Army of Asia Minor The Army of Asia Minor ( ) was the field army - level command controlling the Greek forces in Asia Minor ( Anatolia ) during the Greco - Turkish War of 1919 – 1922 . History . 1919 . Following the Greek landing at Smyrna by the 1st Infantry Division on 2 May 1919 ( O . S . ) , Greek forces under the command of the division ' s CO , Colonel Nikolaos Zafeiriou , began extending their control over the city ' s hinterland . In the face of mounting opposition by Turkish irregular forces , the division was reinforced by further units ( 5th and 6th Archipelago Regiments , 8th Cretan Regiment , 3rd Cavalry Regiment and additional gendarmerie and security forces ) . Command of these forces , the Army of Occupation ( Στρατός Κατοχής ) , was assumed on 2 June by Lt . General Konstantinos Nider , CO of the I Army Corps , which had just returned from its participation in the Allied intervention in the Ukraine . Continuing operations led to the further increase of the Greek forces in the region , which by the end of June comprised the 1st , 2nd , 13th , Archipelago and Smyrna divisions . Between 29 June and 29 July , command of the sweep operations against the Turkish forces was assumed by the Commander - in - chief of the Greek Army , Lt . General Leonidas Paraskevopoulos . The line reached during this period , called " Milne Line " after the Allied C - in - C , George Milne , would form the boundary of the Greek - controlled " Smyrna Zone " until June 1920 . In mid - December 1919 , the Army of Occupation was renamed as the Army of Asia Minor ( Στρατιά Μικράς Ασίας ) and placed under the command of Lt . General Konstantinos Miliotis - Komninos . It comprised the I Army Corps ( K . Nider ) , with the 1st and 2nd Divisions , the Smyrna Army Corps ( D . Ioannou ) with the 13th and Archipelago Divisions , and the Smyrna Division as a reserve . Its total strength at the end of 1919 was 2 , 400 officers and 57 , 038 other ranks . 1920 . With continuing Turkish attacks on and across the " Milne Line " , the Greek forces were re - inforced in February by the newly constituted Kydoniai Division . The Greek Army General Headquarters was also transferred from Thessaloniki to Smyrna , and on 15 February , Paraskevopoulos once again assumed direct control of operations , with the Army of Asia Minor effectively disbanded . Paraskevopoulos led the Greek Army in its summer offensive of June – August 1920 , which advanced as far as Bursa in the north and Alaşehir and Uşak in the south . Despite these successes , and the conclusion of the — greatly favourable to Greece — Treaty of Sevres , in the November 1920 elections Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos lost power to the royalist United Opposition , followed soon after by the return of King Constantine I to the throne . These developments had immediate and severe repercussions for Greece ' s position : Constantine was detested by the Allies for his pro - German stance during World War I , and France and Italy began abandoning Greece for the Turkish nationalist leader Mustafa Kemal . The new regime also instituted widespread purges of Venizelist elements in the administration and the military . In Asia Minor , Paraskevopoulos was dismissed and replaced by Lt . General Anastasios Papoulas , at the head of the re - constituted Army of Asia Minor ; by March 1921 , the purges had removed the three Corps commanders , seven of nine divisional commanders , and a large portion of regimental commanders . Some 500 Venizelist officers resigned or were dismissed , and although the majority of mid - and lower - level commands was not affected , the purges deprived the army of some of its most experienced and dynamic officers and replaced them with a leadership that in the main had not seen action since the Balkan Wars of 1912 – 1913 . 1921 . In November 1920 , the Army of Asia Minor comprised : I Army Corps , with the 1st , 2nd and 13th Divisions ; II Army Corps , with the 3rd Infantry Division and Crete Divisions ; the Smyrna Army Corps , with the Smyrna , Archipelago , Magnesia , and Kydoniai Divisions ; and a cavalry brigade . The total strength was 3972 officers and 103 , 545 other ranks , with 297 artillery pieces , of which 36 heavy . The purges extended to the naming of units as well , so that names with " Venizelist " associations were dropped in favour of regular numbering : thus the Smyrna Army Corps became the III Corps , the Archipelago , Smyrna , Magnesia Divisions were renamed into the 7th , 10th , 11th Divisions respectively , and the Crete and Kydoniai Divisions were amalgamated into the 5th Division . In late December ( O . S . ) , Papoulas ordered the I and III Corps to engage in a limited offensive against their opposite Turkish forces , in order to probe their defences . The resulting First Battle of İnönü was hard - fought and highlighted the growing staying power of the Kemalist forces . The Greek leadership now faced the dilemma of the untenable position its army held in Anatolia : the Greek forces were deployed on a vast concave front , but the army was concentrated on the two extreme ends of the front , with a 160 km gap between the I Corps in the south and the III Corps around Bursa in the north . Despite voices — including Venizelos , who warned of Greece ' s increasing diplomatic isolation — that advocated a withdrawal to a more defensible line , the Greek Government resolved to resume the offensive . Further reserve classes were mobilized and calls for volunteers went out , hoping to raise an additional 60 , 000 men . However , before these reinforcements could be made available , on 10 March 1921 , the Army of Asia Minor launched a general offensive . The Second Battle of İnönü ended in defeat for the Greeks , who retreated to their original positions . Following their defeat , the Greek High Command redoubled their efforts in preparation for the summer campaign : three divisions were transferred from the interior of Greece , raising the strength of the Army of Asia Minor to 11 infantry divisions and one cavalry brigade , totaling over 200 , 000 men with 300 artillery pieces and 700 machine guns . In preparation for the offensive , the Army was divided in two operational forces , northern and southern . The northern force comprised III Corps ( G . Polymenakos ) with the 7th and 10th Divisions and the northern group of divisions ( N . Trikoupis ) , with the 3rd and most of the 11th Divisions . The southern force comprised the I Corps ( A . Kontoulis ) with the 1st and 2nd Divisions , II Corps ( A . Vlachopoulos ) with the 5th and 13th Divisions , and the southern group of divisions with the 4th and 12th Divisions , as well as an independent battle group formed from the bulk of the 9th Division . However , the need to protect the over - extended lines of supply and communication from attacks by Turkish irregulars , especially light cavalry which the Turks possessed in abundance , reduced the effective front - line strength of the Army to just 60 , 000 men . In the Battle of Afyonkarahisar - Eskişehir , the Greeks managed to defeat the Turkish resistance and occupied , but were not able to achieve their aim of cutting off their retreat . The Turkish forces managed to retreat and regroup beyond the Sakarya River . In the aftermath of the victory , the Army of Asia Minor ' s high command was divided as to the course to follow : in a staff council on 13 July , the deputy chief of staff , Col . Ptolemaios Sarigiannis , advocated an immediate advance to exploit the Turks ' disorganization , while the head of the supply bureau , Col . G . Spyridonos , warned that the Greek army risked outrunning its supply lines . Despite their misgivings , Papoulas and the Army ' s chief of staff , Col . Konstantinos Pallis , sided with Sarigiannis , and the decision to resume the offensive was confirmed at a war council under the chairmanship of King Constantine three days later . Frantic efforts were made to repair railway lines and secure the supply routes through the territories conquered , while a few replacements of senior officers also took place , most notably Prince Andrew ' s assumption of command of the II Corps . At the start of operations , on 1 August 1921 , the Army of Asia Minor comprised : I Corps ( A . Kontoulis ) , with the 1st , 2nd and 12th Divisions ; II Corps ( Prince Andrew ) , with the 5th , 13th and 9th Divisions ; III Corps ( G . Polymenakos ) , with the 3rd , 7th and 10th Divisions , plus the cavalry brigade ; and the southern group of divisions ( N . Trikoupis ) , covering the southern flank of the Greek front with the 4th and 11th divisions . The Army ' s front - line force comprised ca . 80 , 000 troops . The Greek advance , which began on 1 August , was halted by the Turks , who had constructed a wide belt of fortifications in front of Ankara , in the bloody Battle of Sakarya ( 10 – 29 August ) . The Army of Asia Minor began its withdrawal to the line captured during the June – July operations , beating back Turkish attacks around Eskişehir and Afyonkarahisar . Having returned to its original positions , the Army of Asia Minor now began to entrench itself around Eskişehir in the north and Afyonkarahisar in the south , and created rear areas military commands to maintain its supply and communication lines . Morale was poor , and reports by Papoulas and other senior commanders warned of the need to end the conflict soon . The failure of the Greek August campaign had strengthened the position of the Turkish nationalist movement and worsened Greece ' s international position , as evidenced by the conclusion of treaties between France and Italy , still nominally Greece ' s allies , and the Ankara government . Although it became clear that Greece would , in all likelihood , be obliged to evacuate Anatolia , stalemate reigned on the Greek side , with quixotic attempts by some to salvage the situation by declaring the Greek - occupied parts of Anatolia to become an international protectorate as the " State of Asia Minor " ( Μικρασιατικό Κράτος ) . Air Force . The first Greek aircraft landed on Smyrna at the first day of the landing operations . In December 20 , 1919 , the " Aviation Service Directorate of the Asia Minor Army " ( ) was founded , as a branch of the Army of Asia Minor . The Greek forces initially deployed four fighting sqaudrons : the 1st , 2nd Airplane Squadron , based in Kazamir and the 3rd Airplane Squadron based in Panormos . Addidionally , the " Smyrna Naval Air Squadron " of the Hellenic Naval Air Service was also deployed in Asia Minor . Each squadron counted from 8 to 12 aircraft . Air operations included reconnaissance , photography , bombing , as well as interception of enemy aircraft . In 1921 the Greek aircraft fleet covered a front that reached 700 km . Among the squadrons ’ activities were the successful bombing missions by Airco D . H . 9 s , against enemy targets in Kütahya and Eskisehir , in July 1921 , during which an enemy fighter was also shut down . In 1921 - 1922 , additionally two aircraft squadrons were created and deployed in Asia Minor . In one of the last dogfights against enemy aircraft , seargent Christophoros Stavropoulos shot down a Turkish Breguet 17 northeast of Afyonkarahisar . Casualties . A total of 233 , 000 men were mobilized for the campaign in Asia Minor . According to official reports of the Greek Army , the casualties for the campaign as , 19 , 362 killed , 4 , 878 died outside of combat , 48 , 880 wounded , 18 , 095 missing and 10 , 000 prisoners . According to some Turkish estimates the casualties were at least 120 , 000 - 130 , 000 . Historians Nicole and Hugh Pope estimate the total number of killed and wounded around 100 , 000 . Material losses , during the war , were enourmos too .