CADRES OF THE DEMOCRATIC ARMY OF GREECE

CADRES OF THE DEMOCRATIC ARMY OF GREECE

Order issued by the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece for the appointment of DAG officers.

Following the establishment of the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece on December 23, 1947, on the basis of the Procedure under Provision No. 11 of the General Command and Law No. 1, the Provisional Democratic Government issued the following:

We are pleased to appoint the following officers in the ranks of the Democratic Army of Greece:

A. Generals: Markos Vafiadis

B. Lieutenant Generals: Protopapas Sarandis-Kikitsas

C. Major Generals: Vontisios Giorgios – Gusias, Gkenios Thanasis – Lasanis, Gkanatsios Vasilis – Himaros, Theoharopoulos Nikos, Kanakaridis Nikos and Blanas Giorgios.

D. Colonels:

1. Infantry: Venizanopoulos Vasilis. Kalianesis Giorgios, Kapatanios Evripides, Katemis Giorgios, Maltezos Gerasimos and Samaridis Giorgos. 2. Artillery: Kilismanis Giannis and Papagiasis Stefanos. 3. Cavalry: Scandalis Iraklis. 4. Aviation: Makridis Savas and Manias Giannis. 5. Political Commissars: Voutousianos Mitsos, Evripidis Georgios, Zografos Zisis, Coligianis Kostas, Bardzhiotas Vasilis, Stringos Leonidas and Hadzhis Thanasis.

E. Lieutenant Colonels:

1. Infantry: Alexandrou Giannis-Diamandis, Georgiadis Georgios, Giakoglou Nikos, Gianoulis Georgios, Zigouras Dimitris, Iliadis Sofianos, Koukoulidis Georgios, Kalinos Theodoros, Kanelopoulos Kostas, Kariofilis Gianis, Kanelopoulos Georgios, Kontaxis Anastasios, Kirandzopoulos Dimitris, Papadimitriou Ilias, Papastergiou Levteris, Prekezes Giorgios, Raftis Kostas, Rosios Alekos-Ipsilantis, Spanos Tomas, Stathakis Manolis, Sfakianos Georgios, Terzoglou Nikos, Tselifis Tomas, Tombulidis Pavlos, Triandafilou Nikos, and Florakis Harilaos. 2. Artillery: Iosifidis Kostas. 3. Aviation: Gerogakopoulos Georgios and Ndrenas Leonidas. 4. Political Commissars: Vasvanas Vangelis, Vetas Fokion, Giouzelis Stefanos, Mandilas Nokos, Rogakos Vangelis and Tiroumidis Kiriakos. 5. Sanitation: Sakelariou Epaminontas.

F. Majors:

1. Infantry: Asuras Georgios, Vais Hronis, Kardasis Thanasis, Belogianis Nikos, Papadopoulos Vangelis and Florou Arhimidis. 2. Artillery: Margas Kostas. 3. Cavalry: Stylianopoulos Vasilis. 4. Saboteur: Ageloulis Antonis – Vratsanos. 5. Political Commissars: Akritidis Nikos, Grigonas Kostas, Koutsomarkos Georgios and Pektadis Mihalis. 6. Sanitary: Skoufis Takis.

G. First Class Captains:

1. Infantry: Georgiadis Stelios, Exarhos Leonidas, Iliadis Kostas, Papadimitriou Tomas, Zgouromalis Manolis and Stefanos Stavros. 2. Saboteurs: Samarakis Agisilaos, Solias Mihalis and Sioulas Vasilis.

H. Captains:

1. Infantry: Adamas Alekos, Getsos Pandelis, Zahariadis Avram, Zokas Zisis, Kavredzis Kostas, Kaminaris Vasilis, Kondoros Dimitrios, Korologos Gianis, Kohliadis Gianis, Lambrakis Poanos, Matsis Georgios, Batsis Odiseas, Milonas Georgios, Nikolakopoulos Spiros and Forfolios Vangelis. 2. Saboteurs: Vitoukas Nikos.

I. Lieutenants:

1. Infantry: Vitos Hristos, Vlahou Dimitrios, Galatsos Kostas, Kalinou Gergia, Kanakis Dimitris, Karagianis Pantelis, Karastatis Thanasis, Katsounis Dimitris, Koukoumlilakos Kleantis, Kostopoulos Hristos, Porliaras Savas, Portokilidis Gianis, Tastanidis Ahileas, and Terzopoulos Theodoros. 2. Department of Radio Communications: Karalas Vasilis and Poniros Stelios. 3. Sanitary: Ktena Lefteria. 4. Political Commissars: Mihopoulos Nikos.

Provisional Democratic Government Base, December 28, 1947 DAG President and Minister of the Military General Markos

Note: Among the entire DAG military leadership and DAG officers named above only one Macedonian was promoted to lieutenant, which again confirms that we Macedonians were not a military or political factor in the Greek Civil war, as our mainstream historiography claims.

So the question here is: How and why did we Macedonians contribute more than 60% of DAG’s military resources without demanding to have their own leadership and their own headquarters?

Overview: CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN 1947

Date Description of events or documents

2.1947 The United Kingdom (England) informed the US Government that for economic reasons it would cease to support Greece as of March 31, 1947. The US government estimated that if it did not inherit the UK role, Greece would inevitably fall under Russia’s influence.

20.02.1947

Up to 01.01.1948

24.02.1947

01.03.1947

15.09.1947

An Agreement between the US and Greek governments was signed in Athens to assist Greece. The United States began to assert its dominance pushing England out of Greece.

Yugoslavia provided DAG with military equipment and assistance. (See: Complete list of equipment in the book “Macedonians and Relations between the CPY and the CPG, 1945-1949”, by Dr. Risto Kiriazovski, on p. 263), “Overview of Military Equipment and Other DAG Material Assistance.”

The Greek Government and Greek king publicly call on DAG fighters to surrender by March 15, 1947. All acts committed against the state and the people will be pardoned if they abide by the deadline and return to their homes.

US President Harry Truman announced the “Truman Doctrine” for US engagement in Greece. Greece was granted credit and modern military equipment to equip its government military. At the same time Van Fleet, an American general and specialist in guerrilla warfare, was made available to the Greek government. DAG was liquidated and thrown out of Greece by using Van Fleet’s strategy and tactics especially during the last battles at the Vicho and Gramos fronts.

The CPG Central Committee held its 3rd Plenum between September 15 and 17, 1947, during which time military issues

were discussed. The slogan: “All to arms and everything for victory!” was coined during this Plenum. It was also decided to create a free territory on the Kozhani Plateau, surrounded by Mounts Karakamen, Pind, Pieria, Kaimakchalan and Vicho.

27.09.1947 DAG Headquarters issued an order to mobilize all men between the ages of 17 and 35 from the pool of Macedonian refugees who had fled to Yugoslavia from Greece. The mobilization effort, which lasted over half a year, took place in Skopje, Veles, Shtip and Bitola. All those mobilized were sent to the DAG units in the field. (See: F.M. at INI, SK.4 - 271/60, pp.73-76.)