... the military wing of the movement. This became known as EOKA, or National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters. The new organisation was supplied with light weapons and explosives smuggled by sea from Greece.
Trouble began to develop in late 1954, with the arrival of British forces – including the HQ Middle East Command – evacuated from Egypt (thereby turning a “colonial backwater” into a major military strategic base for a foreign power), a British ministerial statement that Cyprus would never be granted independence, and the refusal of the United Nations to consider the Cyprus question. Fierce anti-British riots erupted in March 1955, during the court hearings into a ship caught smuggling arms from Greece to Cyprus. On 1 April 1955 a bombing campaign started with attacks on government buildings at Larnaca, Limassol and Nicosia. After further attacks in the autumn, in which policemen and servicemen were killed, Field Marshal Sir John Harding arrived as Governor, declaring a state of emergency, on 27 November 1955. At that time EOKA sought to gain control over the Greek Cyprus community, harness world opinion and wear down the British until they tired of the struggle. The methods which EOKA used to achieve these aims were a skilful blend of propaganda and military action. On the civil front there were riots, disturbances, boycotts, civil disobedience and strikes. On the military side EOKA fought both an urban and a rural campaign, starting with no more than 100 fighters.
The overall strategy employed by the EOKA insurgents was less strictly military than political: they aimed to mobilise domestic opinion and organise it in a manner that would make government impossible. At the same time they applied gradually increasing pressure through selective paramilitary action. The main weapon of EOKA insurgents became bombs: the Governor, Lord Harding, survived an attempt on his life when his servant, an EOKA agent, placed a bomb in his bed: it was one of 2.976 bombs placed by Cypriot Greeks that either failed to explode or were discovered and rendered ineffective by the security forces. Further 1.782 bombs did explode and accounted for damage to the value of GBP 10 million.
EOKA never expected to achieve a military victory over the British: it sought to neutralise the administration and police and eliminate the Special Branch, thereby depriving the British of vitally needed intelligence. But, the main EOKA method had to be by gun and bomb, the chief targets being British servicemen and installations. Aside from the British, the insurgents were also aiming to eliminate political opponents and manipulate the local population for economic and physical confrontations with the authorities. Violence – mainly in form of sniping and street murder, arson, sabotage and bombings, as well as hit-and-run attacks on isolated police stations and patrols – was the critical element in presenting the insurgent case to the outside world.
By contrast, the Brits gave us all they could!
Still, after the declaration of state of emergency, the number of British troops was again considerably increased during 1955, and several new units formed. Reinforcements were airlifted by Shackletons from No.42 Squadron RAF, while No.208 Squadron’s Meteor FR.9s flew patrols from Akrotiri and photo-reconnaissance over the Troodos Mountains. The British Army operated Auster AOP.6s of 1910 Flight from Nicosia, Lakatamia and Kermia at the time, while in May 1954, the Search and Rescue (SAR) Flight equipped with Sycamore HC.14 helicopters was formed by RAF in Nicosia. An additional unit, a Flight of the Internal Security force (ISF) was formed in July 1955, and also equipped with Sycamore HR.14s. Helicopters were used to limited extension in autumn 1955, when the British launched operations “Foxhunter”, “Pepperpot”, and “Lucky Alphonse”, with aim of locating Grivas and his supporters. While many of Colonel’s most trusted associates were captured, together with several arms dumps, all these proved vain attempts. Worst yet: the British suffered their worst losses of the whole conflict in a series of “friendly fire” accidents and in a forest fire that swept through the Paphost Forest at a high speed during the later operation.
http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_454.shtml
Those who accuse suicide bombers of being “indiscriminate killers” but American or British fighter jets being “heroic surgical avengers” are nothing but a joke.
