Catalogue description GREECE

The activities of the Special Operations Executive in Greece comprised attempts to set up an intelligence organisation prior to the German occupation and then, after the occupation, the establishment of an escape organisation, the infiltration of intelligence and sabotage agents and the establishment of local contacts with the Greek guerrillas. SOE was also involved in the activities of the Levant Fishing Patrol, the acceptance of the surrender of the Italian garrisons on the Greek islands, the work of HQ 3 Corps' Special Forces Unit during the Allied re-occupation of Greece and the activities of the Relief and Medical Missions.

Notable SOE successes in Greece include the destruction of the naval defences at Salonika in 1941, the destruction of the Gorgopotamous bridge in 1942, the destruction of the Asopos viaduct in 1943, the sabotage of a major German troop train (operation BUCKRAM) in 1944 and operation ANIMALS, which entailed the cutting of communications through Greece to deceive the German High Command into thinking that Greece was about to be invaded by the Allies and thus provide cover to the latter's landings in Sicily.