Battle of Fardykambos
| Battle of Fardykambos | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) EKA armed residents of Siatista |
 Italy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Alexandros Rosios (ELAS) Mitsos Zygouras (ELAS) Vasilis Ganatsios (ELAS) John Kontonasis (EKA) Stefanos Grigoriou | Perrone Pasconelli | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
3 partisans, 1 civilian killed 10 partisans, 3 civilians wounded |
20 dead, 45 wounded 449 taken prisoner | ||||||
The Battle of Fardykambos (Greek: Μάχη του Φαρδύκαμπου)[1], also known as the Battle of Bougazi (Μάχη στο Μπουγάζι),[2][3] was fought between the National Liberation Front of the Greek Resistance against the Italian troops during the Axis Occupation of Greece. The ELAS and EKA worked together with the residents of Siatista. A large number of weapons and supplies were acquired by the resistance in the successful operation.[4][5] The battle was the most important battle of the late winter 1943 in the Greek uprising.[6]
Summary[edit]
The battle comprised to different, but continuous engagements, the first on 4 March at the pass of Vigla, against an Italian transport column, and the second and main battle at Fardykambos, on 5–7 March, against the Italian garrison of Grevena.[7][8]
Approximately 100 men, mostly ELAS reservists, gathered about March 3 near the pass between Grevena and Kozani. Few of the men belonged to a specific partisan unit. They had knowledge of an Italian convoy bound for Grevena they intended to ambush, and two days later, during the dawn of March 5, the convoy arrived.[6]
The partisans were armed with shotguns and Gras rifles, axes, and damascened knives. The Italians had modern weapons, but surprise allowed the guerillas to overrun the convoy and combat became hand-to-hand, where the arms were more balanced. This first battle lasted for three hours and an Italian company was sent from Grevena to look for the delayed convoy. In this initial battle, 93 Italians were captured. 17 men were injured total, most were Italians.[6] At this first engagement, the entire Italian company was taken prisoner, with nine submachine guns, one light mortar, two heavy machine guns, much ammunition, flour, and cheese.[9]
Another reservist ambush was set up for the Italian company which had been sent to find the convoy. This ambush included old men and very young boys and was set up near the village of Agios Georgis. The company was delayed at that point, and early in the afternoon, the rest of the Grevena garrison set out, 600 men in total, leaving a skeleton guard. The force reached the skirmish at Agios Georgis, but the partisans there were well positioned and the column could not pass until nightfall.[6]
On the morning of March 6, the Italians reached the place where their supply convoy had been captured. The Italians brought with them three mountain cannon to fire at partisan positions, but a group of guerrillas led by a young schoolteacher named Paleologos outflanked the Italians by swimming across the Aliakmon River, and the Italians retreated into vineyards near the village of Fardykambos. The next morning, March 7, more peasants arrived, many unarmed. The battle continued until sometime in the afternoon when Paleologos and the Italian Major parleyed and the Italians surrendered.[6]
The battle had lasted for 52 hours. According to the official communique issued by the local ELAS headquarters, the partisans took 17 officers and 432 other ranks prisoner, in addition to inflicting 45 wounded and 20 dead. Three 75mm mountain guns with 300 shells, 3 motor vehicles, 57 mules and 3 chargers, 4 small mortars, 500 rifles, 30 pistols, 8 heavy machine guns, 32 submachine guns, all with ample ammunition, were captured. Greek casualties were 3 dead and 10 wounded among the guerrillas, and one dead and 3 wounded among the civilian population.[10][11]
The captives were led to Siatista, where the Italian Major was allowed to phone the Italian commander-in-chief in Greece, General Carlo Geloso, to report his surrender "to partisan forces superior to our own". At Paleologos' insistence, the Major repeated his call to warn that the safety of the prisoners could not be guaranteed if any Italian airplane or military unit approached Siatista. Nevertheless, a few days later an Italian airplane appeared, and dropped a bomb which fell harmlessly outside the city.[12] The Italians were eventually led to a prisoner of war camp in Pentalofos, where they remained for the next 18 months.[13]
Aftermath[edit]
Two weeks later, on March 21, another Italian battalion traveled from Larissa to Grevena, clashing with guerrillas on the way but reaching Grevena where it evacuated the guard which had been left there and Grevena was abandoned for good. This was the first Greek liberated town in Europe, an achievement which was celebrated in the town on March 25, which was also the celebration of the anniversary of the proclamation of Greek independence.[6]The victory also greatly increased morale in the region and the profile of ELAS—which also for the first time acquired artillery.[13] In the following months, the effective strength of its force in western Macedonia rose from about 50 to 2,000.[6]
The Battle of Fardykambos was part of a general flowering of the Greek guerrilla movement, and the concurrent retrenchment of the Italian occupying forces: already on 12 March the Italians evacuated Karditsa and abandoned it to ELAS control,[14] and on 22 April, the Italians abandoned Metsovo, a vital communication node between eastern and western Greece.[15] This withdrawal was not always peaceful: on 12 March, an Italian motorized column razed the village of Tsaritsani, burning 360 of its 600 houses and shooting 40 civilians.[14]
References[edit]
- ↑ Vafeiadis 1985a, pp. 79, 96.
- ↑ Αρχεία Εθνικής Αντίστασης, 1941-1944, p. 410.
- ↑ Sarafis 1951, p. 200.
- ↑ 1941-1944 Εθνική Αντίσταση, Η Αληθινή Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Αντάρτικου,Μονογραφίες του περιοδικού "Στρατιωτική Ιστορία", σελ.32-35
- ↑ Mazower, Mark. Inside Hitler's Greece: the experience of occupation, 1941-44. Yale University Press, 2001. p134
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Eudes, Dominique. The Kapetanios. NYU Press, 1973. p44-49
- ↑ Vafeiadis 1985b, pp. 238–244.
- ↑ Eudes 1973, pp. 44–48.
- ↑ Vafeiadis 1985b, p. 244.
- ↑ Vafeiadis 1985a, p. 96.
- ↑ Grigoriadis 1982, pp. 217–218.
- ↑ Eudes 1973, p. 48.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Grigoriadis 1982, p. 218.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Grigoriadis 1982, p. 219.
- ↑ Grigoriadis 1982, p. 215.
Sources[edit]
- Eudes, Dominique (1973). The Kapetanios: Partisans and Civil War in Greece, 1943-1949. Translated by John Howe. NYU Press. Search this book on
- Grigoriadis, Solon (1982). Συνοπτική Ιστορία της Εθνικής Αντίστασης, 1941-1944 [Concise History of the National Resistance, 1941-1944] (in Greek). Athens: Kapopoulos.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
- Hellenic Army History Directorate (1998). Αρχεία Εθνικής Αντίστασης, 1941-1944 [National Resistance Archives, 1941-1944]. Athens: Hellenic Army History Directorate. ISBN 978-9607897060. Search this book on
- Sarafis, Stefanos (1951). Greek Resistance Army: The Story of ELAS. Birch Books. Search this book on
- Vafeiadis, Markos (1985a). Απομνημονεύματα, Β' Τόμος (1940-1944) [Memoirs, Volume II (1940-1944)] (in Greek). Athens: A. A. Livanis.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
- Vafeiadis, Markos (1985b). Απομνημονεύματα, Γ' Τόμος (1944-1946) [Memoirs, Volume III (1944-1946)] (in Greek). Athens: A. A. Livanis.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
External links[edit]
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