To that reply Mussolinis rejoinder was short and sharp. At 3 oclock on the afternoon of August 31. a day after the reply of the Greek Government had been handed to the Italian minister at Athens. an Italian naval squadron approached Corfu. its commanding officer informing the prefect that he would occupy the island and demanding immediate surrender. The surrender not being immediate. the fortress was shelled and some 15 Greeks and Armenian refugees were killed and many wounded. The fortress then surrendered. On the day of the occupation of Corfu the Greek Government referred the controversy to the League of Nations. while during the first and second weeks of September Corfu as well as several adjacent islands of purely strategic value were occupied by an increasing number of Italian troops.
Keywords matched
refugees