8th Infantry Division ( Greece ) The 8th Infantry Division ( ) is one of the most historic units of the Hellenic Army . It is based at Ioannina , and has traditionally garrisoned the area of Epirus . Active since the Balkan Wars , the division is most notable for its decisive role during the first days of the Greco - Italian War , when it successfully stopped the initial Italian offensive , and bought time for the Greek reinforcements to arrive and turn the tide . This fact is reflected in the division ' s motto , " " Oxi " " . History . The 8th Infantry Division , initially named the Epirus Division , was formed in January 1913 , during the First Balkan War , out of the 15th Infantry Regiment , the 2nd Evzones Regiment and the Independent Cretan Regiment . It participated in the operations for the capture of Ioannina and the subsequent push into Northern Epirus . In December it was placed on garrison duties , with its regiments dispersed at Preveza , Corfu and Lefkada . The division fought in the Macedonian Front of the First World War and the operations for the occupation of Western Thrace in 1920 . Following the Greek defeat , it returned to Epirus , with its new headquarters at Ioannina . Its subordinate units throughout the subsequent period were : the 15th Infantry Regiment at Ioannina , the 10th Infantry Regiment a Corfu , and the 24th Infantry Regiment ( later reorganized as the 3 / 40 Evzone Regiment ) at Preveza and later Arta . Since 1930 , the division bore sole responsibility for the defense of the Epirus sector of the Greco - Albanian border . Due to the relative military weakness of Albania , the sector was " quiet " and far less vital than the border with Bulgaria . This changed in April 1939 , when Fascist Italy invaded and occupied Albania . Under its commander , Maj Gen Charalambos Katsimitros , the division engaged in a feverish activity of constructing fortifications and laying out defensive plans . With the Italian invasion looming from August 1940 onwards , a limited mobilization was carried out , which brought the division up to strength and even allowed for the reconstitution of the 24th Regiment as a separate unit . This fact , combined with Katsimitros ' decision to insist on forward defense , would prove decisive factors in the rapid containment of the initial Italian main thrust into Epirus . The division was deployed in a defensive position stretching from the village of Elaia ( Kalpaki ) to the line of the river Kalamas , and for six days , from November 2 to November 8 , successfully repelled the successive attacks by the XXV Italian Corps . By that point , the mobilization of the Greek reserves had been completed , and in conjunction with the Greek victory in the Battle of Pindus , the division ' s victory at the Battle of Elaia - Kalamas signalled the failure of the Italian attack . The division fought throughout the subsequent Albanian campaign , but was dissolved along with the rest of the Greek Army after the German invasion in April 1941 . During the Axis Occupation of Greece , the ELAS partisan army created an 8th Division , but this too was disbanded in early 1945 . The 8th Division was formally reconstituted only in 1946 , as the Hellenic Army started being rebuilt , from the forces of the Epirus Military Command , comprising the 74th , 75th and 76th brigades . Until 1949 , the division took part in the operations of the Greek Civil War as a part of the governmental National Army . References and links . region