First Army (Greece)
military formation of the Hellenic Army
The Greek First Army (Greek: 1η Στρατιά, Proti Stratia), was the highest formation of the Hellenic Army and its only extant field army.
Various English and German-language sources erroneously mention the existence of a First Army during the Greco-Italian War and the Battle of Greece (1940–41). The Greek Army did not employ an army-level command in this period. Leo Niehorster's website shows the higher organisation of the Greek Army on 15 August 1940, with the General Staff of the Army directly supervising five corps, three divisions, and the Thessaloniki Fortress.
The First Army was created in March 1947, during the Greek Civil War. It controlled the II and III Corps, with Volos as its headquarters. It was abolished on 10 February 1948, and re-established in 1951 with its HQ at Larissa, where it remained till its disestablishment. Its CO was always a lieutenant general.
Structure
First Army (1η Στρατιά), based at Larissa, Thessaly which includes
IV Army Corps (Δ' Σώμα Στρατού - Δ' ΣΣ), based in Xanthi, Thrace
I Infantry Division (I ΜΠ), based in Veroia, Macedonia
II Mechanised Infantry Division (II Μ/Κ ΜΠ), based in Edessa, Macedonia
Emblem and Motto
The emblem of the 1st Army was an Ancient Macedonian shield, emblazoned with the sun of Vergina. It symbolizes determination, strength and the will of the First Army.
“First Army (Greece)” enters the record as military formation of the Hellenic Army. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what First, Army and Greece can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “First Army (Greece)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.