The Dekemvriana defeat of ELAS in Athens - through the eyes of a British Officer
The Dekemvriana - Τα Δεκεμβριανά - Athens, December 1944 The heavy fighting that took place on the streets of Athens in December 1944 doesn't feature highly in the official histories of the Second World War. Perhaps that's because a battle between the Greek resistance forces of ELAS and British Army troops, who had been welcomed into Athens as "allies" just a few months previously, does not fit easily into a simple narrative of "Victory in Europe". 17.12.44: Paratroopers advance on Evripidou Street © IWM NA 20908 The defeat for ELAS, and the Greek Civil War that followed, also exposes how Stalin, and the cynical policies of the Communist Party leadership, extinguished the hopes of so many who had fought to fight fascism in Greece, just as they had done in Spain during its Civil War at the end of the 1930s. The Photographer - Lt. Noel Powell-Davies What might surprise anyone reading this post, one that I openly acknowledge is written from the standpo