28 OCTOBER 1940 - THE DAY OF THE BIG "NO" - A NATIONAL DAY WHICH WE'LL NEVER STOP REMEMBERING AND HONOURING

The Greek National Anthem was written by
Dionysios Solomos in 1824 and the music composed by Nikolaos Mantzaros in 1828. It was adopted in 1864

It was translated into English by Rudyard Kipling in 1918

"... We knew thee of old,
O, divinely restored,
By the lights of thine eyes,
And the light of thy Sword.

From the graves of our slain,
Shall thy valour prevail,
As we greet thee again,
Hail, Liberty! Hail! " 

Today in Greece, and every year in the same date, celebrations of "Day of NO" culminate in a large, lavish military parade down the main boulevards of Thessaloniki (to coincide with the city's anniversary of liberation in 1912 during the First Balkan War and the feast of its patron saint, St. Demetrius) and student parades in Athens and almost every city around the country. Soldiers, tanks, armoured vehicles and students parade through most Greek cities with an air of pride.

The 1940 war, popularly referred to as the "Epic of  '40" in Greece and the resistance of the Greeks to the Axis Powers is celebrated to this day. The 28th of  October 1940 was the day when the then Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas (a dictator) rejected the Italian ultimatum which demanded the occupation of Greek territory. This rejection had as a result the Italian forces invading Greece.

On the eve of 28 October 1940, Italy's ambassador in Athens, Emanuele Grazzi, handed an ultimatum from Mussolini to Metaxas. In it, the Duce demanded free passage for his troops to occupy unspecified "strategic points" inside Greek territory. Greece had been friendly towards National Socialist Germany, especially profiting from mutual trade relations, but now Germany's ally, Italy, was to invade Greece. Metaxas rejected the ultimatum with the words "Alors, c'est la guerre" ("Then, it's war."). In this he echoed the will of the Greek people to resist, a will which was popularly expressed in one word: "Ohi" (Greek for "No").

Shortly after, Metaxas addressed the Greek people with these words: "The time has come for Greece to fight for her independence. Greeks, now we must prove ourselves worthy of our forefathers and the freedom they bestowed upon us. Greeks, now fight for your Fatherland, for your wives, for your children and the sacred traditions. Now, above all, the struggle!" The last sentence was a verbatim quote from "The Persians", by the ancient dramatist Aeschylus.

In response to this address, the people of Greece spontaneously went out to the streets singing Greek patriotic songs and shouting anti-Italian slogans, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers, men and women, in all parts of Greece headed to the Army recruitment offices to enlist. The whole nation was united in the face of aggression. Even the imprisoned leader of Greece's banned Communist Party, Nikolaos Zachariadis, issued an open letter advocating resistance, despite the still existing Nazi-Soviet Pact, thereby contravening the current Comintern line.

Within hours Italy began attacking Greece from Albania. The outbreak of hostilities was first announced by the Athens Radio early in the morning of the 28th, with the famous two-sentence dispatch of the General Staff: "Since 05:30 this morning, the enemy is attacking our vanguard on the Greek-Albanian border. Our forces are defending the fatherland."

The Greco-Italian War or "War of '40" was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940-23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II. From 6 April 1941 intervention of Nazi Germany onwards the conflict is known as "the Battle of Greece".

But how did we end up at that? What was the last straw?

A propaganda campaign against Greece was launched in Italy, and repeated acts of provocation were carried out, such as overflights of Greek territory and attacks by aircraft on Greek naval vessels, reaching their peak (during peace time) with the torpedoing and sinking of the Greek light cruiser Elli by a submarine in Tinos's Island harbour on 15 August 1940. That date was an important national religious holiday for Greece (Dormition of Virgin Mary) and thousands of visitors, politicians and authorites were in Tinos. Despite undeniable evidence of Italian responsibility, the Greek government announced that the attack had been carried out by a submarine of "unknown nationality". Although the facade of neutrality was thus preserved, the people were well aware of the real perpetrator (accusing Mussolini and his Foreign Minister Count Ciano).

The Hellenic Army counter-attacked and forced the Italians to retreat and by mid-December, the Greeks occupied nearly a quarter of Albania, tying down 530,000 Italian troops. In March 1941, a major Italian counter-attack failed, with small gains around Himare. In the first days of April, as the German attack on Greece unfolded, the Italian army resumed its attacks. From 12 April, the Greek army started retreating from Albania to avoid being cut off by the rapid German advance. On 20 April, the Greek army of Epirus surrendered to the Germans, and on 23 April 1941 the armistice was repeated including the Italians, effectively ending the Greco-Italian war.

 ".... When you go home, tell them of us and say,

For their tomorrow we gave our today...."

(John Maxwell Edmonds, 1875-1958)

The Greek victory over the initial Italian offensive of October 1940 was the first Allied land victory of the Second World War and helped raise morale in occupied Europe. Some historians, such as John Keegan, argue that it may have influenced the course of the entire war by forcing Germany to postpone the invasion of the Soviet Union in order to assist Italy against Greece. This led to a delayed attack and subjected the German forces to the conditions of the harsh Russian winter, leading to their defeat at the "Battle of Moscow".

So here we are today to celebrate once again that great day and period of the Greek History. It also serves as a day of remembrance for the "dark years" of the Axis Occupation of Greece (1941–1944).

".... They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them...."

(Laurence Binyon, 1869-1943)

For several days, most buildings around Greece (public and private) display the Greek flag. In the days preceding the anniversary, television and radio feature historical films and documentaries about 1940 or broadcast Greek patriotic songs, especially those of Sofia Vembo, a singer whose songs gained immense popularity during the war. 
 

Sofia Vembo was born in Gallipoli in 1910, Eastern Thrace, but after the Asia Minor Catastrophe her family moved to Tsaritsani in Greece and later to Volos. She was a leading Greek singer and actress active since before the war and until the late '50s. She began her career in Thessaloniki in the early 1930s. She began to record romantic songs for the Columbia company, achieving fame because of her distinctly sonorous contralto voice.

Her reputation, however, skyrocketed after the Italian attack on Greece on 28 October 1940, when her performance of patriotic and satirical songs (often using Italian well known melodies!) became a major inspiration for the fighting soldiers up at the mountains of Albania.  It was then when she was dubbed as the "Singer of Victory". She was the "Vera Lynn" of Greece....

She travelled a lot up to the mountains where battles were taking place with only one aim, to encourage and give strength to the Greek soldiers who were fighting the Italians. At the same time, she offered 2,000 gold pounds from her own fortune to the Hellenic Navy. Following the German invasion and occupation of the country in April 1941, she was transported to the Middle East, where she continued to perform for the Greek troops in exile.

After the war (and the unfortunate Greek Civil war), in 1949, she acquired her own theatre, the "Vembo Theatre", in Athens. During the 60s, she began to perform less and less, before finally retiring in the early '70s. She died on 11 March 1978.

Because of her role in the war and her efforts during the Axis occupation she was awarded the rank of Major in the Greek Army.