Immediately after the occupation of Greece by the German forces in the spring of 1941, King George II and the Greek government, headed by Prime Minister Emmanuel Tsouderos, initially fled to Crete and then to Egypt. They followed Greek officers and soldiers, students of military schools and citizens, who escaped from the occupied country and formed the nucleus of the Greek army, which was organized in Egypt and undertook the armed struggle against the Axis powers on the side of the Allies. The Royal Hellenic Greek Army in the Middle East was established in July 15, 1941 and in mid-June the Headquarters of the RHAME were under the leadership of General Emmanuel Tzanakakis.
The first Greek Brigade had as its core 600 Greeks Egyptians who had fled to Palestine and men of dissolved Evros Brigade, who had arrived via Turkey. In the spring of 1942, the Greek forces numbered already two brigades. In the summer of ’42 they moved to Egypt, where Germans and Italians had renewed their attacks towards Alexandria. In the second battle of the El Alamein the 1st Brigade participated to the British 50th Division. From 19 to 23 October participated in mock attacks in the southern sector also performed many patrols and night operations causing major losses to the enemy. From 23 October to 3 November executed numerous raids against the enemy lines. Following the launch of the German retreat, the 1st Greek Brigade took chase the enemy in the field, advancing to 100 km depth. After the coup of April 1944, the two battalions were restructured in the 3rd Mountain Brigade, which took part in the battle of Rimini in September 1944 in Italy.
Colour representations may vary from actual colours
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