8th Infantry Division (Greece)  The 8th Infantry Division (; "VIII Merarchia Pezikou", "VIII MP") was an infantry division of the Hellenic Army. Active since the Balkan Wars, the division is most notable for its decisive role during the first days of the Greco-Italian War, when it successfully stopped the initial Italian offensive, and bought time for Greek reinforcements to arrive and turn the tide. In a wide-ranging army reorganization in 2013, the division was reduced in size to a brigade-level formation - the 8th Motorized Infantry Brigade. The 8th Infantry Division, initially named the Epirus Division (; "Merarchia Ipeirou"), was formed on 22 September 1912, during the First Balkan War, under the command of Major General Dimitrios Matthaiopoulos. On 22 January 1913 it was renamed as the 8th Infantry Division. Its component units were the 15th Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Evzones Regiment and the Independent Cretan Regiment. It participated in the operations for the capture of Ioannina and the subsequent push into Northern Epirus, capturing Këlcyrë, Argyrokastro, Tepelenë, and Përmet. In June 1913 it was moved to Thessaloniki, and participated in the Second Balkan War against Bulgaria, capturing Paranesti, Xanthi, and Komotini. It remained on occupation duties in Western Thrace until the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest. In December it was placed on garrison duties, with its regiments dispersed at Preveza, Corfu and Lefkada. The division was re-established in July 1917 and remained in Epirus as the local garrison. It did not fight in the Macedonian front, nor in the Asia Minor Campaign, except for its 15th Infantry Regiment. Its subordinate units throughout the subsequent interwar period were: the 15th Infantry Regiment at Ioannina, the 10th Infantry Regiment at Corfu, the 24th Infantry Regiment, and the 3/40 Evzone Regiment at Preveza and later Arta. Since 1930, the division bore sole responsibility for the defense of the Epirus sector of the Greco-Albanian border. Due to the relative military weakness of Albania, the sector was "quiet" and far less vital than the border with Bulgaria. This changed in April 1939, when Fascist Italy invaded and occupied Albania. Under its commander, Maj Gen Charalambos Katsimitros, the division engaged in a feverish activity of constructing fortifications and laying out defensive plans.