Turkish invasion of Cyprus .281974.29 Hellenic Force in Cyprus

1 turkish invasion of cyprus (1974)

1.1 battles
1.2 classes
1.3 equipment

turkish invasion of cyprus (1974)

during turkish invasion of cyprus, between 20 july , 16 august 1974, eldyk fought against turkish forces in several battles. commander of edlyk, @ time, colonel nikolaos nikolaidis. second in command lieutenant colonel konstantinos papagiannis, during first phase of invasion (20–23 july 1974) , until 9 august, , lieutenant colonel panagiotis stavroulopoulos, 10 august , during second phase of invasion (14–16 august 1974). panagiotis stavroulopoulos deputy commander of eldyk till september of same year. during invasion, eldyk s units dispatches various places in cyprus in order cypriot national guard. along eldyk, greece managed involve airborne battalion in fighting, raising total number of greek troops 1500-2000 men. cypriot national guard managed mobilise fraction of 10,000 force, while total number of turkish invading force, around 40,000.

battles

the notable battles involving eldyk forces @ 1974, were:

location of turkish forces during late hours of 20 july 1974. eldyk contingents in blue.



the battle of paphos (20 july 1974)
attacks against area of kioneli (20–21 july 1974)
the battle of eldyk camp (22–23 july 1974)
the battle of nicosia international airport (23 july 1974)
the battle of lapithos (6 august 1974)
the battle of karavas (6 august 1974)
the battle of vasilia passage (7 august 1974)
the battle of english college (14 august 1974)
the second battle of eldyk camp (14–16 august 1974)

a total of 105 men lost (47 dead , 58 missing). of these men buried in tomb of makedonitissa.

classes

the classes of eldyk fought in 1974 103th, 105th , 107th.

class 103 consisted of soldiers being discharged , due return greece on board greek landing ship tank (ex-uss lst-389) lesvos (greek: Λέσβος ). departed cyprus on 19 july 1974, after arrival of replacement class 107. when invasion started on 20th of july 1974, hellenic navy ordered commander of lesvos (by sailing off rhodes), lt cdr eleftherios handrinos, change course , return cyprus in order disembark troops. same afternoon, ship arrived @ paphos , class 103 disembarked. soldiers class 103 manned ship s guns , on 2 hours shelled turkish cypriot forces in area. turkish cypriot forces surrendered cypriot national guard , weapons , equipment captured. after, men of class 103 moved during night towards nicosia international airport. in morning, arrived @ airport , there reached camp of eldyk.

class 107 composed of new recruits had come replace class 103. arrived @ cyprus on lesvos @ 19 july 1974, 1 day before invasion. unficyp monitored rotation of eldyk s classes , kept hq informed concerning progress of operation. after lesvos disembarkation, unficyp confirmed had brought 410 men , 11 vehicles class 107, , taken out 422 men , 10 vehicles class 103.

equipment

the equipment of eldyk s men @ time were:

m1 carbine (service rifle)
fn fal (soldiers of class 103 equipped these weapons)
captured g3 rifles invading turkish troops.
bayonet
m1 helmet




^ Μακάριος Δρουσιώτης, Επιστράτευση στην Κύπρο στο Βαγγέλης Παναγόπουλος(ed.) Κύπρος 1974: Τα Παρασκήνια της τουρκικής Εισβολής, Ε-Ιστορικά 17 Ιουλίου 2003, σ.27.