The Battle of the Pine is the name given in Greek Cypriot sources to an attack on a British army vehicle by the EOKA on 24 November 1955. A team of EOKA guerrillas ambushed the vehicles on the road from Kyperounda to Chandria killing one soldier, Sapper Robert Melson.[1][2]
| Battle of the Pine | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Cyprus Emergency | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 EOKA |
 British Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| George Grivas | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | 1 Vehicle | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Possible 1 Insurgent |
2 dead 2 wounded | ||||||
The next day British troops shot dead a Cypriot who approached the vehicle in which Downing died and failed to answer challenges from British soldiers.[3]
This was one of several comparable incidents at the times which resulted in the deaths of several British servicemen and contributed to the declaration of a State of Emergency on the island.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Pte George McRuvie | Remembrance Pages Page 961 | the British Cyprus Memorial Trust".
- ^ "Chapter 4 Harding strives to suppress the EOKA movement and give a political solution to the Cyprus problem but without success - Archbishop Makarios is exiled to the Seychelles (3 October 1955 - 9 March 1956)", A history of the liberation struggle of EOKA (1955-1959) Archived January 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine accessed 7 November 2013
- ^ "Shots Fired In Cyprus". The Central Queensland Herald. Rockhampton, Qld. 1 December 1955. p. 12. Retrieved 6 August 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "State Of Emergency Declared In Cyprus". The Canberra Times. 28 November 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 11 November 2015 – via National Library of Australia.