"Συν Αθηνά και χείρα κίνει..."

"Συν Αθηνά και χείρα κίνει..."
"Apart from [invoking to] Athena, move your hands" which roughly means “invoking for divine help or fortune is not enough, but efforts are required too [put some muscle to it]”
During the Greco Italian War of 1940-41, several Greek NCOs and plain soldiers, struggled to protect them selves from the Italian bullets during the battle the best they could. Particularly, in the area of Ioannina city, the main supply point for the troops fighting in the Greek-Albanian border (Ioannina was also an important metal-working center), very large numbers of craftsmen were manufacturing 4 mm thick iron plates aiming to provide extra protection to the fighters, to be carried fitted in the pockets of their tunics. Those plates were painted black, usually bearing the image of the image of Virgin Mary and a prayer for the protection of the wearer, glued on both sides. The unofficial price was 120 drs.

Khaki Depot tested in the shooting range, the three main Italian ammunition calibre used against the Greek soldiers in 1940-41.
- 9×17mm Corto
- 10.4mm black pounder Ordinanza Italiana
- 6.5X52mm M/C

 In the shooting range we tested the three main Italian ammunition calibre used against the Greek soldiers.
- 9×17mm Corto with m/v 229 m/s, chambered in the Beretta M34 automatic pistol.
- 10.4mm black pounder Ordinanza Italiana chambered in the Glisenti m1889 revolver.
- 6.5X52mm 162 gr. m/v 700 m/s chambered in the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.

 The 6.5X52mm, 162 gr. m/v 700 m/s, Mannlicher-Carcano, entrance and exit points at 60m. The full-jacketed bullet proved to be of outstanding penetration at this distance.

 The 10.4mm, 177grs. black powder Ordinanza Italiana bullet couldn’t penetrate the metal plate at 25m. That lead bullet, proved to be inadequate in gaining penetration capacity at this distance, but results a very "painful" deformation on the wearer plate...

The 9×17mm Corto with m/v 229 m/s, proved inadequate in gaining penetration capacity at a distance of 25m, this cartridge was less powerful than most other military service pistol cartridges, such as the 9mm Parabellum or .45 ACP.