The Battle of Kotza Kayas and the death of Hero George Katsanis, July 20/21, 1974
On the night of July 20 and in cooperation with the 31st, 32nd and 34th squadrons, the 33rd MK attempted to the rear of the Turkish forces with the aim of capturing the camp of the Turkish paratroopers on the Kotza Kaya hill located above the village of Agyrta and south of its castle Agios Hilarion. This hill on the outskirts of Pentadaktylos was of strategic importance as its control would cut off the main road from Kyrenia - Nicosia. The mission of the 33MK during the operation was to capture the position of Petromouthia.
In the early hours of July 20, 1974, while the Commando Squadron was at the Nicosia airport, Katsanis, as commander, informed his commandos that they had to get ready to depart for Pella Pais. As the Squadron was ready for departure, the Turkish Air Force began bombing the airport, RIK, the ELDYK camp and the Athalassa camp. Despite the attack received by the 33rd Assault Squadron during its transport, it finally managed to reach the camp at Pella Pais in the afternoon.
Following an operations order issued by the commanding officer of the Commandos, colonel Konstantinos Kompokis, the well-known "Lavida Plan" followed. Major Georgios Katsanis gathered all the available men he had in the two shock companies of the 33rd M.K. and around 19:00 he announced to them their mission, which was initially the occupation of the "Petromouthi" area with the final goal of the occupation of the castle of Agios Hilarion. The strike time was set at eleven o'clock in the evening. In a way only he knew, he encouraged his commandos by saying: "Commander, don't forget when bullets and physical forces run out, the soul fights..." and they set off on their heroic and dangerous mission.
The head of the mission of the team and his men was none other than the commander Georgios Katsani himself. At 23:00, therefore, the commander gave the order for a general assault. With a strategy that he planned and executed himself, with his men, he surprised the Turks.
At 23:45 a green flare was thrown by the commander himself, signaling the complete success of the operation. What remained now was the final goal, which was none other than the capture of the strategic importance of the castle of Agios Hilarion. Fierce fighting continued until the morning hours of July 21. At 3:00 a.m. the Squadron was hit by enemy fire and then by the Turkish air force.
Sunday dawned. It was July 21, 1974. Time 9 in the morning. On the right wing of the 33 Commando Squadron, our Commander Tchis Georgios Katsanis, is trying to neutralize the Turkish resistance with the help of four commandos. All five were covered by me and a second commando, who were hidden behind a large rock, at a distance of about fifty meters. Other groups were covering us further back, but without visual contact with the point, apparently due to the peculiarity of the terrain in the specific area of Agios Hilarion.
At this very point the Commander stands up and tries to take an advanced fighting position. And while we were all aiming forward towards the Turkish resistance, a sniper's bullet, coming from the other side of the rock, hits the Commander from the left. The point where the bullet came from was impossible to check for two reasons: first, we were behind the big rock and it was only visible from the opposite direction. Secondly, the action of the Turks, to penetrate our positions in this way during the battle, was treacherous, dangerous and extremely risky.
Commando Testimony from the All-Cyprus Association of Commando Reserves.
As our Commander fell to the ground, continuous bursts of automatic weapons literally grazed that spot for several minutes. Our attempts to direct our fire to the left had the opposite effect. The Turks pinned us down with a barrage of fire, and the rock was pierced by the hundreds of bullets it received.
Repeated and desperate attempts by two commandos from the group of four to run over and help our Commander were fruitless, putting them in immediate danger. One of them, in their last attempt, is injured and leaves. For fifteen minutes, all embarrassed, we tried desperately to avoid death from the Turkish fire superiority. We managed, after difficulty, to agree, until finally we left the scene of the murder, overwhelmed and speechless.
A second commando was also injured on our short run back. With great difficulty we carried him with us, while the third was forever lost from our sight, heading north, towards the steep and extremely dangerous side of Kyrenia.
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