Greek Armies were tailored to match their mission objectives. While most of the units were divided into the the Army of Thessaly (East) and the Army of Eprius (West), other independent units were tasked to secured the various islands in the Aegean Sea. Eight Infantry Divisions and 1 Cavalry Brigade were fielded with 180 field guns, a total of 129,000 foot and 1000 cavalry. The Eprius Army had the task of holding Turkish forces in place with limited offensive objectives. Therefore, it had assigned the 15th Rgt from the 3rd Infantry Division + a Cretan Infantry Regiment + three Evone/ rifle Battalions (3rd, 7th and 10th) + several volunteer units and guerrilla bands which were familiar with the area.
The Thessaly Army was expected to carry the brunt of the fighting and conduct most of the offensive operations. It consisted of seven Infantry Divisions including the 3rd (-Rgt).
Each Division contained three infantry regiments of three battalions each (3 companies each) + two Evone (elite Light Infantry rifle) battalions of four companies each + Mountain artillery battery + a section of four machine guns.
The Independent Cavalry Division contained three regiments (two of five squadrons and one of six). They were often detailed as squadrons on various assignments.
There were two Mountain Artillery Regiments of four four-gun batteries (75mm Schneider).
There were four Field Artillery Regiments of which three had six four-gun batteries and the other had eight four-gun batteries of 75mm Schneider guns. There was a Siege Artillery battalion of three four-gun batteries of either 150mm Krupp mortars or 105mm Krupp howitzers.
There were eleven companies of Engineers and one of Balloonist along with other support units.
The machine-gun was the Maxim which was carried by pack animals. It was grouped into four four or six-gun companies. Infantry carried the 6.5mm Mannlicher rifle. Irregular troops carried a variety of rifles. Several volunteer units were created including the Garabaldini Brigade of a Phillenes Rgt and the Greek Redshirt Regiment. Each contained about 1500 men. The Cretean was divided into companies with many grouped into the Crete Regiment.
Army Orders of Battle and Organizational Data
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© Copyright 2002 by Rudy Scott Nelson
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