[2] The true reason for this order was that the Albanian Front had absorbed all the reserves, and the GHQ was in a desperate need for additional forces that would counter the impending German offensive from the Bulgarian border.

The Regiment's officers were experienced and had seen action in the Macedonian front of World War I and the Asia Minor Campaign but had been involved in the failed 1933 and 1935 pro-Republican coup attempts, and had consequently been dismissed from service; they were reinstated and assigned active duties after the Italian invasion.

[4] At first the enlisted volunteers and the Dodecanesian community believed that their mission would be to liberate their islands, but soon the GHQ made clear that no operation in the Dodecanese had been planned or was possible.

Its mission was to defend the main body of Greece should the basic defences at Metaxas Line be breached (and provided that Yugoslavia would hold against the German offensive).

Advancing through Yugoslavia the Germans reached the western end of the Metaxas Line and flanked it, leading to the capitulation of the Greek forces holding it on 8 April.

[11] By nightfall on April 9, the Dodecanese Regiment had completed its disposition on its new defence line to the right of Kleidi Pass, where the hill slopes were smooth in the front and steep in the rear.

Next day the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler lighter troops advanced rapidly from Yugoslavia towards Kleidi Pass, but their artillery, tanks and heavy vehicles were delayed by demolished bridges and muddy roads.

[15] By 08:30 on April 12, the first of three LSSAH Kampfgruppe attacked, focusing its main attempt on Hill 997.5 held by the Australian 2/8 Battalion; by 11:00 the British Rangers astride the road in front of the pass withdrew.

On April 17 the regiment was ordered to turn north to Metsovo; on the 19th they reached Ardomitsa, where they found food and medical care, some clothing, no firearms or ammunition, and were pounded by the enemy air force.

On the 20th the commander of the Greek forces on the Albanian front, Lt. General Georgios Tsolakoglou, signed with the LSSAH an unauthorized ceasefire protocol, and next day the regiment was ordered to surrender whatever firearms and ammunition they had to the president of Ardomitsa community and then march to Metsovo.