Cyprus Regiment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cyprus Regiment was created by the British Government during the Second World War and made part of the British Army structure. It was comprised mostly of volunteers from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of Cyprus but also included other Commonwealth nationalities.
The Cyprus Regiment was founded on the 12th of April 1940 and disbanded on the 31st of March 1950. It included infantry, Mechanical, Transport, and Pack Transport Coys. Cypriot mule drivers were the first colonial troops sent to the western front. They served in France, Ethiopia and Italy carrying equipment to areas inaccessible to vehicles.
The badge of the Cyprus Regiment was a shield charged with two lions passant guardant in pale and ensigned with the Imperial Crown and below the shield was a scroll bearing the title of the regiment.
About 30,000 Cypriots served in the Cyprus Regiment. The regiment was involved in action from the very start and served at Dunkirk, Greece (about 600 soldiers were captured in Kalamata in 1941), North Africa (Operation Compass), France, the Middle East and Italy. Many soldiers were taken prisoner especially at the beginning of the war and were interned in various POW camps including Lamsdorf (Stalag 344), Stalag IVC at Wistritz bei Teplitz and Stalag 4b.
In the post war years and prior to its disbandment, the regiment served in Cyprus and the Middle East including Palestine during the 1945-1948 period.
Individual soldiers who served in the Cyprus Regiment:
- Mustafa Huseyin (Private) 10 February 1941 - 8 August 1944
- Zihni ALİ (Zihni Ali Çıralı) (Private) 30 May 1917 - 30 May 1992
- Charles C. Stadden (12 June 1919 - 12 Sept 2002)
- Nick Kyriakides
- Michael Georgio
- James Rivers Barrington Stewart (1913 - 1962)
- Christodoulou Nicola (Sgt)
- Nicolas Christodoulou (Pvt)
- Xanthos Clerides
- Christoforos Savva (1924-1968)
- Kleanthis Kyriacou Karamanos
- Elefteris Glenn Christodoulou (Sgt) (1926- )
- Georgios Mavroftas (1915-2003)
- Andreas Kyriacou Elles (1928- )
- Nabi Mehmet (1941 - 1946)
[edit] References
- Panyiotou, Nicos. Cyprus participation in the World War II. Nicosia : Theopres Press Ltd., 1985.
- 50th anniversary of The Cyprus Regiment, 1939-1945. Nicosia : Republic of Cyprus Pree & Information Office, 1990
- THIRD SUPPLEMENT Of The London Gazette Of TUESDAY the 13nth of JUNE, 1946
- The British Empire and the Second World War by Ashley Jackson
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
