The Italians launched their invasion of Greece in October 1940 , but they were pushed back into Albania by November , and the Germans had to come to their aid in April 1941 . Following the decision of the Italian government to negotiate a surrender to the Allies in 1943 , the German Army tried to disarm the Italians during Operation Achse . On 13 September the Italians of the 33rd '' Acqui '' Infantry Division resisted , and fought the Germans on the island of Cephalonia . By 22 September the last of the Italian resistance surrendered after running out of ammunition . A total of 1,315 Italians were killed in the battle , 5,155 were executed by 26 September , and 3,000 were drowned when the German ships taking the survivors to concentration camps were sunk by the Allies . It was one of the largest prisoner of war massacres of the war , along with the Katyn massacre , and it was one of many atrocities committed by the 1st Mountain Division ( )
Katyn massacre
Katyn massacre
Massacre of the Acqui Division