Bralos or Brallos ( el, Μπράλ ��ς) is a village located on the slopes of Mount Kallidromon in

Phthiotis Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is border ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It is part of the municipality

Amfikleia-Elateia Amfikleia–Elateia ( el, Δήμος Αμφίκλειας-Ελάτειας) is a municipality in the Phthiotis regional unit, Central Greece, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town of Kato Tithorea. The municipality has an area of 533.32 ...

. The town can be found along

European route E65 European route E65 is a north-south Class-A European route that begins in Malmö, Sweden and ends in Chania, Greece. The road is about in length. Route * **: Malmö ( ) – Ystad *Gap (Baltic Sea) ** Ystad - Świnoujście * **: Świnou ...

, and is served by

Bralos railway station Bralos railway station ( el, Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Μπράλου, Sidirodromikós stathmós Bralou) is a railway station in Bralos, Greece. The station opened on 8 March 1904., along with the rest of the line. It is served by ...

History

In October 1917, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the 49th Stationary Hospital was established at Bralos along with rest and recuperation camps for Allied troops. It remained in use until April 1919. Many of the dead from the hospital—chiefly from the

influenza epidemic Flu season is an annually recurring time period characterized by the prevalence of an outbreak of influenza (flu). The season occurs during the cold half of the year in each hemisphere. It takes approximately two days to show symptoms. Influen ...

—are buried in the Bralo British Cemetery. It contains 101 burials, 95 of which from the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

. Bralos was also the site of fighting between

troops and the Germans in the

Battle of Thermopylae (1941) The Battle of Thermopylae, on 24–25 April 1941, was part of the German invasion of Greece during World War II. Background Following the retreat of Allied forces from the mountain passes at Olympus and Servia, British Commonwealth forces beg ...

. On 12 January 1947, 300 guerrillas led by

Captain Diamantis Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, of the

Democratic Army of Greece The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; el, Δημοκρατικός Στρατός Ελλάδας - ΔΣΕ, Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas - DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At ...

took the Bralos railway station by surprise at 14:00 local time, when the train pulled into the station. The guerrillas destroyed the radios, called on the passengers to get off the train, and separated the civilians from the soldiers. Captains Stathakopoulos, Nikolopoulos and gendarme Kastanas resisted the takeover, who were killed in the ensuing exchange of gunfire. The guerrillas sat at the station for an hour and a half, blew up the chimney of the locomotive and set fire to the train, resulting in the burning of two

wagons A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

. They then left in cars, taking with them about 20 captives, various supplies and the station's cash register, and took refuge in Oiti. Both the Army and

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, ...

forces pursued them without result.

Demographics

The following table includes the demographic development of Bralos settlement:

Transport

Road

The town can be found along

Rail

The village is served by

, with local stopping services to

Tithorea Tithorea ( el, Τιθορέα), is an ancient place with more than 4,000 years of human history. A part of the municipality of Amfikleia-Elateia, in Phthiotis, Greece, it had a population of 630 in 2011, and is situated 156 km from Athens. ...

and

Leianokladi Leianokladi ( el, Λειανοκλάδι) is a village and a former municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lamia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 8 ...

References

Populated places in Phthiotis World War I cemeteries {{CentralGreece-geo-stub