Jimski999 wrote:Hello Eric
A very interesting post and also very informative.
My friend Chris is a refugee from Morphou; he fought against the Turks at Nicosia Airport where he was badly wounded and ended up being flown to the UK for treatment. He recalls how after fighting the Turks to a standstill on the perimeter of the airport they eventually ran out of ammunition and during the night how British Army trucks appeared behind their positions with boxes of ammunition to replenish their stocks and this went on until the cease fire. Chris bears no ill will towards the TC’s; he said he was not fighting against them he was fighting against the Turkish invaders and before that he was fighting against the “Effing” Greeks who were trying to overthrow his government. Strange times indeed; if the conflict was just black and white it would make everything so much easier but as you said there are so many shades of grey.
Jimski999
Hi Jimski,
You're talking about a really critical part of the 1974 war - the battle for Nicosia International. A hell of a lot could have turned on the events up there. Have you read A Business Of Some Heat, by former UNFICYP commander Brig Francis Henn, where he expanded on stuff he wrote earlier in Peacekeeping International? I read open-mouthed of how regular military personnel at RAF Nicosia withdrew unannounced under cover of smoke, leaving their UN colleagues exposed without proper communications at the height of the fighting. Not Britain's finest hour - particularly since many of the peacekeepers had only just exchanged their UK caps for blue berets. I did this case study as a presentation while I was in the reserve forces - it had a mixed reception!
The other interesting aspect was how close the UN went to war with Turkey over the fight for Nicosia airport. The UN force command was under orders to protect the airport at all costs (this had been previously agreed by the Greek and Turkish sides). When the Turks continued their advance on the airport, the UN on the ground asked UNHQ in New York for orders. They were told to "play it by ear". Under threat of air strikes made by fairly junior UN officers, Turkey backed down. All pretty heavy when you consider the original UN mandate was based on maintaining bi-communal relations and not heavy duty military stand-offs with massive international implications.
I'm sending you a PM to see if I can get in touch with your buddy. I'm always on the lookout for first-hand accounts of the Cyprus conflict.