10 Policemen
Few people in Britain know anything of the Greek Civil War, but the Balkans were a crucial part of British strategic thinking, and the Army’s intervention in Greece in 1944-1945 to prevent a communist coup anticipates the post-war peace-keeping roles of the British Army. This chapter covers the background of why the battalion was sent, and its role in the crisis.
The battalion war diaries are WO 170/1476 for December 1944 and WO 170/5068 for 1945. Most of the operational detail is from an anonymous report ‘5th Battalion the SF in Salonika Dec 44 – Jan 45’ in the March 1945 diary. This report also forms the basis for the section on Salonika in The Story of 46 Division 1939–45 (1946). Other material on Salonika comes from 4th Indian Division war diaries WO 169/18777 (1944) and WO 169/22223 (1945) and 7 Ind Bde war diaries WO 169/18850 (1944) and WO 169/22277 (1945). WO 204/8301 gives reports of the 4th Indian Division in Athens and Patras, but does not have a report from 7 Indian Brigade. The 139 Brigade war diaries, WO 170/0623 (1944) and WO 170/4480 (1945) only cover operations in Athens. Personal accounts again from Nottinghamshire Archive, the IWM sound archive and Schofield manuscript.
For secondary sources, the best modern account in English of the Civil War is Close (1995). Older accounts by Woodhouse (1976), who was part of the SOE mission, and O’Ballance (1966), a Foresters’ officer but not one of those who saw service in Greece, are still useful, but like the Official History (Jackson, 1988) mostly cover Athens and political events. Chandler (1959) was present in Salonika, and his observations support Forester accounts. Kousoulis (1965) and Iatrides (2000) are useful for the political dimension.
Notes
p. 194 The water truck story is related by Harold Whelbourn, On Active Service p. 57; Johnny Wright, OAS pp. 121–122; and Schofield, OAS, p. 27 and ‘Recollections of an Infantryman’, pp. 120–21. The rumours of where the battalion would be sent from Kenneth (‘Johnny’) Johnson, in OAS p. 174.
p. 195-96 Stores of the flight from Fred Gamble, in More Sherwood Foresters Memories, pp. 102–03, and p. 106; Tom Parr, in MSFM, p. 172–73, Binch, IWM tape #12941, Reel 10; Markham, IWM tape #13561, Reel 13; Beardsall IWM Tape #13853, Reel 5; Smith, IWM tape #13562, Reel 4. and Johnson, OAS p. 174, although he incorrectly names the cruiser as HMS Achilles, also a veteran of the River Plate.
p. 198 For Bakirtzis background see David H Close, Origins of the Greek Civil War, (London/New York: Longman, 1995) p. 107; General Sir William Jackson, The Mediterranean and the Middle East: Vol VI, Victory in the Mediterranean, Part III November 1944 to May 1945. (London: HMSO, 1988) p. 27; also D George Kousoulis, Revolution and Defeat the story of the Greek Communist Party (London: OUP, 1965) pp. 180–81. CM Woodhouse, The Struggle for Greece 1941–1949 (London: Hurst and Company, 2002, first publ. 1976) p. 25, p. 56, p. 98. Woodhouse however says Bakirtzis had not joined EKKA. Bakirtzis’ DSO is recorded in WO 390/14 p. 159.
pp. 198-200 It is difficult to get an accurate number for ELAS manpower. The numbers here are derived from Intelligence reports and OOBs in WO 169/18777, 4th Ind Div. WD, December 1944; and WO 169/18850, 7 Ind Bde WD December 1944, which are broadly consistent and indicate a total strength around 12,000 men. The assessment of its fighting capabilities is from WO 170/5068 ‘SF in Salonika’, p. 3, and Edgar O’Ballance, The Greek Civil War 1944–49, (London: Faber and Faber, 1966) pp. 70–86. The latter’s overall opinion of ELAS effectiveness is less favourable than that in the Foresters’ account.
p. 200 O’Ballance, The Greek Civil War, p. 108, puts total British losses at 2100, including 237 killed. Several men of the 5th Foresters rear party who went by sea to Piraeus were involved in the Athens operations. One unnamed NCO was awarded an honorary lanyard by the 2/5th Leicesters for his role in the fighting.
p. 202 Arrest of local interpreters from WO 169/18777, 4th Indian Div. Intelligence Summary #176, 27 December 1944; WO 170/5068, 5th SF WD, January 1945; WO 169/22277 7th Ind Bde WD, January 1945.
pp. 203-04 The fatal accident at the harbour from Johnson, in OAS, p. 175 and MSFM, pp. 168–170; Seibert, IWM tape #18485, Reel 11; and the war diary for December 1944. There are slight discrepancies, the account here seems to be the most likely sequence of events. Bill Perry was presumably evacuated to hospital in Athens as he was originally buried in Piraeus. All three men were later reburied in Phaleron Military Cemetery in Athens, along with all the other British and Commonwealth Second World War dead in Greece.
p. 204 826 On the lack of real trouble from ELAS see Wilfred Lowe, IWM tape #13345, Reel 4; Beardsall, IWM tape 13853, Reel 5; Hampton, IWM tape #13260, Reel 7; Harrington, IWM tape #18484, Reel 5; Markham, IWM tape #13561, Reel 13.
p. 204 Alexander’s assesment of the situation from C. M. Woodhouse, The Struggle for Greece 1941–1949 (London: Hurst and Company, 2002; first published by Hart-Davis, MacGibbon, 1976), p. 131–32.
p. 206 Relationships with Greek locals from Geoffrey Chandler, The Divided Land: An Anglo-Greek Tragedy (London, McMillan, 1959), pp. 39–40; Harold Mellors Diary, February 1945, Hampton, IWM tape #13260, Reel 7; Beardsall, IWM tape #13853, Reel 5, Wright, IWM tape #19079, Reel 6, Binch IWM tape #12941, Reel 10; WO 169/18777, 4th Ind Div WD December 1944, ‘C’ Military Mission Situation Summary, 25 December 1944, p. 4.
pp. 206-7 For failure of ELAS, see WO 169/18777, ‘C’ Military Mission Situation Summary; WO 170/5068, ‘SF in Salonika’, p. 5; also Chandler, Divided Land, p. 43.
p. 207 Vouliagmeni is still a popular and wealthy holiday resort, but the chalets have been replaced by luxury hotels and some of the most expensive properties in Greece.
p. 207-09 Descriptions of life in Athens from Lord, MSFM, p. 162 and IWM tape #18257, Reel 10; Markham, OAS, p. 40 and IWM tape #13561, Reel 14; Binch, IWM tape #12941, Reel 10; Seibert, IWM Tape #18485, Reel 11; Beardsall. IWM tape #13853, Reel 5; Smith IWM tape #13562, Reel 4; Shephard IWM Tape #13455, Reel 10; Cliff Hughes, in MSFM, p. 124; Eddie Hallett, in MSFM, pp. 182–84; Bedfordshire County Archive (BCA), Li PM/4/2, Letter from John Carlton to Mr G H Clark, 23 Feb 1945. Training details from WO 170/5068, 5th SF WD, particularly ‘Training Instruction 6’, 12 Feb 1945.
p. 210 For implications of the British intervention in Greece, see Close, Greek Civil War, p. 145 and John O Iatrides ‘The International Dimension of the Greek Civil War’, World Policy Journal (2000) pp. 87– 103 (pp. 98–100).