page_title: 19th Mechanized Division (Greece)
section_title: Establishment
hierarchical_section_title: 19th Mechanized Division (Greece) / Establishment
caption_attribution_description: English: An Italian Carro Legerro 3/35 (L3/35) Light Tank Photo taken at the South African Museum of Military History
context_page_description: The 19th Mechanized Division was a mechanized infantry division of the Hellenic Army, established on 15 January 1941. Its formation was not completed until late March. Its nucleus was the pre-war Mechanized Cavalry Regiment, augmented with captured Italian tankettes and cars, motorcycles and Universal Carriers provided by the British. Although officially a "mechanized" unit, as the division was mostly truck-borne, it is usually called the 19th Motorized Division in English-language literature.
  The division confronted the German invasion of Greece on 6 April 1941, covering the left flank of the Eastern Macedonia Army Section defending the forts of the Metaxas Line. In a series of clashes, the division was destroyed piecemeal as a fighting formation by 9 April. Its remnants surrendered along with the rest of the Greek Army in eastern Macedonia on 10 April.
context_section_description: The origins of the division lie in the first attempts of the Hellenic Army to introduce mechanization in the interwar period. In 1931, Greece acquired its first tanks—two Vickers 6-Ton light tanks, one each of Type A and Type B, and two Carden Loyd tankettes. Initially used for training, they were formed into a tank battalion in 1935, with the expectation that they would be complemented with 14 light tanks ordered in Britain and France. In the event, these were never delivered due to the priority given by Britain and France to their own rearmament and the outbreak of World War II.
  In 1937, a Mechanized Cavalry Regiment was formed within the Hellenic Army's single Cavalry Division, in an apparent effort to follow the French Division Légère de Cavalerie model. The regiment comprised c. 165 trucks (44 each of Mercedes-Benz W 152 and Mercedes-Benz LG 2500 and 75 other trucks, mostly Fiats), as well as motorcycles and other vehicles, but no armoured cars or tanks.
  With the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War on 28 October 1940, the Mechanized Cavalry Regiment mobilized and fought as part of the Cavalry Division and later of the 8th Infantry Division. On 15 December, a Tank Company was formed within the regiment out of 35 L3/35 tankettes captured from the Italians in the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas. At the same time, a Tank School was set up in December in Athens, aiming to prepare Greek crews for the use of 40 Light Tank Mk IIIB "Dutchman" tanks promised as aid by the British; in the event, only ten of these were delivered to Greece, but the British sent also 100 Universal Carriers and 185 Austin 8 HP cars equipped with machine-guns.
  With this equipment at hand, the Greek GHQ issued an order (ΑΠ 7014) on 15 January 1941 for the establishment of the 19th Mechanized Division at Athens, under Major General Nikolaos Lioumbas. The division was to be structured around the Tank School, with a complement of 77 Universal Carriers and 100 Austins. The entire Mechanized Cavalry Regiment was to be incorporated in it, and further personnel were provided from the Cavalry Division (40 officers and 1,000 other ranks). Despite several applications by infantry officers, none were selected to serve in the new division, which was exclusively staffed by cavalry personnel (c. 8,000 men). The initial order provided for the establishment of a full tank regiment and two mechanized infantry regiments, but due to the aforementioned lack of tanks this never came to pass.
  Due to delays in the officers and men arriving from the Albanian front, the first subunits became operational on 12 February. On 16 February, it began its move to the Larissa–Tyrnavos–Trikala area, where it was assembled by 26 February. The division was subordinated to the Central Macedonia Army Section (TSKM) upon its establishment (4 March) and moved to the area of Katerini, where its units arrived by 10 March. Between 14 and 17 March, the Mechanized Cavalry Regiment, transferred from the Albanian front, was gradually incorporated into the division: its Light Company formed the 19th Reconnaissance Group; its 1st Combat Company, with the 1st and 4th MG troops and the 1st and 4th Mortar Troops, formed the 191st Mechanized Regiment; its 2nd Combat Company, with the 2nd MG troop and the 2nd Mortar Troop, formed the 192nd Mechanized Regiment; and its 3rd Combat Company, with the 3rd MG troop and the 3rd Mortar Troop, formed the 193rd Mechanized Regiment.
  The Tank Company followed in late March. The tanks had to be driven all the way from the front in Albania to the division's new staging area at Kilkis, which resulted in two falling out of action and considerable wear on the rest, a major headache in view of the almost complete lack of spare parts. The haste in forming the division and scarcity of material meant that the division was barely battle-worthy, and insufficiently motorized. Brigadier H.V.S. Charrington, commander of the British 1st Armoured Brigade, described it as "recently enlisted garage hands", with "no possible prospect of fighting usefully as a mobile force".
caption: L3/35 displayed at the South African National Museum of Military History
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