Nikolaos Kladas ( el, Νικόλαος Κλαδάς) was a

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

officer who reached the rank of major general. He was born at

Lixouri Lixouri ( el, Ληξούρι) is a town and a municipality in the island of Kefalonia, the largest of the Ionian Islands of western Greece. It is the main town on the peninsula of Paliki, and the second largest town in Kefalonia after Argostoli a ...

in 1871. After studies in the

Hellenic Army Academy The Hellenic Army Academy ( el, Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in G ...

, he was commissioned an artillery lieutenant in 1892. He fought in the

Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War ( el, Ατυχής πόλεμος, Atychis polemos), was a w ...

and in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

of 1912–1913, where he distinguished himself by saving his battery during the Battle of Sorovich. Kladas was respected for his professional erudition, and wrote a number of studies on tactics, including the first Greek treatise on the use of the

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

in the battlefield. During the mobilization of 1915, as a lieutenant colonel, he chose to command a battalion of the 1st Field Artillery Regiment, before being appointed as deputy commander of the Army Academy. As a royalist, he was dismissed in 1917–1920, but returned after the November 1920 elections, taking over command of the 11th Infantry Division in the

Asia Minor Campaign Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Afr ...

. He led his unit in the region of

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; el, Νικομήδεια, ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocletia ...

, and later around

Bilecik Bilecik is the provincial capital of Turkey's Bilecik Province which is located in northwestern Anatolia. As of 2015 urban population of the city is 64,531. The mayor is Semih Şahin ( CHP). The town is famous for its numerous restored Turki ...

. During the Greek retreat in August 1922, he was cut off around Prousa by Turkish cavalry, and captured with his division while trying to reach Moudania. During his captivity at Mocissus, he tried to commit suicide by poison. Quick medical assistance saved his life, and he was released early, on account of his damaged health, in February 1923.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kladas, Nikolaos 1871 births 20th-century deaths 19th-century Greek military personnel 20th-century Greek military personnel Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897) Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Greek prisoners of war Hellenic Army generals Prisoners and detainees of Turkey People from Paliki