FAMILY HISTORY
My grandfather came from Greece after fighting in WWII and the Greek Civil War and rarely talked about his wartime experience. Before he died we convinced him to transcribe as much of his wartime story he was willing to tell, and a part that always struck me was his time with the British army.
He said that after escaping from Greece to Turkey, and his subsequent release from a Turkish prison camp following Turkey's switch to the Allies, he walked into the British embassy and was essentially asked to join the British army to continue the fight. He was then sent to North Africa, where he fought in Tunisia and El Alamein.
ACTUAL HISTORY QUESTION(S)
I'm not looking for anyone to verify my personal family history, but rather whether or not a story like his was common, and what his day to day might have looked like once he started serving under the British army. How were individual Greek soldiers viewed by their British commanders and how did the Greeks fit in as part of the overall British strategy?
If your pappou was at El Alamein than I am guessing he was in the peziko or infantry/army, because that branch is what saw most of the fighting. Basically what happened after the German invasion of mainland Greece and later Crete, King George II, the Greek government and remnants of the armed forces left for Egypt. The British had command for the operations that the Greeks took part in, in the middle east & Italy but most of the Greek troops were stationed with other Greek troops and mostly did guard duty around the middle east. The army did participate in fighting somewhat at the second battle of El Alamein and especially played a role in Italy at Rimini, the navy mostly did escorts and the airforce supported the navy. As to how the British command saw the Greeks, I cant really answer I think that is subjective. Do you know your grandfathers rank? If you dont than do you know how educated your grandfather was? Do you know if your grandfather went to Italy?
It wasnt actually that common for Greeks to be fighting in the middle east, many surrendered were captured or became part of the many resistance forces against the occupation once it began.
The sources I have are books in Greek:
Η Ελλάδα στη δεκαετία 1940-1950. Ένα έθνος σε κρίση, Αθήνα, Θεμέλιο, Ιστορική Βιβλιοθήκη, 1984.
Σβορώνος Ν , Eπισκόπηση της Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας, Αθήνα, Θεμέλιο, 1990