Adolf Hitler suspected that the Allies would invade Europe through the Balkans, and Barclay served to reinforce this.
[2] To reinforce the impression that an Allied invasion was imminent the Special Operations Executive (SOE), in co-operation with the Greek andartes, mounted Operation Animals, a series of attacks on rail and road networks.
The German High Command concluded there was a greater concentration of Allied forces in the eastern Mediterranean than was the case and held to this assessment, making subsequent deceptions more credible.
German forces in the Balkans were reinforced from 8 to 18 divisions, and the Italian fleet was diverted into the Adriatic Sea.
[1] The greatly increased number of German occupying forces in Greece resulted in negative consequences for the Greek Resistance.