the line as infantry, while the 2/3rd were hastily re-equipped with 14 captured French and Italian artillery pieces. On 20 May, the Germans launched an airborne assault on the island and over the course of a week-and-a-half heavy fighting ensued around Maleme airfield, Heraklion, Canea, and Retimo during which heavy casualties were inflicted upon the Germans before, having exhausted their ammunition and lacking air support, the garrison was evacuated back to Egypt close to the end of the month. As in Greece, a large number of men were unable to be evacuated and as a result many 6th Division personnel, including the majority of the 2/1st, 2/7th and 2/11th Battalions, were taken prisoner. A great deal of equipment was also lost. During the fighting, the 2/7th Infantry Battalion, fighting alongside the New Zealand 28th (Maori) Battalion, undertook a bayonet charge at a position known as 42nd Street that was later described as "one of the epics of the war", which resulted in about 300 Germans being killed. The fighting on Crete added a further 274 killed, 507 wounded and 3,102 captured to the division's casualty list.
  While the majority of the division was in Crete, the 6th Division Cavalry Regiment, which had not been sent to Greece, was detached to the British 7th Armoured Brigade and subsequently took part in Operation Brevity in the Western Desert in May. Following the evacuation of Crete, while the 6th Division began rebuilding in Palestine, the cavalry was allocated to take part in the bloody but successful attack on Vichy French forces i
caption: 6th Division evacuees arrive in Alexandria after being taken off Crete, 2 June 1941
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