The Committee of Historical Memory and Tradition of the Prefecture of Larissa, will honor, for the eleventh consecutive year, with a memorial service and laying of wreaths the fallen of the 1/38th Evzona Regiment in 1917 in the "Battle of the Flag". The event will take place on Thursday 30 June 2022, at 11.00 am in the monument area, which is located on Karditsis Street in front of the Indoor Gymnasium, before the intersection for the University Hospital. The main speaker will be the professor - historical researcher Mr. Konstantinos Vaioulis - head of the Municipal Faction "Larisaian Koinon".
Brief history
On May 30, 1917 / June 12, 1917, an army of French Forces invaded Larissa and occupied it. General Bairas went to meet the French general Venel whom he met at the entrance of the city. At their meeting, the Greek general communicated to his French counterpart the orders of his government and placed his forces at his disposal. But Venel did not seem to share Baira's chivalrous demeanor. He replied that he was arresting him immediately along with his staff officers, while he threatened to bomb Larissa if even one shot was fired. The French units showed the same hostile attitude towards the Greek units, as wherever they found Greek soldiers they disarmed them and arrested them. The scene changed, however, when French troops arrived at the dormitories of the 1/38 Evzones regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Athanasios Frankos. The French demanded, in addition to the weapons of the Greeks, the swords of the officers. But let's let the eyewitness author of the "Report of events for the occupation of Larissa by the French Troops" GES/DIS Φ205/A/A/1 tell us (keeping the spelling and syntax):
"The French Chief of Staff at the head of the brigade, asked through his interpreter, a French Levantine, to see the two Commanders of the Regiments in front of the Headquarters. Indeed both presented themselves and the following conversation took place: The French Chief of Staff through his interpreter: Gentlemen by order of the Division Commander please surrender your arms and place yourself at our disposal" The late Frankou asked: "Which Division Commander ordered?"
The French Chief of Staff replied, "our commander" Then Frankou replied "you do not receive orders from a Frenchman but only from our Greek Commander". He put on his gloves, mounted his horse and headed for the 1/38th Regiment. Continuation from second report entitled: "Report of the battle of Larissa on May 30, 1917: "There in front of the regiment and the officers: Major Zisimos Dimitrios, Captain Kazanis Athanasios, Captain Paleodimopoulos O. Commander of the 4th Company, Captain Langis Andreas Commander of the 6th Company, Lieutenant Katani Athanasios Commander of the 5th Company, Lieutenant Koranakos Io., Lieutenant Chrysikos G., Lieutenant Kotsis N. Commander of the 8th Company, Second Lieutenant Pentzopoulos Thomas Commander of the first Company, Second Lieutenant Hatzipanagiotou G. Commander of the 2nd Company - with strong evidence of the two fallen officers - the Regimental Commander repeated the challenge of the French Colonel to surrender the weapons and full of emotion expressed his indignation his sin for her an insult to which he was to submit the whole Constitution, a Constitution inscribed heroic pages during the glorious wars, he submitted the opinion that the provocation of the French should not be accepted for the dishonor on the field of surrendering the arms without war to a Constitution whose flag was pierced to, but proudly crossed the Macedonian and Epirotic fields, I covered under its folds the souls of all the heroes, Bellisarius, Kolokotronis, Iatridus, Georgoulia and most others, but the Constitution faithful to its traditions to march towards the South and avoid capture oh so Colonel Frankos's references to Leonidas' sacrifice in honor deeply moved all the officers and men present and the proposal was enthusiastically accepted and thus the Regiment was placed in approach formation due to the fact that in our direction there was a zone of French cavalry, he marched with address him South, towards Karditsa. [The soldiers of the 1/38th Regiment were all originally from Karditsa]
He unleashed a volley of fire, despite the French force hastening and understanding it, against the S. top of the trench barracks without until then giving a reason. deploying to avoid losses, he hastened his march in the direction of the height of Mezourlos, constantly being attacked. Iles of French horsemen of Spachids are advancing so that they will interrupt our march. The soldiers in absolute calm accepted their advance, always setting an example in spite of their mounted Colonel. The fight started at close range. The other forces repelled the invasion, forcing the island to retreat. During this little invasion, the Commander of the Regiment was slain by two horsemen, who, unawares, attacked him with the sword, and one of them was killed by the Colonel, the other by the soldiers. A new advance from the South by other units of French cavalry was also repelled by well-aimed fire from our units. In the meantime, enemy movements were manifested tending to encircle us while at the same time two armored cars from a close position - from the South - attacked indiscriminately. An unequal fight then ensued. Dragon of Greeks fighting for the honor of their flag. But Eozonos the Greek had decided to die. Nothing daunts the Colonel, who surrounded our units on horseback, encouraging even the last soldier, fighting upright, he fell for the noble idea of saving his honor. We are in a strong state of shock due to the heavy fire of the enemy in parallel after the fire of the armored cars. Men passed out from the sun move from there. Others, having exhausted their ammunition, make a desperate effort defending themselves with the spear until the last moment." The tally of the battle was 72 officers and soldiers dead, all with terrible swords. However, the column erected by the Municipality of Larissa includes only 4(!) names. The rest of the dead have been waiting for more than a century for the official State to honor their sacrifice, to find and record their names.
The flag of the 1/38th was handed over as loot - characterized by them as an "incomprehensible trophy" - to General Sarai, a fanatically anti-monarchist socialist officer-natural author of the Thessaloniki "movement" and the resulting National Schism - military service which is tarnished both by his state in Macedonia and later by the bombing of civilians in Damascus. Today the captured Flag is located and adorns the ceremonial hall of the 1st Armored Regiment (formerly the 1st Moroccan Infantry Regiment) in the city of Valence, France.
We owe her back!
