The Battle of Menina between the Greek Resistance and the Nazis ended on this day, August 18, in 1944 with the Greeks crushing the German occupiers and their Cham Albanian allies.
It was a major blow against the German occupation forces. EDES, the National Republican Greek League, led by Lieutenant Colonel Vasilios Kamaras, captured the fortified junction of Menina after fierce clashes beginning on August 17, inflicting heavy losses on both the German troops and their Cham allies.
The Battle of Menina was one of the most significant clashes fought by a Greek Resistance force against the occupiers. Menina, a small village in the Thesprotia region, was built between steep hills and inhabited by Chams, an Albanian Muslim sub-group. Its location made it an important transport hub on the Ioannina-Igoumenitsa road.
Due to its pivotal position, the Germans, with the help of the Chams, had converted Menina into a fortified complex with warehouses full of ammunition. The area was guarded by several machine gun posts built on the surrounding hills, giving the impression that the Menina complex was nearly impregnable.
A turning point in World War II and the Greek Resistance
After the successful landing of the US forces in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the Greek Resistance focused on disrupting German supply lines, as the Germans were fighting on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union. The leaders of the allies planned to create a bridgehead in Western Greece to eventually land troops who would fight in the Balkans. Since Western Greece was mainly under the control of EDES, Napoleon Zervas, the leader of the group, was tasked with securing the region.
Zervas had already formed the 10th (X) Division at the end of February 1944 with the aim of liberating Thesprotia. The division, under local commanders, had to face not only the Germans but also the Chams, who were a serious threat to the Greek population of Thesprotia.
Ioannis Archimandritis in his book Pain and Tears of Thesprotia, states that in the summer of 1944, the Germans occupied Igoumenitsa, Paramythia, Parga, Filiates, and the strategically important Menina. The Nazis had 3,500 men, motorized vehicles and heavy weapons, while they were supported by about 2,500 well-armed Chams.
The 10th Division had only 1,200 men, limited ammunition, and a single machine gun with four mortars. Nevertheless, the EDES forces managed to liberate Paramythia on June 27, 1944, making it the first Greek town liberated from German occupation. EDES suffered only two deaths and one wounded in the operation.
On June 29, the guerrilla units captured Parga without resistance. On June 30, the great Battle of Agioi Theodoroi was fought, the first major engagement in a lowland area. The Chams could not endure the loss of Paramythia, as they were forced to abandon their homes there, which contained treasures looted from the villages of Fanari.
The Nazis and their Cham allies
A German prisoner confessed later that one of the Cham leaders bribed the German commander of the Menina forts with 1,000 gold pounds to capture Paramythia. Around 5:30 a.m., three hundred Germans and one hundred Chams attacked the EDES fighters in the village of Agioi Theodoroi. Fighting heroically, the Greek guerrillas forced the Germans and Chams into disorderly retreat.
By around 11:30 a.m., the battle ended victoriousy for the Greeks. In the Battle of Agioi Theodoroi, EDES only lost one man, with five fighters wounded. The captured loot was substantial: two cars, one anti-tank gun, 320 anti-tank shells, two radios, ten pack animals, five machine guns, 35 Mauser rifles, many cartridges, and medical supplies.
The German casualties were 38 dead and 42 wounded, while the Chams suffered 30 dead and wounded. In the following days, further clashes occurred between the Greek Resistance EDES men and the Germans. However, by about mid-August, the Greek forces turned their attention toward the Menina area.
August 17, 1944: The Battle of Menina begins
The commander of the EDES 10th Division, local officers, and their men approached the village of Neochori, about two kilometers (1.25 miles) from Menina, and reconnoitered the area at 5 a.m. on August 14, 1944. They identified the machine gun posts, mapped the entire area, and after three hours returned to Paramythia. They then radioed the general headquarters in the village of Dervizana, reporting that the division was ready to attack Menina on the morning of August 17.
At 1:15 p.m. on August 15, the general headquarters, following orders from Colonel Dimitrios Olympios, determined that the attack would begin at 4 a.m. on August 17. Despite the short preparation time, the Greek forces managed to reach their departure positions by 11 p.m. on August 16th.
The headquarters of the Greek guerrilla forces was in Neochori. Members of the Allied mission in Greece also took part in the Battle of Menina. English Major David Wallace joined the 16th Regiment of EDES, and two American captains, Rogers and Anderson, also joined the Greek Resistance in the battle against the Germans. At 4 a.m., however, when the attack was scheduled to begin, limited visibility posed a risk that the EDES fighters could stumble into minefields in the darkness.
At 5:15 a.m., the German bugler sounded the alarm, and the X Division commander signaled a general attack. The Germans and Chams were caught off guard and sleeping. With courage and determination, the EDES forces neutralized all external resistance by 8:30 a.m., and the Germans and Chams were confined to the central fortress building of Menina. However, they chose to continue fighting in the hope that reinforcements would arrive from Igoumenitsa or Ioannina.
A hard battle to fight and the Greek Resistance
The anti-tank weapon the Greek Resistance fighters had needed to be moved closer to hit the central fortress of Menina. Dragging it forward posed a serious risk, as the guerrillas would be exposed to enemy fire during the maneuver.
Meanwhile, the fierce battle continued and the 10th Division suffered many losses. British Major Wallace was killed, along with one of the two guerrillas accompanying him, while the other was wounded. Wallace was later buried with honors in Paramythia, and a main street in the town was named after him (David Wallace Street). Many other officers of the 10th Division were also killed during the first day of fighting.
By 6 p.m., the battle had stagnated. At that time, a small car arrived at Menina at breakneck speed from Igoumenitsa. Despite coming under heavy gunfire, its passengers managed to enter the German building complex. As night fell, the men of the 10th Division were ordered to remain in their positions.
At that moment, about 60 Chams, taking advantage of the darkness, fled north from Menina and, after crossing the Kalamas River, headed toward Filiates, where German forces were stationed. The 10th Division attack on August 18 1944, was set for 10 a.m. After moving the anti-tank gun into position, the EDES men made their task easier. With well-aimed shots at the building complex where the Germans were, they forced them to raise a white flag and surrender. It was 2:30 p.m. on August 18, 1944.
The guerrillas then began transporting the weapons and ammunition stored in the forts. Those that could not be transported were destroyed on the spot. The captured Germans confessed that when the guerrilla attack began, their commander had unsealed the envelope containing the garrison’s orders, which required the position to be defended to the last man. This explains the fierce resistance of the Germans, who finally surrendered when their seriously wounded comrades could no longer hold out.
The aftermath
As soon as the EDES fighters left Menina, strong German forces arrived from Filiates, apparently having been notified by the Chams. The reinforcements, believing that the Greeks were still inside Menina, began shelling the forts. Officers and guerrillas of the 10th Division, observing from the nearby mountains of Neochori, watched the Germans’ shadow battle unfold.
On the evening of August 19, the Germans re-entered Menina, where they found only the dead, as the survivors had been captured. Their rage against the innocent Greeks was unfathomable. They killed several elder men and women from Neochori.
After the victory of the Greek Resistance at Menina, Greece’s Middle East Headquarters sent the following telegram to the 10th Division of EDES (EOEA):
“The bravery and fighting spirit of your men have aroused the admiration of the Greek people, the Allies and the whole world. Your exploits have revived the glory of the Greek Arms and are writing new epic pages for Greece.”
When the Germans retook Menina, they reported finding 90 dead and a large number of missing. Hugo Lenderer from Munich testified at Nuremberg:
“The sight that presented itself to us was horrible: the dead, about 90, had not been buried, they were all naked and in an advanced stage of decomposition.”
German author Hermann Frank Mayer, in his book Bloodied Edelweiss, writes:
“Without a doubt, this was the most important battle between the Germans and the EDES throughout the war.”
The Battle of Menina was the toughest engagement between EDES and the Germans. It marked the beginning of the withdrawal of the Chams from Thesprotia. The triumph of EDES boosted the morale of resistance organizations throughout Greece, and Paramythia, along with the surrounding villages, was saved from complete destruction.
The Special Criminal Court of Ioannina, with decision number 344/23-4-45, sentenced 1,930 Chams to death in absentia as war criminals. Their properties were confiscated under BD 2185/1952 and Law 2781/1954, and, with decision number ΑΠ50862/1947 of the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Chams were deprived of Greek citizenship.
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