Battle of the Pine

Battle of the Pine
Part of Cyprus Emergency
Date23 November 1955
Location
Cyprus
Result EOKA victory
Belligerents
EOKA  British Empire
Commanders and leaders
George Grivas Unknown
Strength
Unknown 1 Vehicle
Casualties and losses
Possible 1 Insurgent 2 dead
2 wounded

The Battle of the Pine is the name given in Greek Cypriot sources to an attack on a British army vehicle by the EOKA on 24 November 1955. A team of EOKA guerrillas ambushed the vehicles on the road from Kyperounda to Chandria killing one soldier, Sapper Robert Melson.[1][2]

The next day British troops shot dead a Cypriot who approached the vehicle in which Downing died and failed to answer challenges from British soldiers.[3]

This was one of several comparable incidents at the times which resulted in the deaths of several British servicemen and contributed to the declaration of a State of Emergency on the island.[4]

  1. ^ "Pte George McRuvie | Remembrance Pages Page 961 | the British Cyprus Memorial Trust".
  2. ^ "Chapter 4 Harding strives to suppress the EOKA movement and give a political solution to the Cyprus problem but without success - Archbishop Makarios is exiled to the Seychelles (3 October 1955 - 9 March 1956)", A history of the liberation struggle of EOKA (1955-1959) Archived January 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine accessed 7 November 2013
  3. ^ "Shots Fired In Cyprus". The Central Queensland Herald. Rockhampton, Qld. 1 December 1955. p. 12. Retrieved 6 August 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "State Of Emergency Declared In Cyprus". The Canberra Times. 28 November 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 11 November 2015 – via National Library of Australia.