The Battle of Fardykambos ( el, Μάχη του Φαρδύκαμπου), also known as the Battle of Bougazi (Μάχη στο Μπουγάζι), was fought between the
National Liberation Front (
EAM-ELAS
The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...
) of the
Greek Resistance against the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
troops during the
Axis Occupation of Greece. The battle was notable for the large-scale and spontaneous participation of the local populace, and of officers from other groups and organizations, including right-wing rivals to ELAS.
The three-day battle began with the successful ambush of an Italian transport column on 4 March 1943. The Italian battalion garrisoning the nearby town of
Grevena
Grevena ( el, Γρεβενά, ''Grevená'', , rup, Grebini) is a town and municipality in Western Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the Grevena regional unit. The town's current population is 13,374 citizens (2011). It lies about from Athe ...
came to the column's rescue, but was halted before the town of
Siatista
Siatista ( el, Σιάτιστα) is a town and a former municipality in Kozani regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Voio, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It ...
by Greek partisan forces. The Greek forces continued to swell as reserve officers and ordinary civilians flocked as volunteers to the sound of battle, reaching a force of some 2,000 men. By nightfall on 5 March, the Italian battalion had been surrounded by the Greeks, and after incessant harassment and attacks over the following day, was forced to surrender on the night of 6/7 March. Many weapons and supplies, including field artillery, were acquired by the Greeks, and over 550 Italian troops became prisoners of war. The battle led to the liberation of Grevena from Italian occupation a few weeks later, and was a major sign of the growth of the Greek partisan movement, and the collapse of Italian rule over rural Greece.
Background
![Movement of Italian troops through Patrasso May 1941](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Movement_of_Italian_troops_through_Patrasso_May_1941.jpg)
On 6 April 1941, following a botched
Italian invasion in October 1940,
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
invaded Greece through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. The Greek capital Athens fell on 27 April, and by June, after the capture of
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
, all of Greece was under
Axis occupation. Most of the country was left to the Italian forces, while Bulgaria annexed northeastern Greece and German troops occupied the strategically most important areas. A
collaborationist government was installed, but its authority with the Greek people was minimal, and its control over the country compromised by the occupation authorities, who created a patchwork of separate jurisdictions. As early as the autumn 1941, the first stirrings of a
resistance movement
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
were registered, with attacks on isolated
Gendarmerie
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...
stations in
Macedonia in northern Greece. The establishment of large-scale resistance organizations, most notably the communist-dominated
National Liberation Front (EAM) and its military wing, the
Greek People's Liberation Army
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(ELAS), which proceeded apace in 1942, began to challenge not only the collaborationist government's organs, but also the Italian occupation troops.
On 29 January 1943, ELAS partisans entered the Macedonian town of
Siatista
Siatista ( el, Σιάτιστα) is a town and a former municipality in Kozani regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Voio, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It ...
, attacked the local Gendarmerie station and disbanded it. Lieutenant Thomas Venetsanopoulos and ten more gendarmes even joined the ELAS forces. Siatista thus became the first town in occupied Greece to be liberated.
A few days later, ELAS forces clashed with an
Italian Army
"The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law"
, colors =
, colors_labels =
, march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...
company near the village of Snichovo (modern
Despotis
Despotis () is a village of the Grevena municipality. Before the 1997 local government reform it was a part of the community of Agioi Theodoroi. The 2011 census recorded 15 residents in the village.
See also
* List of settlements in the Grevena ...
). As a result, the Italians engaged in
reprisals
A reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them. Since the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (AP 1), reprisals in the laws of war are extremel ...
against the civilian population: in the provincial capital of
Grevena
Grevena ( el, Γρεβενά, ''Grevená'', , rup, Grebini) is a town and municipality in Western Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the Grevena regional unit. The town's current population is 13,374 citizens (2011). It lies about from Athe ...
, the Italian battalion garrisoned there executed seven civilians, while the ''
Lancieri di Aosta'' cavalry regiment burned villages in the area of the
Karvounia mountains.
Battle
The battle comprised two different but connected engagements: an ambush on 4 March, at the pass of Vigla, against an Italian transport column, followed by the second and main battle at Fardykambos, on 5–6 March, against the Italian garrison of Grevena that set out to relieve the transport column.
4 March
On 4 March, ELAS forces from Siatista, augmented with Reserve ELAS members from the surrounding villages, some 200–250 men in total, ambushed an Italian convoy heading for Grevena from
Korce via
Florina
Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'.
The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
and
Kozani
Kozani ( el, Κοζάνη, ) is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmona ...
. The ambush took place in the narrow pass of Bougazi between the mountains of Sniatsiko and Bourino, at the location known as Vigla, some 3 km from Siatista itself.
The partisans were armed with shotguns and antiquated
Gras rifle
The Fusil Modèle 1874 or Gras was the French Army's primary service rifle from 1874 to 1886. Designed by Colonel Basile Gras, the Gras was a metallic cartridge adaptation of the single-shot, breech-loading, black powder Chassepot rifle. It was de ...
s, axes, and
damascened knives, but were able to knock out the first and ninth lorries in their opening salvo, trapping the bulk of the convoy; only the tenth lorry, at the rear of the column, managed to turn around and escape. The battle lasted for three hours, and was ended when the partisans closed in for hand-to-hand combat, whereupon the Italians surrendered. Of the 180 Italians in the convoy, 15 lay dead and 34 were wounded, who were handed over to
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
representatives. The rest were taken prisoner. The partisans suffered only three lightly wounded.
The lorries, five of which were in running order, contained large quantities of food, a mortar, a heavy and ten light machine guns, as well as rifles and ammunition were captured and carried off.
In the meantime, when the convoy became overdue in Grevena, the local commander, Perrone Pasconelli, sent a company in four lorries to look for it, but it was halted by hastily drawn together ELAS reserves, comprising mostly old men and very young boys, at the
Aliakmon River
The Haliacmon ( el, Αλιάκμονας, ''Aliákmonas''; formerly: , ''Aliákmon'' or ''Haliákmōn'') is the longest river flowing entirely in Greece, with a total length of . In Greece there are three rivers longer than Haliakmon, Maritsa ( el ...
bridge.
As a result, early in the afternoon, the rest of the Grevena garrison set out, 600 men in total, leaving behind only a skeleton guard. The arrival of night forced the Italians to halt at the site of the earlier skirmish near the village of
Agios Georgios, while ELAS mobilized every available man from
Vogatsiko
Vogatsiko ( el, Βογατσικό, ''Vogatsikó'') is a village and a community in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia, located at the southeast corner of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit. ...
,
Tsotyli
Tsotyli ( el, Τσοτύλι, also Τσοτίλι - ''Tsotili'') is a village and a former municipality, now part of the Voio municipality. Before the 2011 local government reform it was the seat of the municipality of Tsotyli. The municipal unit ...
, and
Neapoli, and the local inhabitants of Siatista and the neighbouring villages flocked to assist them, raising their strength to some 600 men.
Among the people flocking to the sound of the battle were also many regular and reserve officers who were not members of ELAS; some were even members of right-wing organizations such as EKA. Nevertheless, the ELAS command welcomed them and assigned them various commands. The same happened with nearby Gendarmerie units that flocked to the battle, including the entire Gendarmerie garrison of
Servia, under its commander Charalambos Koutalakis, as well as the guard installed by the Germans at the Aliakmon bridge.
5 March
On the morning of March 5, the Italians managed to cross the Aliakmon bridge and reach the defile where their supply convoy had been captured. Around noon, the Italians regrouped at a site near the crossing of the Kozani-Grevena-
Kastoria
Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
road, where there were many cultivated fields and vines, known as Fardykambos. In the afternoon, the Italians attacked the partisan positions on then heights south of Siatista, using the three mountain cannons they had brought with them to great effect. Despite heavy resistance, the Italians advanced with determination, reaching the outskirts of the lower town of Siatista.
At this point, the ELAS leadership decided to outflank the Italians, sending one group, under Tasianopoulos, Skotidas, and Foteinos, to attack them from the west, while 25 men from the village of
Polylakkos, under Second Lieutenant Dimitrios Papagianopoulos, crossed the Aliakmon by swimming, and attacked the Italian battalion's command post. At the same time, the ELAS detachment from Grevena attacked the Italian battalion from the south, forcing it to fall back to Fardykambos. At one point, the partisans even came close to the Italian commander's tent, until nightfall forced an end to combat.
As the battle had reached a critical phase, the local EAM leadership called on the retired army officer, and member of the right-wing
Panhellenic Liberation Organization
The Panhellenic Liberation Organization ( el, Πανελλήνιος Απελευθερωτική Οργάνωσις (ΠΑΟ), ''Panellinios Apeleftherotiki Organosis'' (PAO)), was a Greek resistance organization against the Axis occupation of Gr ...
(PAO), Major Ioannis Kontonasios, to take over the general command of the partisan forces. Kontonasios, with Captain Athanasios Dafnis as his staff officer, established his headquarters in the monastery of the village of
Mikrokastro
Mikrokastro ( el, Μικρόκαστρο) is a village and a community of the Voio municipality. Before the 2011 local government reform it was part of the municipality of Siatista
Siatista ( el, Σιάτιστα) is a town and a former munici ...
, and ordered the complete encirclement of the Italian column.
Throughout the night, local people and fighters continued to flock to the battlefield; by the dawn of 6 March, the Greek forces surrounding the Italians numbered over 2,000 men.
6 March
The next day, the local population continued arriving in droves to witness the battle and encourage their own. In the words of Dominic Eudes:
Nevertheless, the Italians held out during the day, beating off two concerted attacks by the partisans. The Greek attacks were hampered by the presence of Italian aircraft, although many partisans resorted to the trick of laying their cloaks over rocks and letting the Italian pilots strafe them. Other Italian aircraft dropped supplies by parachute, but many landed in the hands of the partisans instead.
Finally, under the pressure of the partisans, thirst, and hunger, towards the evening Major Pasconelli appeared before Reserve Lieutenant Dimitrios Zygouras (nom de guerre "Palaiologos"), and surrendered.
His horse, riderless and in panic, galloped off in the direction of Grevena, where it arrived early on the next day, bringing to the remaining Italian soldiers there the news of the disaster.
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, of whom 45 wounded; the partisans claimed 20 dead Italians. 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. Some 4,000 troops sent by the
36th ''Forlì'' Infantry Division in
Larissa
Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...
to assist, having arrived in Servia on the evening of 5 March, torched the city in retaliation.
The captives were led to Siatista, where the Italian Major was allowed to phone the Italian commander-in-chief in Greece, General
Carlo Geloso
Carlo Geloso (Palermo, 20 August 1879 – Rome, 23 July 1957), was an Italian general during the Second World War. In 1939, he assumed command of the Italian forces in Albania. In 1940, he served as commander of the 11th Army during the Greco-It ...
, to report his surrender "to partisan forces superior to our own". At Palaiologos' 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 town. The Italians were eventually led to a prisoner of war camp in
Pentalofos, where they remained for the next 18 months.
Total Italian casualties in the three-day battle are variously reported by Palaiologos as 95 dead and 644 prisoners (including 79 wounded), while other sources calculate the total number of prisoners at 553 (17 officers and 536 other ranks).
Aftermath
The battle was "the most important battle of the later winter" in the rapidly developing Greek guerrilla movement. Two weeks later, on 21 March, another Italian battalion moved from Larissa to Grevena, clashing with partisans on the way but reaching its target, where it evacuated the remaining Italian garrison. Grevena was abandoned for good, and became one of the first towns of Axis-occupied Europe to be liberated. On 25 March, the
anniversary
An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints ...
of the proclamation of
Greek independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
, ELAS troops paraded through the city and were blessed by the city's bishop. The victory also greatly increased morale in the region and the profile of ELAS—which also for the first time acquired artillery. In the following months, the effective strength of ELAS in western Macedonia rose from about 50 to 2,000 men.
The Battle of Fardykambos was part of a general flowering of the Greek armed resistance movement, and the concurrent retrenchment of the Italian occupying forces: already on 12 March the Italians evacuated
Karditsa
Karditsa ( el, Καρδίτσα ) is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa regional unit of region of Thessaly.
Inhabitation is attested from 9000 BC. Karditsa ls linked with GR-30, the ...
and abandoned it to ELAS control, and on 22 April, the Italians abandoned
Metsovo
Metsovo ( el, Μέτσοβο; rup, Aminciu) is a town in Epirus, in the mountains of Pindus in northern Greece, between Ioannina to the west and Meteora to the east.
The largest centre of Aromanian (Vlach) life in Greece, Metsovo is a large re ...
, a vital communication node between eastern and western Greece. This withdrawal was not always peaceful—on 12 March, an Italian motorized column razed the village of
Tsaritsani
Tsaritsani or Tsiaritsiani ( el, Τσαριτσάνη, or el, Τσαρίτσιανη, ) is a village and a community of the Elassona municipality. Before the 2011 local government reform, it was an independent community. The 2011 census recorded ...
, burning 360 of its 600 houses and shooting 40 civilians—but it led to the creation of liberated zones in much of the interior of Greece; on 16 April an Italian report noted that "control throughout the north-east, centre and south-west of Greece remains very precarious, not to say nonexistent".
References
Sources
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{{Greece during World War II
1943 in Greece
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March 1943 events
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Fardykambos
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Italian occupation of Greece during World War II
Siatista