The Battle of Chora - Agorelitsa was fought on July 19, 1944 between Greek Peoples' Liberation Army (ELAS) against the Nazi occupation forces.

Broader Context

After

Aris Velouchiotis Athanasios Klaras ( el, Αθανάσιος Κλάρας; August 27, 1905 – June 15, 1945), better known by the ''nom de guerre'' Aris Velouchiotis ( el, Άρης Βελουχιώτης), was a Greek journalist, politician, member of the Commun ...

' descend to

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

(based on commands of the

Political Committee of National Liberation The Political Committee of National Liberation ( el, Πολιτική Επιτροπή Εθνικής Απελευθέρωσης, ''Politiki Epitropi Ethnikis Apeleftherosis'', PEEA), commonly known as the "Mountain Government" ( el, Κυβέρ ...

), the Greek Resistance became more active in central and southern Peloponnese to the extent that Peloponnese was considered war zone by the Nazis.

The battle

The National Liberation Front's political organization had informed ELAS that a battalion of the German occupiers would leave

Pylos Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is th ...

and head towards

Gargalianoi Gargalianoi ( el, Γαργαλιάνοι) is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Trifylia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has ...

Kyparissia Kyparissia ( el, Κυπαρισσία) is a town and a former municipality in northwestern Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Trifylia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. ...

. Based on this information, ELAS forces hid on July 17 between Ampelofyto (Agorelitsa) and Chora to ambush the Nazi forces. On July 19, the German military left Pylos and when they reached the location of ELAS forces, the battle started. The victory of ELAS was decisive: ELAS suffered 18 casualties and 8 wounded while the Germans suffered 78 casualties (according to some 180), 30 Germans where taken prisoners and vehicles and war material was captured or destroyed by ELAS. Among the casualties of ELAS was Ilias Sfakianakis, the leader of the battalion that made the ambush.

Commemoration

Each year an event in memory of the fallen of ELAS takes place. The names of ELAS' casualties are: * Ηλίας Σφακιανάκης, Ταγματάρχης (Ilias Sfakianakis, Leader of the Battalion) * Γεώργιος Μανωλάκος (Georgios Manolakos) * Νικόλαος Δημητρακόπουλος/Πλαστήρας (Nikolaos Dimitrakopoulos/Plastiras) * Χαράλαμπος Χάτζος (Charalampos Chatzos) * Γεώργιος Μούντανος (Georgios Mountanos) * Ηλίας Πατικόπουλος (Ilias Patikopoulos) * Παύλος Παυλίδης (Pavlos Pavlidis), nickname Κανάκης (Kanakis) * Γιώργης ΦΙλιππόπουλος (Giorgis Filippopoulos) * Νίκος Στατηγουλέας (Nikos Statigouleas) * Γιάννης Οικονομέας (Giannis Oikonomeas) * Νέστορας Κολοκάθης (Nestoras Kolokathis) * Βασίλης Βασιλικός (Vasilis Vasilikos) * Μιχάλης Παπαθεοδωρακάκης (Michalis Papatheodorakis) * Νικόλαος Σταματελόπουλος (Nikolaos Stamatelopoulos) * Νικόλαος Βλαχαδάμης (Nikolaos Vlachadamis) * Πέτρος Κατελάνος (Petros Katelanos) * Πέτρος Τσαπέκης (Petros Tsapekis) * Παναγιώτης Κομποχόλης (Panagiotis Kompocholis)

References

{{coord missing, Greece German occupation of Greece during World War II Battles and operations involving the Greek People's Liberation Army History of Messenia 1944 in Greece