 General Papagos rushed Greek units to the Metsovon pass where the Germans were expected to attack . On 14 April a pitched battle between several Greek units and the LSSAH brigade — which had by then reached Grevena — erupted . The Greek 13th and Cavalry Divisions lacked the equipment necessary to fight against an armoured unit but nevertheless fought on till the next day , when the defenders were finally encircled and overwhelmed . On 18 April , General Wilson in a meeting with Papagos , informed him that the British and Commonwealth forces at Thermopylai would carry on fighting till the first week of May , providing that Greek forces from Albania could redeploy and cover the left flank . On 21 April , the Germans advanced further and captured Ioannina , the final supply route of the Greek Epirus Army . Allied newspapers dubbed the Hellenic army 's fate a modern @-@ day Greek tragedy . Historian and former war @-@ correspondent Christopher Buckley — when describing the fate of the Hellenic army — stated that " one experience [ d ] a genuine Aristotelian catharsis , an awe @-@ inspiring sense of the futility of all human effort and all human courage . " 
