The sabotage at RAF Akrotiri was an EOKA sabotage operation executed by EOKA members in the district of Limassol inside the RAF Akrotiri base between November 25 and 26 1957.[3]
| Sabotage at RAF Akrotiri | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Cyprus Emergency | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 EOKA | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Panikos Sotiriou | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3 | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
5 aircraft and 1 hangar destroyed
| ||||||
Preparations for the attack
editEOKA leader George Grivas gave the operation order for a sabotage operation to take place inside RAF Akrotiri against the aircraft and hangars, wishing for people who also knew the inside of the base and other technicalities as well.[4] As a result of this, Panikos Sotiriou found Andreas Vassiliou, who worked at the bases as an electrician and on the planes.[5]
Attack
editOn November 25, at approximately 1pm, whilst the other workers were elsewhere and a British soldier was inspecting another aircraft, Andreas put a bomb on one of the Electric Canberras by the fuel tank, moving on, later placed another bomb on another canberra.[6][7]
In the evening when he had left the bombs had failed to go off and came back the next day (26 November), albeit dangerous in case of explosion, and continued to work until 16:00 that day.[8] At about 16:30, two very loud explosions were heard in the base and other explosions happening as a result of the original two, firefighters immediately responded to the fire but struggled to control it.[9]
Aftermath
editAs a result of the operation, five aircraft in total were destroyed, four of them being the electric canberras and another being a De Havilland Venom, the hangar, also being destroyed.[10][11]
Colonel Grivas expressed his satisfaction about the outcome of the operation and was considered the most catastrophic sabotage against all British forces worldwide at the time.[12][13] Greek sources claiming the damage overall cost the British government £4.5 million (then) however British government sources claim it was £470.000.[14][15]
References
edit- ^ https://sixsqnassociation.org.uk/about/1957-1974/
- ^ https://aviation-safety.net/asndb/type/CNBR/2
- ^ "26 Νοεμβρίου 1957, η ΕΟΚΑ χτυπά την αεροπορική βάση Ακρωτηρίου". NeaKypros: Τελευταία Νέα Κύπρος (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "Συγκλονιστική μαρτυρία για το μεγάλο σαμποτάζ που έγινε από την ΕΟΚΑ (ΒΙΝΤΕΟ) | AlphaNews.Live". www.alphanews.live (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "Ο παππούς μου… ένας αγωνιστής | Τρίτου Ματιά". schoolpress.sch.gr. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "Σαμποτάζ στην καρδιά της αποικιοκρατίας". Φιλελεύθερος | Philenews (in Greek). 2022-04-01. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "Incident English Electric Canberra B.2 WF886,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "Σαμποτάζ στην καρδιά της αποικιοκρατίας". Φιλελεύθερος | Philenews (in Greek). 2022-04-01. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "26 Νοεμβρίου 1957, η ΕΟΚΑ χτυπά την αεροπορική βάση Ακρωτηρίου". NeaKypros: Τελευταία Νέα Κύπρος (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "UK Military Aircraft Losses". www.ukserials.com. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "1957 – 1974 – 6 Squadron RAF Association". sixsqnassociation.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "26 Νοεμβρίου 1957, η ΕΟΚΑ χτυπά την αεροπορική βάση Ακρωτηρίου". NeaKypros: Τελευταία Νέα Κύπρος (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ Grivas, Georgios. Foley, Charles (ed.). The memoirs of General Grivas-Guerilla Warfare and EOKA's struggle. Translated by A. Pallis, Alexandros (1.1 ed.). United Kingdom. p. 117. ISBN 9798771582504.
- ^ "Ο ζωντανός θρύλος της ΕΟΚΑ, Ανδρέας Βασιλείου, στην Όμορφη Πόλη/ Ο Σύλλογος Κυπρίων Ξάνθης τον τιμά και τον συστήνει στους Ξανθιώτες την Παρασκευή". Όμορφη Πόλη. 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "R.A.F. Station, Akrotiri (Damaged Aircraft) (Hansard, 5 November 1958)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2024-02-04.