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| Junkers Ju 87B2 Stuka III.StG2 code B Balkans 1941 |
The German 12th Army's initial operations into Eastern Macedonia were against the Greek fortifications known as the Metaxas Line. Field Marshall List was throwing 2 Corps, including a Panzer Division, against the 4 Greek Divisions defending the approach to Thessaloniki. And smashing forts from the air was a game that Stukas excelled at, Voss knew.
Voss set his mug down on the operations map at the briefing table. He tapped it once to bring the room to order.
"All right, listen in.”
Voices stilled. Engines already warming on the airfield beyond made a low growl in the background.
“As you know, we're going in at first light. Primary targets are Greek fortified positions along the Metaxas Line, north of Thessaloniki—concrete bunkers, artillery emplacements, trench networks dug into the passes at Rupel, Perithori, and Karakoli. Expect flak—both heavy and light—and rough terrain. No second passes unless absolutely necessary.”
He looked around at their faces. Young, but sharp. Many were replacements, but they’d trained hard since he joined them in France.
"Weather will be clear. Approach route will put the Sunrise at our backs—use it. I'll be with First Kette hitting Rupel Pass—four bunkers and an artillery battery. Second kette goes west to Perithori. Third Kette in reserve and targets of opportunity —bridges and mountain roads feeding reinforcements from Serres."
He paused, then softened slightly.
"These aren’t like the French fields or Polish towns. These are fortresses, carved into mountain rock, and the Greeks know their ground. But they’re static. We’re not. We dive, we strike, we break them. Just like we did in Belgium along the canals."
He nodded toward the rear of the tent where Milo stood, already festooned in his flight harness, quietly reviewing coordinates. Voss gave him a subtle thumbs up, then turned back to the Staffel.
“One last thing—timing. Army units hit the line at 0600. We are their hammer. No delays. We'll be the ones who will start this war in Greece, where legends once fought.”
A long pause.
“We're ready - You're each ready. Mount up. Engines hot in ten.”
Voss picked up his mug, stepped back out into the Balkan dawn, and accepted his flying helmet and goggles from Milo.
They took off without incident, climbing quickly to high altitude in Echelon formation like the trained team they were, optimising for the ground attack to come. As they neared the boarder, sporadic AA fire began. Speculative rather than focused, fired at noise and glimpses in the dawn shadows. Voss thought he saw sunlight glint off a canopy in the distance. Enemy fighter? Maybe - he radioed the sighting back to Air operations and shortly saw his top cover Bf109s roar off in pursuit.
As the formation neared the start of the mountain peaks, the clouds began the thicken and Voss lost sight of his navigation marks. He waggled his wings to improve his observations below each top, unsuccessfully. He hadn’t flown here before and couldn’t afford to dive his Staffel into an adjoining mountain crest. Reluctantly he led his Staffel to a lower altitude, below the cloud base.
There! He checked the map and confirmed - that was the entrance to the pass - 10degrees off his nose. They had be pushed by the wind but now he corrected. Confidence restored, he led his Staffel back up to a height optimised for their upcoming attack runs.
And there was their target- the Rupel Pass gun emplacements. The wind was stirring but predictable and more predictable coming up the pass as it was.
“You’ve got this Andreas - just like all the other times. Just a few more lads following you this time, is all. Show them how its done” Mile said.
Voss did. Just like he’d practiced at the advanced training school, and all those combat missions in France, Belgium and Poland. The AA was negligible and did rolled out on a textbook drop - watching his 500kg bomb hit dead centre of the battery.
His Staffel rolled in, one after another. Textbook. Just like they had practiced. He couldn’t have asked for anymore.
When the last Stuka had dropped its payload he reformed them for the return leg, which used an indirect route to keep the ingress route next for the next wave of strikes. The navigation through the ravines was difficult and took awhile and despite the presence of of a few unsuspected Greek AA guns, They returned to base, engines ticking down in the soft light of the Balkan dusk. Crews gathered instinctively around the map table and mess tent, the adrenaline wearing off but minds still racing. The day’s work had just begun.
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That evening, the Gruppe's aircrews gathered to debrief the day and share the lessons with each other as much as the intel staff. The hubbub was loud, a little excitable but professionally focused.
“That AA gun position is not a 40mm - its a heavy 9cm gun at least”
“That gun emplacement is further East, around 500 metres”
“You were a bit early on that pull-up Hans, wait until the needle hit 450 before you pull the stick back'
“Kurt’s kette got their eggs directly on that gun emplacement- I saw secondaries. Confirmed knock-out”
“No, Mein Herr, I didnt see any enemy fighters at all - British or Greek"
Voss listened quietly, pleased with the attentiveness of his teams during the day and the ease with which they amended maps and provided updates to the intelligence team. A soft tap on his shoulder made him turn, and see Hauptmann Brücker beckoning him to the tent door.
“The men did well today Andreas - for some of them that was their first taste of combat flying. You’ve done well training them.”
"Thank you Sir”
“But more importantly, you did well leading them. I know that was your first outing as a Staffelkapitan with real bullets. You got them all home and it looks like you managed to suppress or neutralise most of you targets”
Voss smiled
“Keep it up, but don’t push it too hard. This is good experience and hard flying in these mountains, but the Army’s attack is not the main effort. Of they are fighting hard enough alright and those are tough boys. But when I was at the Corps HQ just now, I saw that the Panzers are pushing round the Western flank of the Metaxas line. Our infantry attack is to hold the Greeks in place while the Panzers due around behind them."
3 days later, the lead elements of the 2nd Panzer Division entered Thessaloniki having used speed to flank the main defence, and the city surrender. 60,000 Greek soldiers were taken prisoner. Blitzkrieg had come to the Mediterranean.
Historical Note:
In the fight for the Metaxas line, StG 2 pilots considered that their ordnance was less effective against the Greek troops because it was detonating after hitting the ground and borrowing into the soil - reducing the blast effects. StG2's Commander Oskar Dinort designed a device - essentially a 40cm rod sticking out of the nose of the bomb - to hit and the ground before the bomb and trigger the fuse. The bomb thus detonated at chin/knee hight, turning it into a daisy cutter. These "Dinortspangel" devices (Dinort asparagus) later became standard use when striking infantry and unarmoured targets.
Game Notes:
Stuka Ace presents Crete as a new Theatre, but not Greece. Given the strong employment of Stukas in the invasion of Greece and the Balkans, I didnt feel that I could leave it out of my narrative (and it was a long stretch for Andreas nmot to fly from France to Crete!) I added two extra missions, using the existing EUROPE theatre Flight Cards and pre selected the targets types based on historical missions at the Metaxas Line and the advance to Athens. I used En Presence 6+ for these, to add some fear of marauding RAF fighters!
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