GREEK COMMUNIST REBELS RETREAT FROM METSOVO (November 1947)

GREEK COMMUNIST REBELS RETREAT FROM METSOVO (November 1947)

On November 2, Royal Hellenic army units had re-engaged the rebels retreating from Metsovo in the Samarina area between Grevena and the Albanian frontier. In this latest clash the rebels had been split into small groups, and their casualties were already stated to be 60 dead and 25 taken prisoner. Authoritative details of the nine days' battle for Metsovo indicated that the main body of the rebels, estimated at 5.000, never at any time succeeded in entering the town, due chiefly to the resistance of the garrison and to the speed with which army reinforcements reached the area and put the rebels in danger of encirclement. Mass graves containing 300 dead had been found, and several hundred wounded rebels have been picked up. These prisoners confirm that General Marcos. the rebel chief, was directing operations, but they denied that the guerrillas were constructing airfields near the Albanian frontier. In eastern Macedonia and Thrace the chief purpose of the rebels continues to be the destruction of railways, roads. and telephone lines. A bus carrying civilians on the Axioupolis-Salonika road struck a rebel mine and 25 passengers were killed or mortally wounded.

NEWSREEL: - Fighting in Greece. Fighting flares up on the Greek Northern frontier when partisans launched an offensive against the town of Metsovo. M/S of Siotis, Pathe cameraman, and officers of the Royal Hellenic army walking along, chatting. M/S of a squadron of cavalry going along a road. M/S of officers, planning the campaign, studying a map. Governor General of Epirus, in civilian clothes, among them. M/S of a gun crew preparing. General views of Ioannina showing the countryside, a mosque and lake. General view of the hillside town of Zitsa (fogging here). Shots of the cavalry on the move and infantry on the march with jeep brings up the rear. A group of officers talking. Back view of infantry running. Officers at an observation post behind a tree. Soldiers performing a circle dance. Armoured cars moving along a road. Gun crew. Officers conferring. Band of Greek Communist rebels march into an ambush and are marched off. They are brought before the army commander, interrogated and given a cigarette each. Prisoners are marched down a hillside. Motorised column moving up. C/U of a plaque on the wall of a monastery where Lord Byron stayed reading 'Monastic Zitza. From thy shady brow thou small but favored spot of holy ground - Byron'. L/S of cavalry in silhouette, moving over the brow of a hill. M/S of a group of soldiers resting. Prisoners are bundled into a lorry. Shots of refugees at Ioannina. Planes of the Royal Hellenic airforce taking off from Ioannina Airfield, loaded with rockets and bombs. An aeroplane being prepared for flight and being bombed up.