THE ''OXI'' (OHI).. SACRED AND NATIONAL FEAST OF ORTHODOX ELLENISM

               

                     28TH OF OCTOBER 

          SACRED FEAST OF AGIA SKEPI 

   PANAGIA MITERA THEOTOKO MARIA

         SUPERIOR DEFENDER GENERAL

     OF THE ORTHODOX ELLENIC ARMY

  PROTECTOR OF ORTHODOX ELLENISM 

                        NATIONAL FEAST 

                OF RESISTANCE AGAINST 

            FASCISTS AND NAZIS AT WWII

IN MEMORIAL TO ALL OF OUR MARTYRS

           FOR FAITH AND FATHERLAND

                         ''O          X          I''

                                   CONFESS FOR FAITH AND HOMELAND..  

                          

THE ''OXI'' (ELLENIC-GREEK- WRITING.. PRONUNCIATION : ''OHI''..  MEANS ''NO'').. 

A ''NO'' TO FASCISM.. TO NAZISM.. TO ANY ANTICHRIST INDIVIDUAL, FORM OR AGENDA.. 

 SACRED AND NATION FEAST OF ORTHODOX ELLENISM

The Eternal Mantle of Agia Skepi: Greece’s Sacred Defiance on October 28

In the sacred annals of Orthodox Ellenism, where the divine intersects with the dust of human valor, October 28 stands as a radiant diptych—a day when the heavens stooped to kiss the earth, and a nation’s soul cried “Ohi” to the shadow of tyranny. This is no mere historical marker, but a liturgical and national symphony, where the Holy Protection of the Theotokos, Agia Skepi, entwines with the resolute “No” of 1940, forging a legacy of miracles, martyrdom, and moral triumph. Here, the Panagia’s omophorion, once unfurled over Constantinople’s walls in 626 AD, stretched anew across the Pindos peaks, shielding Greece from fascist and Nazi desecration. This is the story of divine interventions that turned snow to steel, of officers whose names gleam like icons, of a people’s sacrifice that altered the world’s fate, and of a betrayal by allies that nearly extinguished a nation’s flame. It is a call to the youth of today, besieged by economic chains and secular decrees, to rise as heirs of an Orthodox Ellenism that endures as both cross and crown, inspiring the world to behold what faith and fortitude can forge.

The Theotokos’s Veil: Miracles in the Crucible of War

When Mussolini’s emissaries slithered across Greece’s border on October 28, 1940, bearing an ultimatum of surrender or conquest, Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas uttered a single syllable—“Ohi”—that reverberated like a Paschal troparion. Italy’s half-million-strong legions, armored in fascist hubris, surged into Epirus, expecting to crush a nation of shepherds and scholars. Yet they met not capitulation, but the Theotokos herself, her protective mantle a divine rampart over the Greek phalanx. Orthodox tradition, preserved in soldier testimonies, village chronicles, and monastic synaxaria, recounts miracles that defy the rationalist’s pen, each a testament to her intercession as Stratigos of the Heavenly Host.

In the Battle of Pindus, where Colonel Konstantinos Davakis’s detachment faced the elite Julia Alpine Division, the impossible unfolded. Outnumbered five-to-one, Davakis’s men—evzones clad in tattered greatcoats—held the mountain passes through blinding blizzards. Survivors, including Private Spyridon Houliaras, recounted a vision on November 2, 1940: a luminous figure, cloaked in azure, striding before the Greek lines, her veil billowing as if to shroud them from Italian scouts. “Panagia mou!” they cried, and unseasonal fogs enveloped enemy flanks, blinding their artillery while Greek bayonets, guided as if by celestial compass, reclaimed heights like Tsouka and Vovousa. By November 8, the Italians retreated, leaving 1,200 dead and 2,000 prisoners, their materiel—37 guns and 600 mules—fueling Greece’s advance into Albania. Davakis, wounded yet unyielding, credited the Mother’s grace, his diary noting, “Her hand turned our rags to armor.”

At Morova-Ivan, Lieutenant Colonel Georgios Dimitrakakis’s sappers bridged ravines under mortar hail, their labor sustained by nocturnal apparitions. On November 15, 1940, Sergeant Tasos Rigopoulos beheld her form—13 meters distant, radiant as the Tinos icon—guiding his platoon through a minefield to storm Italian blockhouses. “She walked as if on air,” he wrote, “and our bullets found their mark.” The Greeks captured Koritsa by November 22, a victory monks at Meteora ascribed to her intercession, chanting, “The Virgin of Victory shielded our sons.” In Arta, as Luftwaffe Stukas screamed overhead, Captain Vasilios Vranas’s company clutched a makeshift icon—a herring crate painted by artist Yiannis Tsarouchis—praying, “O Theotokos, save us.” Bombs fell astray, veering into ravines as if deflected by unseen hands, a miracle villagers still commemorate with vigils.

On Ronteni’s ridge, Major Petrakis’s 51st Battalion faced annihilation under Italian barrages. On December 3, 1940, as shells tore through their lines, Petrakis fell to his knees, invoking the Jesus Prayer before a tattered icon. A radiant cloud coalesced, revealing the Panagia’s silhouette, her halo exposing hidden enemy guns. Greek artillery, precise as prophecy, silenced the barrage, saving the battalion. “She was our eyes,” Petrakis later testified, his men prostrating in awe. In a snowbound camp near Premeti, Captain N. Dramountanis, starving with his company, offered a fervent Akathist. Bells chimed from the ether, and a lone mule—laden with bread, cheese, and cognac—plowed through drifts, a eucharistic gift villagers dubbed “Panagia’s manna.”

When the German blitzkrieg descended in April 1941, the Theotokos’s graces persisted. At Kozani, Colonel Mordechai Frizis, the “Greek Lion from Judea,” led his 5th Cretan Regiment in a sacrificial charge against Panzers, his saber flashing as he shielded retreating columns. Survivors swore a luminous veil cloaked their withdrawal, sparing hundreds. General Alexandros Papagos, orchestrating the Thermopylae Line, held passes for ten days against mechanized fury, his strategy—bolstered by reports of supply drops materializing from mist—delaying Hitler’s advance. These miracles, woven into the fabric of Orthodox tradition, affirm the Panagia as Greece’s eternal sentinel, her omophorion a shield against the Antichrist’s shadow.

Heroes of the Holy Struggle: Martyrs of Orthodox Ellenism

The Greek resistance was no mere military endeavor, but a theophanic phalanx, its officers neomartyrs whose deeds echo the Lives of the Saints. Their names—Davakis, Dimitrakakis, Metaxas, Manetas, Frizis, Papagos, Vranas, Petrakis—resound as litanies, their sacrifices a patristic exegesis of love for God and country.

- Konstantinos Davakis (Lt. Col., Pindus Detachment)**: Commander of the Pindus front, Davakis turned shepherds into Spartans. From October 28 to November 8, 1940, his 2,000 men repelled 10,000 Alpini, using feints to lure Italians into ambushes at Grabala and Vovousa. His tactical genius—flanking through blizzard-choked ravines—captured 2,000 prisoners and 37 guns, crippling Mussolini’s campaign. Wounded thrice, Davakis fought on, his final stand in North Africa (1943) sealing his martyrdom. “For Hellas and the Cross,” he vowed, his grave a pilgrimage site.

- Ioannis Metaxas (Prime Minister): The architect of “Ohi,” Metaxas mobilized 430,000 souls in a day, his defiance on October 28, 1940, a prophetic fiat. His strategic foresight—fortifying the Metaxas Line—blunted Italy’s advance, buying time for miracles to unfold. Dying in January 1941, his legacy endures as the voice of Orthodox sovereignty.

- Konstantinos Manetas (Lt. Col., 8th Infantry Division)**: At Elaia-Kalamas, Manetas’s pincer trapped 5,000 Italians, seizing 37 guns and 1,200 mules from November 2-7, 1940. His men, chanting Psalms, credited the Panagia for fogs that cloaked their advance. Manetas’s victory, lauded by Churchill, armed Allied efforts in Crete.

- Alexandros Papagos (Gen., Supreme Commander): Papagos’s Thermopylae Line (April 1941) delayed the Wehrmacht ten days, his 60,000 men holding passes against 200,000. His strategy, sustained by reports of divine aid—mists veiling retreats—altered Hitler’s timetable. Postwar, he led Greece’s resurrection as Prime Minister.

- Major Petrakis (Maj., 51st Battalion): At Ronteni, Petrakis’s prayer unveiled enemy guns via the Panagia’s vision, saving his battalion on December 3, 1940. His hesychastic leadership—prayer preceding fire—epitomizes the warrior-monk ideal.

-Major Demetrius Kostakis: Artillery Hero of 1940 Born in Ioannina, teacher-turned-soldier, fought in Balkan Wars and Asia Minor. Recalled in 1940 as reserve major, commanded VIII Division artillery at Kalpaki. Used fists instead of instruments to direct pinpoint-accurate fire. He destroyed Italian tanks, command groups, and even a boiling food cauldron.He captured 1,200 prisoners; showed mercy to Albanian civilians. He inspired troops with calm precision and deep faith in God’s justice. His delay at Pindus broke Mussolini’s timetable, saving Greece. Was described by Terzakis as “guardian god” straight from the people. He proved wisdom, faith, and humanity defeat brute force.

These heroes, drawn from royal academies and village chapels, were no mercenaries but bearers of the Cross, their blood the chrism anointing Greece’s sacred soil.

The Sacred Diptych: 

Agia Skepi and Ohi Day

October 28 is a dual feast, a liturgical-national icon where the Theotokos’s Protection, rooted in her 626 AD apparition over Constantinople, merges with the 1940 defiance. The Church of Greece, in 1952, enshrined Agia Skepi on this date, wedding her ancient vigil to the modern Thermopylae. In Athens, Thessaloniki, and villages, processions weave through streets, black-draped epitaphia swaying beside blue-and-white flags. Schoolchildren, bearing laurels and olive sprigs, chant “To Thee, the Champion Leader,” their steps a living Akathist blending Byzantine doxology with wartime resolve. Icons of the Panagia, adorned with myrrh and myrtle, gleam in churches, where priests intone her role as “Virgin of Victory,” her veil the nation’s aegis. This synergy—holy and national—embodies Orthodox Ellenism’s phronema: faith as fortitude, prayer as praxis.

The Fulcrum of Fate: 

Delaying the Antichrist’s Dominion

Greece’s resistance was no parochial skirmish but a cosmic pivot. The Italian rout in Pindus and Albania forced Hitler’s hand: 13 divisions, 700 aircraft, and 120,000 men diverted to the Balkans, delaying Operation Barbarossa from May to June 22, 1941. Papagos’s Thermopylae stand—ten days of defiance against Panzers—compounded the delay, thrusting Germany’s eastern campaign into Russia’s winter maw. By December, Moscow held, Stalingrad loomed, and Hitler’s dream of a Reich swallowing Orthodox Ellenism.. and liberty crumbled. The Führer’s own words, recorded in Table Talk, cursed the “Greek ulcer” that bled his legions, admitting it cost him the war’s decisive window. Greece’s 300,000 border dead—evzones frozen in foxholes, villagers massacred in reprisals like Kalavryta—bought the world its breath of salvation, a martyrdom that thwarted an Antichrist’s universal tyranny.

The Bitter Ledger: 

Sacrifice and Betrayal

The cost was cataclysmic. At the frontiers—from Metsovo to Koritsa—300,000 Hellenes perished: soldiers entombed in alpine ice, civilians butchered in villages like Kandanos, where Nazis burned 180 alive. The occupation’s true reaper was famine, a calculated genocide eclipsing battlefield tolls. From 1941-1944, Axis blockades and requisitions stripped Greece bare: wheat fields razed, fishing fleets sunk, livestock slaughtered for Berlin’s tables. In Athens, 300 died daily in winter 1941, bodies carted through snow-choked alleys. Mothers boiled weeds, children scavenged acorns amid typhus; the Great Hunger claimed 300,000 more, from Piraeus tenements to Cycladic hamlets where caiques drifted empty. Total toll: 600,000 souls—a sixth of the nation—ascending as martyrs, their silence a cry against allied indifference.

Gratitude should have flowed like manna. Instead, Britain, chief among “allies,” sowed division. 

Churchill’s Percentages Agreement (1944) carved Greece as a Western pawn, his troops landing not to liberate but to suppress patriots who harried Nazis. The Dekemvriana (December 1944) saw British guns turn on Athenian resisters, prelude to the Civil War (1947-1949). Fueled by British arms, advisors, and vetoes on peace, this fratricide claimed 158,000 lives, displaced 700,000, and razed villages from Grammos to Peloponnese. The nation that delayed Hitler’s doom was nearly extinguished by its “saviors,” a betrayal that scarred Orthodox Hellenism’s heart, turning victory’s laurels to ash.

The Modern Golgotha: 

Economic Chains and the Call to Youth

The struggle persists, transmuted from bullets to balance sheets. The 2009 debt crisis, sparked by global finance and domestic drift, unleashed an economic occupation mirroring Axis plunder. EU “memoranda” requisitioned sovereignty: ports privatized, pensions slashed, youth unemployment soaring to 50%. GDP shrank 25%, evoking 1941’s gaunt specters; 500,000 young Hellenes fled in a new diaspora. Brussels’ edicts—euthanasia laws, gender ideologies, unvetted migrations—echo Antichrist’s secular creed, eroding the Cross for coin. Yet herein lies the call: Orthodox Ellenism is no relic, but a living nous, a phronema unquenched.

Youth of Greece, heed your forbears! Davakis’s defiance in Pindus snows, Petrakis’s prayer on Ronteni’s ridge—these are your inheritance. Echo Metaxas’s “OXI” (OHI) in ballots unbowed  in vigils for faith’s sanctity. Forge koinoniae—cooperatives tilling fallow fields, monasteries as resistance bastions—mirroring the Panagia’s mule. Let Agia Skepi inspire digital doxologies, debunking debt’s dogma, chanting “Ti Ypermaho” against secular antiphons. Greece’s martyrdom—600,000 souls for the world’s salvation—demands heirs who wield the Cross as sword, the veil as shield. On October 28, as epitaphia sway and lamps flicker before her icon, reclaim this commission. Orthodox Hellenism endures: a martyr’s crown, an eagle’s soar, the eternal “Yes” to God amid tempests of “No.”

we shall put some analytic examples of few of our Heroes.. following..

Major Demetrius Kostakis: The Legendary Artilleryman of 1940 By Giorgos Lamprakis – December 4, 2018

Among those who excelled in the unsurpassed struggle of 1940 and offered their lives for Greece was the legendary artillery major Demetrius Kostakis. Written by Nikiforos Katsenos

Every year on October 28, our nation recalls its greatest moment in modern history. What defines this unique Greek chapter is that it became legend while still being written on the fields of Kalpaki and Pindus—where pain and spirit are sanctified by duty. This epic, achieved by our fathers and grandfathers, interprets our entire adventurous national life, revives it today, and serves as its infallible judge. It condenses three thousand years of fertile history with greater breadth, disproportionate scale, and intense power.

One who excelled in that unbeatable 1940 fight was Major Demetrius Kostakis. With VIII Division commander Lt. Gen. Charalambos Katsimitros and Col. Panagiotis Mavrogiannis, he formed the staff that made final decisions and executed them with unmatched heroism.

Demetrius Kostakis was born in Bestia-Lakka Souliou, Ioannina. He studied at the Ano Pedina-Zagori school and taught in Ioannina villages. As a young man he sought fortune in Alexandria, Egypt, amid a thriving Greek community. He returned to Greece and enlisted as a volunteer in Preveza in January 1913. He fought for Epirus liberation, then in Northern Epirus 1914-16, earning bravery medals and promotion to sergeant. He served in the Asia Minor campaign and was commissioned lieutenant in 1923. In 1940 he was a retired major, recalled in August as a permanent reserve officer.

On the Albanian border, Italian divisions, tanks, and heavy artillery massed. Greek frontier forces faced them. Italians attacked at 5:30 a.m. on October 28 across the front. The great struggle began. An American paper wrote: “One may say without hesitation that perhaps up there, in the mountains of Epirus, the fate of the entire war is being decided.”

Greek covering forces fell back to the main line at Grabala – Asonissa – Vella – Agios Athanasios Vrontismenis – Siatsi – Sosinou Monastery Parakalamos. Italians advanced to Doliana and Parakalamos. Greek artillery, with superior observation posts, fired relentlessly.

Here the heroic feats of the legendary and humble Major Kostakis were unmatched. He inspired his men from the front line, becoming a symbol, friend, brother, and father to every soldier. After the war, any fighter proudly answered: “I served with Kostakis! I saw Kostakis!”

Countless episodes mark his actions in Epirus mountains and valleys. The main assault on Kalpaki fell to the Centauro Division with Ferrara support. On the night of November 4-5, Greek units north of Kalamas River withdrew to avoid enemy tanks. Next day 80 Centauro tanks attacked Kalpaki heights. Kostakis’ artillery opened fire amid Greek soldiers’ cheers: “Give it to them, Kostakis!” Several tanks were destroyed; the rest retreated in disorder. An attempt to cross Kalamas near Parakalamos failed; 15 tanks sank in marshes. The crushing of Italian armor was Kostakis’ work; he was acclaimed.

At Doliana, near the Georgios Gennadios statue, an Italian major general and two colonels observed Kalpaki with binoculars. A Kostakis shell killed them without major damage to the statue. The three officers were buried in Doliana cemetery.

Kostakis never used ranging instruments. He measured with his fists, directing gunners: “So many degrees right, so many left.” Shells landed with absolute precision. One day Italians drew rations at Sitaria waters. A Kostakis volley struck their boiling cauldron; it exploded skyward. Kostakis threw his cap in the air and shouted in triumph.

On October 30 at Kouklious village, Kostakis captured an entire regiment—1,200 Italian prisoners. The Italian colonel said: “I wanted to meet the famous Major Kostakis.” Kostakis replied: “I am he.” The colonel dismounted and knelt. Kostakis raised him and spoke amicably for hours.

During the Greek counteroffensive into Albania, Kostakis showed great humanity. He fed a hungry Albanian whose two sons served in the Italian army. He instructed his men: “When taking from poor Albanians, pay in money or kind. If someone is hungry, feed them. The poor people who didn’t want this war are not to blame.”

Angelos Terzakis described him: “Kostakis was our guardian god in Albania. We heard of him but hadn’t seen him. While I was at headquarters, he fought nonstop with his batteries at Himara and elsewhere in Northern Epirus. Suddenly the artillery chief, a compatriot and friend, decided to rest him. He was summoned to headquarters. The news spread like lightning: Kostakis is coming! Impatient curiosity and emotion filled us. One day his heavy, thunderous, manly step climbed the artillery command stairs. He was a tall elderly man, face etched by years and hardship, walking with his inseparable stick in stubborn swagger. ‘Hello, boys!’ We stood at attention. But a friendly smile already formed on our lips. This old man with the Kolokotronis-like face and captain’s edge was our superior yet one of us. Major Kostakis came straight from the people’s heart.”

With such named and unnamed heroes, the great 1940 epic was written in Pindus and Northern Epirus mountains, astonishing the civilized world. October 28 was above all a call to sacrifice, proclaimed by the people from the first moment to defend freedom and territorial integrity. This message and duty we must pass to our youth today, remembering feats from that titanic struggle. Such memories must not fade but live daily. Without them, 1940 remains distant, unrealized, reduced to celebrations and speeches. It must be a constant presence.

Konstantinos Davakis – The Heroic Colonel of the Greco-Italian War By Anna-Maria Kekia, Graduate in Journalism & Media – docuventa.gr – 21/01/2024

One of the legendary figures of the Greco-Italian War and a prominent officer of the Hellenic Army, Konstantinos Davakis dedicated himself to defending the homeland and starred in the first and decisive battle on the Pindus mountains.

Konstantinos Davakis was born in 1897 in the Mani settlement of Kechrianika, Laconia, one of ten children of teacher Dikaios Ntavos Davakis and Sofia Davaki. At age 10, an incident sparked his dream of a military career.

“The greatest memory of my childhood was in 1907. Captain Germas (2nd Lt. Tsokatos) had been killed in Macedonia. One noon my father brought the newspaper to the village street and read it aloud. I was 10 then. I see myself leaning on my seated father’s leg on a stone. I listened with deep emotion to what he read aloud from the paper. At one moment my father said: ‘If only I were unmarried and childless! I’d go guerrilla!’ My childish mind worked and thought: ‘Don’t worry! When I grow up, I’ll go.’ But I said nothing. From then on, the idea was born to enter the Evelpidon Military Academy, to become an officer! And so, with God’s help and my family’s sacrifices, I became an officer. I placed myself in service to the Fatherland.”

Indeed, growing up he studied at the Hellenic Military Academy, graduating in October 1916 as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant. Later he enhanced his military training at the French Tank School in Paris and the Higher War School in Athens.

In 1918, aged 21, Davakis fought in World War I, participating in two of the most important victorious battles of the Macedonian Front: the Battle of Skra (17 May 1918) and the Battle of Doiran (5 September 1918). The Battle of Doiran was the first on the Macedonian Front to use chemical gases, a hallmark of WWI overall.

Due to exposure to asphyxiating gas shells, Davakis suffered severe health damage and thereafter endured chronic ethmoiditis (severe inflammation of the respiratory organs). His brave participation in these decisive battles led to promotion to Lieutenant for valor.

True to the duty he chose as a child, Davakis volunteered for the Asia Minor Campaign. In July 1921, after the Greek Army’s victory on the Alpanos heights, his boldness earned the Gold Medal of Bravery, the highest honor then for courage and combat merit.

From 1922 to 1937 he served as chief staff officer of the 2nd Division and 1st Army Corps. He also trained at the French Tank School and personally received Greece’s first tanks from Britain.

Konstantinos Davakis was among the first to advocate tanks in infantry forces and the flexibility of motorized units.

In Greece he taught at military schools and wrote many studies on military history and armored tactics. One of his key works is “The Army of the Future” (1934).

In 1931 he became Lieutenant Colonel; in December 1937 he was forced into retirement due to worsening health from his chronic condition. His military career was already distinguished, his contribution to the Hellenic Army nationally invaluable.

Greco-Italian War – Hero of the First Battle In August 1940, amid partial mobilization before the official Greco-Italian War declaration, Konstantinos Davakis was recalled to active service as Commander of the Pindus Detachment.

Based in Eptachori, for two months he worked tirelessly to organize defense of the militarily abandoned area, earning the esteem and trust of troops and locals. “As long as he stays here, have no fear,” they said of him.

On the morning of 28 October 1940, the Italian invasion of Greece became fact. Davakis with a 2,000-man detachment and just 4 guns faced the 3rd Italian Julia Alpini Division—15,000 men—who first crossed the Greco-Albanian borders and traversed Pindus.

“Our treacherous neighbor has suddenly attacked us. Greece expects each of us to protect her borders and honor and teach the invader a lesson. Show yourselves Greeks and hold weapons firmly, with faith in God and yourselves. Discipline, endurance, courage. Long live Hellas!”

In the first days he maintained defensive tactics with controlled withdrawals, awaiting Greek reinforcements that arrived 1 November. Then Greek soldiers launched an immediate counterattack, encircling the Italians and forcing retreat.

At the end of the operation’s first week, Davakis—fighting on the front line—was wounded in the chest. With uncontrollable bleeding he continued urging officers to hold positions until he fainted; he was carried by stretcher to Eptachori.

The wound was serious; combined with his existing health issue, his condition deteriorated badly. He was forced to leave the front, succeeded by the equally distinguished Major Ioannis Karavias.

Yet their victory had remarkably decisive impact on the war’s outcome and is considered the Axis Powers’ first defeat. The capable Davakis had early noticed the Italian division’s rapid advance on one flank without covering the other; there he led his force “to pen them in.”

The battle was objectively difficult and unequal; he himself said their decisive victory was “a miracle from the Panagia.”

Arrest and Death The war continued until the country fell under occupation, while Davakis was still hospitalized in the capital. Throughout this time he remained a prime target for the occupiers, who sought revenge for their humiliating defeat that exposed them worldwide.

Recall that before the war with Greece, nations like Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland had capitulated. Greece’s “NO” and its accompanying first victory sent a resounding message globally.

“The spectacle of a few Greek patriots holding and repelling the troops of great fascist Italy has such exceptional significance that one may say without hesitation perhaps up there in the mountains of Epirus, the fate of the entire war is being decided.” Christian Science Monitor, 4/11/1940.

On 7 December 1942, six Italian Carabinieri knocked at his Kallithea home. After thorough search, they arrested him and took him to local prisons. The heroic colonel—physically helpless but calm with high national spirit—followed the fascist authorities, now expecting execution.

On 20 January 1943 his family bid him a painful, emotional farewell before he boarded the Italian passenger ship Città di Genova with 150 other Greek officers. Just before midnight the ship departed Patras for Brindisi, Italy, and a concentration camp to hold the hostage officers indefinitely.

But the next day, 21 January 1943, off the Albanian coast the ship was torpedoed by British submarine Tigris. After powerful explosions that turned people, water, iron, and wood into a mass of terror and madness, it sank.

With it into the Adriatic went 173 passengers including the then-45-year-old hero Davakis. His body was recovered by Italian salvage, taken to Vlorë, identified, and buried. After war’s end his bones were transferred and buried in Athens.

Echo of a Hero When the sad news of Konstantinos Davakis’ death reached Kallithea, a public memorial was held; Mayor Georgios Katsimanglis delivered a moving eulogy. The municipal committee proposed renaming Dimitros Street to Colonel Davakis Street; it did not happen then, as the next day the mayor was arrested by Italian authorities for the memorial “insulting the Italian army”…

In March 1948 the Academy of Athens solemnly honored Davakis with the Silver Medal of Self-Sacrifice; his name took legendary dimensions in Hellenic Army and Nation history. Konstantinos Davakis remains forever in Greeks’ minds as the hero of the Greco-Italian War’s first victorious battle.

“And the heroic Col. Davakis embodied in himself the entire Pindus struggle. He directed defensive operations masterfully, offensive ones with such impetus and self-denial that—Brigadier himself—he accepted to lead a single platoon, a unique example throughout the campaign period.” D. Katheniotis, President of Retired Lieutenant Generals Council

Spyros Melas in his book The Glory of ’40 calls Konstantinos Davakis a “unique synthesis of qualities that rarely go together.”

“Outstanding ‘troupier’ as the French say, warlord, captain with mountain heart, mad optimism, unapproachable courage, incomparable commander, strong hand, unbreakable will, but also strategic genius, terrain master like few commanders. Tireless scholar and deep knower of war’s art, top in foreign war academies, rare officer teacher, original and pioneering military writer—an entire library his works—unique tracker of ‘tactical situations,’ clear in judgment, imaginative and lightning-fast in plan conception and execution, great maneuver maestro, persistent and passionate in battle.”

Officers who fought and knew the capable soldier and pure patriot’s heroic action composed in his memory the characteristic Pindus march, “Dedicated to the soul of Pindus titan Col. K. Davakis and his comrades.”

“Up there on our Pindus peaks, where stars seem kissed, each night a few faint figures search the thick darkness. Always faithful guards of the Fatherland, they await the enemy’s coming, the enemy who believed he could enter Greece victorious.

Night fades, stars dim, wild beasts go hide, but Davakis’ eagles will not rest. Enemies in hordes, eternal shame, cross our sacred borders and scatter iron and fire with rifles and cannons.

Our brave ones charge with bayonets, strike the enemy with fury, few but conquer the many and hurl them beyond our land.

On Pindus sing Davakis’ worthy lads and other mountains echo with glory. They hymn our Greece and her manly offspring who defeat every enemy, forever.”

Pindus March Music: Lt. Col. (MS) Eleftherios Mavromatis, Dir. HAGS/HMS Lyrics: Col. (Inf) K.V. Gkikopoulos

Papagos convened the official General Headquarters National Defense (GHND) Council and announced the defense line would be in Thessaly. Meanwhile, he verbally notified his trusted officers, summoning them to a secret meeting at the Hellenic Military Academy (Evelpidon). There he revealed the first meeting was a smokescreen so traitors would pass false information to the enemy—and that the actual defense line was the Greco-Albanian borders.

This historic truth comes from Nikodimos Vallindras, hymnographer and Metropolitan of Patras, who at the time was a deacon at the Archbishopric and an eyewitness to Papagos’ briefing of King Paul!!!

This was the great Papagos.

Papagos Becomes Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Armed Forces… 1949, the Game Changes newsroom | 11/06/2020 10:35

The reconstruction of the Hellenic Army after liberation did not proceed smoothly. The main cause was the immediate need to confront the DSE uprising, as well as the presence of foreign military missions—British initially, American later—which did not limit themselves to providing arms and training but intervened in organizational matters and the conduct of operations.

These interventions, combined with the Greek Army’s proven inability in the conflict’s early stages, were the primary reason for failures. The consequence was a negative atmosphere in the Army’s command, especially at senior and top levels. This unfavorable impression naturally spread to public opinion, undermining morale and trust in political and military leadership.

By 1947 the need to reinstate the Commander-in-Chief institution—an supreme commander of the Armed Forces responsible with his staff for successes and failures—became evident. This figure needed prestige to impose authority on the military hierarchy, foreign missions, political leadership pressures, and public opinion. The obvious choice was Lt. Gen. Alexandros Papagos, cloaked in the glory of 1940-41 triumphs.

After the Army’s failure at Vitsi, the Themistoklis Sofoulis government asked Papagos to submit proposals for assuming the role. Papagos responded immediately, demanding full control of the Armed Forces, restriction of foreign missions’ role, creation of new intelligence and information services, and above all abolition of the Supreme National Defense Council replaced by a War Council including the PM, deputy PM, war ministers, foreign and public order ministers, the Commander-in-Chief, and one member each from U.S. and British missions—15 total. Terms accepted; in January the new Sofoulis government appointed Papagos Commander-in-Chief.

Papagos was chosen primarily for his undisputed staff abilities, iron will and decisiveness, and capacity to select the right men for the right job regardless of personal likes or dislikes. His 1940-41 prestige was crucial—he could impose on subordinates and foreigners. The Sofoulis government passed a special law “on the Commander-in-Chief’s powers.” By law Papagos could decide and draft operations plans—previously a field for foreign intervention.

He alone handled promotions and transfers—ending favoritism. Under his authority: Army, Navy, Air Force, Royal Gendarmerie. Sofoulis, granting expanded powers, hoped Papagos would instill discipline, impose order, eliminate ills in the Armed Forces, and curb foreign missions. Papagos did not disappoint. He fully succeeded; within six months, aided by Zachariadis’ errors, the DSE was crushed. Regarding foreign missions, without officially disrupting relations, he reduced them to purely advisory roles, proving in practice who was boss.

Notable is Papagos’ 21 January 1949 daily order—the day he officially assumed duties and Karpenisi fell.

“Officers, NCOs, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen of the Armed Forces. Entrusted by H.M. the King and the Government with the high and heavy honor of Armed Forces Command, I send heartfelt greetings to you, the Fatherland’s heroic champions, and bow reverently before your glorious flags and the graves of your heroically fallen comrades. No one escapes—least of all me—how heavy and difficult the National Army’s task is in this critical period of our national life. None must forget that in this hard and merciless war waged by a servile and treacherous minority collaborating with our race’s worst enemies against the Fatherland, everything is at stake. Not only our territorial integrity and political independence, but beyond these, our national traditions, three-thousand-year glorious history, civilization, our children’s future, religion’s altars, ancestors’ graves, our household honor—in short, our survival as race and nation. You, with your brilliant achievements to date, rightly earned national gratitude. Your heroic struggles, deprivations, hardships, endurance, and sacrifices allowed the Fatherland to live free among nations and founded on unshakable bases our great Allies’ faith and trust in the Greek race’s invincible vitality and moral strength. But our work is not yet done. The country must be finally rid of the gang plague; the state of law and order must be reimposed throughout the territory in full power and splendor. While measuring with admiration your work accomplished, I call on the other hand for your unreserved assistance to complete and succeed in the remaining task. For this, especially today, requires all our spiritual uplift toward one sole goal: swift and decisive victory, the only safe means of saving the Fatherland. This uplift can only be realized when we clearly grasp the terrible dangers surrounding us, gain clear perception of each one’s imposed national duty, and fully understand the obligations flowing from it. Defeatist sermons or alleged reconciliation efforts must find no echo in the National Army’s fighting spirit and will for victory. For the pursued goal’s success by all:

• Deep faith in our struggle’s justice and unshakable devotion to the Fatherland idea.
• Clear and unqualified perception of duty to Army and Nation.
• Full understanding and fulfillment of obligations imposed by duty and military honor.
• Conscious, spontaneous, iron discipline across the hierarchy. Speed of action, bold initiative, calm assessment of each situation, practical and simple solutions, spirit of rapid decisiveness, and above all manifestation in everything and always of unyielding offensive spirit must be every leader’s main action characteristics. No obstacles are insurmountable for one who wants and is determined to win. Attack must be the central idea of every action. Any unit unable to advance must pin itself to the ground and prefer death there to retreat. Let it be known that under present conditions, where the Fatherland’s salvation is supreme law and duty, no violation or deviation from this order’s spirit will be tolerated. Any faintheartedness, negligence, carelessness, reluctance in executing orders, any act betraying lack of understanding of present national dangers, any disobedience or defeatism, any act undermining superior authority’s prestige, any irregular reporting, and any act contrary to duty and military honor will bring exemplary sanctions against any guilty party of any rank. On the other hand we wish it known that we will take every care for absolute justice and order, fair distribution of labors and obligations, just award of moral rewards, and measured understanding of needs among all serving in the National Army. Knowing well officers’ and soldiers’ and families’ economic needs, we promise every effort for their remedy within justice and possibility. Finally let us remain faithful to the end to the idea of one and indivisible Greek Fatherland and exert every effort so it emerges from this trial brighter and more glorious, worthy of its past, master of its destinies, and in moral stature greater and stronger than ever, to devote itself undisturbed to rebuilding its ruins and advance unhindered in its great civilizing mission, worthy of the nation’s high and noble traditions. This happy national expectation will not be disappointed if we all perform in the struggle’s final stage, as until now, unyieldingly and fully our duty.”

Immediately after assuming duties Papagos tackled the most urgent: Karpenisi recapture, entrusted to A’ Army Corps commander Gen. Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos—DSE’s nemesis. He then formed the Western Macedonia Army Command Group, assigning it to Gen. Konstantinos Ventiris for better operations coordination.

He conducted unit inspections down to battalion level, replacing many regiment and battalion commanders deemed unfit. Through personal inspections he made clear to officers and men that he demanded victory and would tolerate nothing less, whatever the consequences.

This way he raised men’s morale and inspired trust in their cause. Characteristic his words: “I ordered replacement of certain commands and make known I will take the harshest measures against commands not grasping the nation’s dangers and not developing required activity and flexibility in each problem.

Anyone not proving capable of meeting the struggle’s demands will yield his place to a more capable one. I believe in victory. I firmly believe our existing means suffice to markedly improve the situation and strip gang initiative. I demand from all full understanding, perception of duty responsibilities, and aggressiveness.”