Battle of the Pine

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, two days before the declaration of the Cyprus Emergency. 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
Date23 November 1955
Location
Result EOKA success
Belligerents
 United Kingdom EOKA
Commanders and leaders
George Grivas
Strength
1 vehicle
Casualties and losses
1 dead 1 innocent killed the next day

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

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