Cyprus Regiment: Difference between revisions
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* [http://www.cyprusregiment.co.uk/cyprus_regiment_history.html Cyprus Regiment History] |
* [https://archive.is/20130420013039/http://www.cyprusregiment.co.uk/cyprus_regiment_history.html Cyprus Regiment History] |
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* [http://www.cyprusveterans.com.cy Cyprus Veterans' Association] |
* [http://www.cyprusveterans.com.cy Cyprus Veterans' Association] |
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* [http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-3605.html Cyprus Armed Forces] |
* [http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-3605.html Cyprus Armed Forces] |
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* [http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2328/1779/1/333-%20342_kazamias.pdf Kazamias, Georgios. ''Military Recruitment and Selection in a British Colony: The Cyprus Regiment 1939–1944''] |
* [http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2328/1779/1/333-%20342_kazamias.pdf Kazamias, Georgios. ''Military Recruitment and Selection in a British Colony: The Cyprus Regiment 1939–1944''] |
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* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/33041 Imperial War Museum : Cypriots Serving with the British Forces] |
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/33041 Imperial War Museum : Cypriots Serving with the British Forces] |
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* [http://www.daedalus.gr/prdinformatics/HOC/cyprusinworldwartwoAEn.htm The participation of Cypriots in World War II] |
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721075507/http://www.daedalus.gr/prdinformatics/HOC/cyprusinworldwartwoAEn.htm The participation of Cypriots in World War II] |
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* [http://www.tcca.org/current_projects/warheroes/mehmet.html Turkish Cypriots in World War II] |
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091028032013/http://www.tcca.org/current_projects/warheroes/mehmet.html Turkish Cypriots in World War II] |
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* [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_compass3.html Operation Compass (1940-1941): Orders of Battle] |
* [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_compass3.html Operation Compass (1940-1941): Orders of Battle] |
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* [http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/pow/stalag4b-2.html The Wartime Memories Project - Stalag IV-B POW Camp] |
* [http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/pow/stalag4b-2.html The Wartime Memories Project - Stalag IV-B POW Camp] |
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Revision as of 05:11, 16 August 2017
| Cyprus Regiment | |
|---|---|
 Cap badge of the Cyprus Regiment | |
| Active | 1940–1950 |
| Disbanded | 1950 |
| Country | British Colony of Cyprus |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Infantry Regiment |
| Size | 10,700 (July 1944) |
| Engagements | World War II British Palestine |
The Cyprus Regiment was a military unit of the British Army. Created by the British Government during World War II, it was mostly made up of volunteers from the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of Cyprus, but also included other Commonwealth nationalities.
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.
Service history
The Cyprus Regiment was founded on 12 April 1940. It included Infantry, Mechanical, Transport, and Pack Transport Companies. Cypriot mule drivers were the first colonial troops sent to the Western Front. They served in France, Ethiopia,Palestine and Italy carrying equipment to areas inaccessible to vehicles. They were used to supply and support other troops at Monte Casino. On a brief visit to Cyprus in 1943, Winston Churchill praised the "soldiers of the Cyprus Regiment who have served honourably on many fields from Libya to Dunkirk."[1]
About 30,000 Cypriots served in the Cyprus Regiment. The regiment was involved in action from the very start and served in the Battle of France, in the Greek Campaign (the Battle of Greece, in which about 600 soldiers were captured at 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 Stalag VIII-B Lamsdorf, Stalag IV-C at Wistritz near Teplitz (now in the Czech Republic), and Stalag IV-B near Dresden. The soldiers captured in Kalamata were transported by train to prisoner of war camps.
In the post-war years the regiment served in Cyprus and the Middle East, including Palestine during the 1945-1948 period. The regiment was disbanded on 31 March 1950.
References
- ^ Morley, Nathan (2009). "Brave Call to a Brave People". Cyprus Mail. Nicosia. [dead link]
Sources
- Panyiotou, Nicos. Cyprus' participation in World War II. Nicosia : Theopres Press Ltd., 1985.
- 50th anniversary of The Cyprus Regiment, 1939-1945. Nicosia : Republic of Cyprus Press & Information Office, 1990
- London Gazette : Operations in the Middle East from August, 1939 to November, 1940
- Jackson, Ashley. The British Empire and the Second World War
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
External links
- Cyprus Regiment History
- Cyprus Veterans' Association
- Cyprus Armed Forces
- Kazamias, Georgios. Military Recruitment and Selection in a British Colony: The Cyprus Regiment 1939–1944
- Imperial War Museum : Cypriots Serving with the British Forces
- The participation of Cypriots in World War II
- Turkish Cypriots in World War II
- Operation Compass (1940-1941): Orders of Battle
- The Wartime Memories Project - Stalag IV-B POW Camp
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission : Cyprus Regiment
- New medals for WWII veteran who lost originals in 1974
- Robert Menzies’ 1941 Diary : The Greek campaign
- Official Programme of the Victory Celebrations, London, England, 8 June 1946
- WW2 Peoples War : Gunner Bellas, POW
- Battle of Crete WO Bill Knox