Ref.: DRAG-6538
Gebirgspioniere, Metaxas Line 1941 Named after Ioannis Metaxas (the Greek dictator from 1936-41), the Metaxas Line was a series of 22 fortification clusters that protected Greece’s 155km border with Bulgaria. The defensive network included tunnels, bunkers and machine gun nests, of which some still survive today. Major extension work commenced in 1936, but the Metaxas Line was not properly completed before Greece became embroiled in WWII in 1940. When Germany came to the aid of struggling Italian forces in April 1941, German troops found the Metaxas Line difficult to penetrate. Finally, German soldiers outflanked the Metaxas Line by conducting its attack via Yugoslavia.