Talk:Marita

and where's the Rupel fortification?

from roupel.gr:

"The battle of the Rupel fortress.

World war two.

April 6th.

The German offensive took place at 5:15 on 6 April. In order to regulate the artillery shots, a balloon had been moved in the north of Strymon, where its presence was provocative as the Greek forces were deprived of air cover. A few minutes later, attacks from the Junkers Ju 87 Sturzkampfflugzeug (StuKa) began, their target being the Kapina resistance center in addition to the fortress.

The German attack on the east of Rupel fortress.

To the east of the left subdomain of the Sidirokastro complex were the II-125 and III-125 battalions, where according to the plan of the attack, they first had to capture the hill 350 in the gap of the Rupel-Karatas fortresses. In order the hill not to be captured, the squad of Koula's outpost and the 3rd cover up company fought. The II-125 battalion approached the 350th hill at 6:40 and captured it with a surprise attack followed by III-125.

Attack of the III-125 German battalion.

Taking advantage of the folds of the ground, the Germans reached a distance of 200 meters from the works of the Rupel fortress. The defenders of the fortress together with the help of Karatas fortress and the artillery managed to defeat all three attacks of the battalion.

Infiltration of the II-125 German battalion on the back of Rupel fortress.

The Germans of the II-125 battalion underwent similar trials, but it was the only real danger for the Greek forces throughout the battle. Out of the 100 men, the 60 men went through with a team of heavy machine guns and a team of forwarders. The rest of the companies of the battalion met the disaster. The 5th company was almost dissolved. The 8th company managed to pass on the evening of 6-7 April and joined with the rest of the divisions on 7 April with very large losses.

April 7th.

On the dawn of April 7, three Rupel patrols were set up to clear the area from the Germans and reestablish telephone communications. The result of this patrol was the capture of 14 prisoners with 3 radio devices and 2 mortars. Also there were airborne bombings, on Jun 7-8 the Junkers Ju 87 Sturzkampfflugzeug (StuKa) used 500kg bombs. The retreat of the Germans and the small losses of the Greek defenders raised the morale of the Greeks. Papakonstantinou notes: "The moral of the soldiers is wonderful, the hell of fire and the bombings were welcoming with cheers."

Battles against the Germans at the back of Rupel fortress.

The presence of the Germans at the south of the fortress Rupel occupied the Greek forces. The squad of tanks that would act with the detachment of Papahadzis was not used because of territorial difficulties. Against the Germans who had captured the observatory of the 7th artillery battery at Tepelar hill were moved two squads of the 3rd company led by lieutenant Karatzas, Nianos and Papahadzis. After an all day battle the Greek forces managed to repel the Germans at the Goliama hill between the village of Klidi and the hill of Loutron.

April 8.

At 6:00 on the morning of April 8, the Rupel fortress received a new heavy bombardment from the artillery and aviation, which continued throughout the day. The Germans of the III-125 battalion were prepared for a new offensive with three ground teams and a squad with pioneers. For this purpose it was reinforced by two squads of the 13th and 14th company. The fortress's losses on this day were one dead and four wounded soldiers while the material losses were minimal. Significant on the contrary were the German losses.

Actions to defeat the Germans at the back of Rupel fortress.

More serious was the situation to the south of the fortress after the II-125 battalion was reinforced by the descent of the German forces of the 5th mountain division to the west of Strymon. The situation worsened for the Greek side because the division team ordered the battalions of the 41th infantry regiment to return to their original battle positions. The situation was critical as the next planned action was Strymon's crossing from the 5th mountain division.

April 9th.

The Rupel fortress had been bombarded by artillery and aviation and on this day. By midday the bombings were light but at 14:00 they turned into heavy. At 12:30 however, when the impact units were to pounce, the Greek artillery unleashed the deadly fire in the campaign areas and caused a lot of heavy losses to the Germans. After that the German divisions began to retreat. The fortress's losses were five dead and eleven wounded. At 17:00 German preachers arrived to announce the capitulation of the TSAM requesting the surrender of the fortress. The commander, major Georgios Douratsos replied that the fortresses are not surrendered but captured and that he will continue the battle without further orders. The German preacher assured to his military honor that it was not a hoax and set a meeting for 6:00 at the next day on April 10. The fortress contacted the division which notified the capitulation. The reaction of the men of the fortress was that the battle had to be continued. The following day on April 10 1941, the fortress was surrendered. The German divisions "honored us and respected us", according to Plevrakis report. Outside the fortress was a German division that attributed honors. The German officer that was charged with receiving the fortress congratulated his commander, major Georgio Douratso, assuring the congratulations and admiration of his superiors. He even emphasized that for the Germans it was honor and proudness that they had as an opponent such a heroic army. Regarding the casualties in the left subdomain of the Sidirokastro complex, Plevrakis notes in his report: "The losses are insignificant against such a battle so as to limit the dead to 4 officers and 40 men and wounded to 2 officers and 150 men, contrary to the opponent that has heavy losses as witnessed by the existing cemeteries and I shall hush for reasons of expediency"."

here is a magazine in Greek language about the Rupel fortification and other fortifications of Greece in world war two

the magazine writes to its front cover:

the magazine name: ΣΤΡΑΤΙΩΤΙΚΗ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ (MILITARY HISTORY) ΜΕΓΑΛΕΣ ΜΑΧΕΣ (GREAT BATTLES)

the magazine issue: Η ΜΑΧΗ ΤΩΝ ΟΧΗΡΩΝ (THE BATTLE OF FORTIFICATIONS) ΤΟ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟ "ΟΧΙ" ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΤΟ 1941 (THE SECOND "NO" OF GREECE IN 1941)

http://i63.tinypic.com/4r96yr.jpg

and here is the map of the battle of Rupel fortification of 1941

http://i67.tinypic.com/1hq9f5.jpg

battle of Rupel fortification 1941

http://i65.tinypic.com/2d1p9uf.jpg