Battle of Agios Vasileios

Battle of Agios Vasileios
Part of Greek Civil War
Date 22 January 1949 Location Agios Vasileios [el], Arcadia, Greece 37°11′13.55″N 22°41′21.02″E / 37.1870972°N 22.6891722°E / 37.1870972; 22.6891722 Result National Army victory
Belligerents
Provisional Democratic Government Democratic Army of Greece People's Civil Guard	Kingdom of Greece National Army
Commanders and leaders
Alekos Tsoukopoulos [el] Panos Kontogiannis	Periklis Papathanasiou Psarrakis
Strength
240	900–1200
Casualties and losses
70–181 killed 60–78 captured	30 killed or wounded 7 captured
Agios Vasileios class=notpageimage| Location of the battle in Greece

The Battle of Agios Vasileios (Greek: Μάχη στον Άγιο Βασίλειο) took place on 22 January 1949. It was fought during the course of Operation Peristera as part of the Greek Civil War, pitting forces of the communist Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) led by Alekos Tsoukopoulos [el] against the nationalist government army under Periklis Papathanasiou.

In the early morning hours of 22 January, nationalist Mountain Raider squadrons launched an attack on the village of Agios Vasileios [el]. The DSE troops resting in the village were caught by surprise due to a combination of poor security measures and exhaustion. The ensuing confusion and the numerical superiority of the nationalists led to heavy casualties among the communists. The Raiders were able to safely withdraw from the area before the defenders received reinforcements. Tsoukopoulos was subsequently convicted by a military tribunal and executed by for his role in the defeat at Agios Vasileios. The Battle of Agios Vasileios dealt a severe blow to DSE's Peloponnese Division, hastening its complete disintegration by the end of 1949.