March 3, 1957: Memory of the Cypriot hero Grigoris Afxentiou

Grigoris Afxentiou is one of the greatest heroes of the Greek Cypriot struggle against the British occupiers on the island. He was second in command of EOKA and was killed by the British in a battle fought near the Holy Monastery of Machairas.

He was born in the village of Lysi, Famagusta, on February 22, 1928, and upon graduating from high school, he went to Greece to study at the Military Cadet School.

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Then he finally entered the Reserve Officers' School and at the same time studied to enroll in the School of Philosophy.

He also served on the Greek-Bulgarian border as a Second Lieutenant in the infantry and then returned to Cyprus, where he worked as a taxi driver.

He very quickly distinguished himself in the ranks of EOKA, and was given the position of deputy leader of EOKA on the island, with the main goal of the Union of Cyprus with Greece.

During his brief resistance action, he received the nicknames "Zidros", "Rigas", "Aiandas", "Aris", "Mastros" and "Zotos".

The English conquerors rewarded him with 5,000 pounds. However, Afxentiou always evaded them.

On December 12, 1955, Afxentiou and the entire EOKA hierarchy were trapped by the British in the Troodos Mountains, near the village of Spilia. Afxentiou not only led his comrades to safety, but also left the British to shoot at each other and suffer many casualties.

In late February 1957, British security forces received information from a shepherd that Afxentiou and his group were hiding in a cave near the Machairas Monastery in the Troodos Mountains.

So, a detachment of 60 soldiers arrived there on the afternoon of March 2 and surrounded the cave and called on Afxentiou to surrender. The leader of the British detachment, Second Lieutenant Middleton, approached the entrance and shouted: “Drop your weapons and surrender, or we will attack.” Someone replied: “We surrender well.” Four men came out, but not Afxentiou. Middleton called on him again to surrender, but received the proud reply “Molon labe.”

Then, four soldiers rushed into the cave. Afxentiou greeted them with a barrage of fire. The three British retreated in terror, the fourth, a corporal, fell dead.

Middleton then called for additional reinforcements, which arrived immediately by helicopters. The battle continued for 10 hours, without result for the attackers. Faced with the unyielding courage of Afxentiou and after using all kinds of weapons, the British dropped petrol bombs into the cave. Huge flames covered the cave, to soon engulf Afxentiou's body.

The battle ended at 2 am on March 3, 1957. The body of the heroic patriot was found charred and buried the next day at the Nicosia Central Prisons, in the area known today as "The Prisoner's Graves".

The Cypriot hero and fighter for the unification of Cyprus with mother Greece, Grigoris Afxentiou, Was only 29 Years old.

With information from sansimsera.gr