Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

Chapter 6
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> American equivalent, OSS, which also had a presence in Greece by this time.
ELAS used <strong>the</strong> opportunity to consolidate <strong>the</strong>ir position <strong>and</strong> terrorise Greek communities
which <strong>the</strong>y claimed were ei<strong>the</strong>r associated with EDES or which seemed to be Royalist
in persuasion. In early September, as ELAS tried to take control of <strong>the</strong> Peloponnese, a
massacre of innocent civilians occurred in <strong>the</strong> north-west of <strong>the</strong> peninsula in a town
called Pyrgos. This prompted <strong>the</strong> first l<strong>and</strong>ing of British troops. The massacre lasted for 48
hours, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re were very few male survivors. Accounts from British War Diaries are very
graphic <strong>and</strong> very affecting; <strong>the</strong>y refer to <strong>the</strong> Greek survivors kissing <strong>the</strong> boots of Special
Boat Service (SBS) personnel <strong>and</strong> Royal Marines who secured <strong>the</strong> area. 207
As <strong>the</strong> SBS <strong>and</strong> Marines proceeded towards A<strong>the</strong>ns, <strong>the</strong>y found that Greek hospitality
slowed <strong>the</strong>m down more than <strong>the</strong> Germans. The Greek population had been terrorised
<strong>and</strong> starved for most of <strong>the</strong> German occupation, but <strong>the</strong>y gave everything <strong>the</strong>y had.
This was a civilian population existing right on <strong>the</strong> edge, <strong>and</strong> was, <strong>the</strong>refore, extremely
susceptible to <strong>the</strong> rhetoric of ELAS <strong>and</strong> its political wing, EAM. Many Greeks still did
not underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> connection between ELAS/EAM <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Communist Party, as EAM
had been very careful to hide <strong>the</strong> Communist agenda. 208 But <strong>the</strong>re were also widespread
rumours of a Communist plan to massacre 60,000 civilians in <strong>the</strong> capital, <strong>and</strong> this led to
an increasing climate of fear among <strong>the</strong> populace <strong>and</strong> a rapid deployment of two brigades
(drawn from 2nd Parachute Regiment <strong>and</strong> 23rd Armoured Division) on 13 October. 209
This massed slaughter did not occur, but <strong>the</strong> British troops, comm<strong>and</strong>ed by Lieutenant
General Ronald Scobie, found <strong>the</strong> Communists well entrenched in A<strong>the</strong>ns. ELAS forces
had secured most of <strong>the</strong> countryside <strong>and</strong> now <strong>the</strong>ir urban strategy was unfolding. The
Communists had developed a two-phase strategy for controlling cities. Phase 1 involved
increased political indoctrination of <strong>the</strong> populace (performed by <strong>the</strong> Greek Communist
party <strong>and</strong> ELAS’s political wing, referred to as EAM) 210 , anti-government demonstrations,
<strong>and</strong> assassination of key government officials, collaborators, <strong>and</strong> royalists. Phase 2 was
<strong>the</strong> coup. Communications would be cut, police stations <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r government buildings
would be occupied, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> media controlled.
In December, events moved rapidly. On 3 December, militant demonstrations occurred
in A<strong>the</strong>ns <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> police force had difficulty containing ELAS violence. Shots were
fired during <strong>the</strong> main demonstration, <strong>and</strong> although it is still unclear as to who fired <strong>the</strong>
first rounds, <strong>the</strong> Communists blamed <strong>the</strong> police for <strong>the</strong> escalation in violence. The RAF
Regiment stepped in <strong>and</strong> played a crucial role in containing <strong>the</strong> violence, using armoured
cars, but when a number of civilian protesters were killed, <strong>the</strong> signal was given by ELAS for
a coup. The next day, General Scobie ordered ELAS to leave A<strong>the</strong>ns <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> surrounding
countryside. Yet that night an ELAS force of over 5,000 personnel advanced on <strong>the</strong> city,
taking over most police stations <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r key government buildings. When dawn broke
next morning, <strong>the</strong> A<strong>the</strong>nians began to get a flavour of <strong>the</strong> Communists’ ruthlessness.
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror” 101