Sacred Band (World War II)

Sacred Band
Sacred Band
	File:Ieros Lochos.png Badge of the Sacred Band, worn on the right breast pocket
Active	1942-1944
Country	Greece
Branch	Hellenic Army
Type	Special Forces
Size	Battalion, later Regiment
Engagements	Tunisia Campaign; Aegean Sea 1943-44
Commanders
Commander	Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes

The Sacred band (Greek: Ιερός Λόχος) was a Greek special forces unit formed in 1942 in the Middle East, composed entirely of Greek officers and officer cadets under the command of Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes. It fought alongside the SAS in the Libyan desert and the Aegean, as well as with General Leclerc's Free French Forces in Tunisia. It was disbanded in August 1945, and is the precursor of the modern Greek Special Forces.

History

Establishment

Immediately after the German occupation of Greece in April-May 1941, the Greek government fled to Egypt and started to form military units in exile. The plethora of officers in relation to the number of ordinary soldiers, led Air Force Lt. Colonel G. Alexandris to suggest the creation of an Army unit, formed by officers, with soldier's duties. This suggestion was approved by the Commander of the II Greek Brigade, Infantry Colonel Alkiviadis Bourdaras. Thus, in August 1942 the Company of Chosen Immortals (Greek: Λόχος Επιλέκτων Αθανάτων) was formed under Cavalry Major Antonios Stefanakis in Palestine, with 200 men. Initially, the unit was organized as a Machine Gun Company and intended to be attached to the II Greek Brigade, then under formation.

However, on September 15, 1942, the unit's new commander, Colonel Christodoulos Tsigantes, renamed the unit to "Sacred Band" after the Sacred Band of Thebes and the Sacred Band of the Greek Revolution, and successfully applied for its conversion into a special forces unit. In close cooperation with the commander of the British SAS Regiment, Lt. Colonel David Stirling, and with the approval of the Greek HQ, the company moved to the SAS base at Qabrit in Egypt to begin its training in its new role.

First actions in Tunisia

On 7 February 1943, following Colonel Tsigantes' suggestion, the Commander of the British 8th Army, General Bernard Montgomery, put the Greek company under the command of General Jacques-Philippe Leclerc of the Free French 2nd Armoured Division, with the duties of Light Mechanized Cavalry. On March 10, 1943, in the area of Ksar-Rillan in Tunisia, the Sacred Band gave its first battle against a German mechanized detachment, while covering the advance of the X British Army Corps that tried to by-pass the Mareth defence line from the South.

Immediately after the Allied forces captured the Tunisian city of Gabès, the Sacred Company was detailed to the 2nd New Zealand Division (March 29) and on April 6, a mixed Greek-New Zealand detachment fought against the Germans at Wadi Akarit. On 12 April the Sacred Band entered Sousse, and participated in the battle for Enfidaville between April 13 and 17.

Commando actions in the Aegean

From May 1943, the Sacred Band, now composed of 314 men, moved to Palestine, in various camps, for parachute training. There it also underwent a reorganization into an HQ Section, a Base Section, and Commando Sections I,II and III. After the Italian capitulation on 9 September 1943, British forces moved into the Italian-occupied, but Greek-inhabited Dodecanese islands. Section I of the Sacred Band was dropped by air to the Greek island of Samos on 30 October, while sections II and III moved there on fishing boats. With the failure of the campaign after the battle of Leros, however, Samos was evacuated, and the men of the Sacred Band withdrew to the Middle East.

In February 1944, it was put under the command of the British Raiding Forces. On February 7, Section I moved for combat operations to the islands of the northern Aegean sea (Samos, Psara, Lesvos, Chios), while Section II moved to the Dodecanese with the same purpose. In April, the Sacred Band formed a regiment, with a force of around 1,000 men.

End of war and disbandment of the unit

After the Greek mainland was liberated (October 1944), the Sacred Band continued operating against the remaining German garrisons in the islands of the Aegean Sea until the war's end in May 1945. In June, the unit returned to Egypt prior to its disbandment, which took place in a ceremony in Athens, on 7 August 1945. During the ceremony the unit's flag was awarded with Greece's highest military awards, the Gold Cross of Valour and the War Cross First Class. The unit's casualties throughout its existence amounted to 25 dead, 56 wounded, 3 missing and 29 taken prisoner. In the Greek Army, the Sacred Squadron's traditions were carried on by the Mountain Raiding Companies (LOK), founded in 1946.