The Battle of Amfilochia () began on the evening of July 12, 1944 and lasted until the afternoon of the following day, involving guerrilla forces of the

Greek People's Liberation Army The Greek People's Liberation Army (, ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós''; ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the Greek resistance until February 1945, when, followi ...

(ELAS) against occupation forces of the

104th Jäger Division 104th Jäger Division was an infantry division of the Germany Army in World War II. It was formed in April 1943, by the redesignation of the 704th Infantry Division, which was itself formed in April 1941. The division served in German-occupied ...

(made up by German soldiers and Italian volunteers) and local

Gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

forces. It resulted in a victory for ELAS and was one of the largest tactical operations of ELAS throughout the

Axis occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany Battle of Greece, invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy, in their Greco-Italian War, ongoing war that w ...

, both in terms of forces involved and result.

The battle

About 300-350 guerilla fighters of ELAS, with about 1000-1500 supporting reserves positioned on the connecting roads to Arta,

Agrinio Agrinio (Greek language, Greek: Αγρίνιο, ; Latin: ''Agrinium'') is the largest city of the Aetolia-Acarnania regional units of Greece, regional unit of Greece and its largest municipality, with 89,691 inhabitants (2021) as well as the seco ...

and

Vonitsa Vonitsa () is a town in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, seat of the municipality of Aktio-Vonitsa. The beach town is situated on the south coast of the Ambracian Gulf, and is dominated by a Venetian fortress on a hill. Von ...

(other sources raise the total count of ELAS forces to 2500-3000 fighters) started the operation at 20:00 at night capturing the German outposts on the city limits and at midnight the attack for the capture of the city began. The fighting lasted until the afternoon next day, and took place mainly around the buildings which the Germans had commandeered, since they had been taken by surprise and had not had time to disperse. At dawn, the attackers set fire to the Gendarmerie building with its contents after receiving shots from it, even though the Gendarmerie had agreed with ELAS not to participate in the battle. The tide began to tilt in favor of ELAS in the morning, when the reserves started to get involved in the battle. The ELAS forces withdrew without having completely cleared all the positions of the Nazis, because at 18:00 German reinforcements (three ships from the sea and tanks from Agrinio) began to pour in.

Aftermath

This victory for the Greek resistance resulted in protecting the second major resistance organization

EDES The National Republican Greek League (, ''Ethnikós Dimokratikós Ellinikós Sýndesmos'' (EDES)) was a major anti-Nazi resistance group formed during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. The largest of the non-communist resistanc ...

and preventing the planned attacks against it from taking place. As a response, the Germans planned the large liquidation operation ''Echidna'' (August 5 to 31) against the base of the ELAS rebels in the mountain massif of Roumeli, which, although it failed in its main objective, was responsible for the killing of approximately 170 civilians and the partial or complete destruction of dozens of villages and towns.

References

{{coord missing, Greece German occupation of Greece during World War II Battles and operations involving the Greek People's Liberation Army 1944 in Greece Conflicts in 1944 July 1944 in Europe Central Greece in World War II Military history of Central Greece History of Aetolia-Acarnania