Cyprus Regiment

{{short description|Military unit of the British Army during WWII}}

{{Infobox military unit

| unit_name = Cyprus Regiment

| image = File:cyprusregiment.jpg

| caption = Cap badge of the Cyprus Regiment

| dates = 1940{{ndash}}1950

| country = 22px British Cyprus

| allegiance = {{UK}}

| branch = 20px British Army

| type = Infantry

| size = 30,000

| battles = World War II

Palestine Emergency

| decorations =

| disbanded = 1950

}}

The Cyprus Regiment was a military unit of the British Army. Created by the British Government during World War II, it was made up of volunteers from the Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot, one Armenian, Maronite and Latin inhabitants of Cyprus, but also included other Commonwealth nationalities.

The badge of the Cyprus Regiment was a shield charged with two lions passant guardant in pale and ensigned with the Imperial Crown and below the shield was a scroll bearing the title of the regiment.

Service history

The Cyprus Regiment was founded on 12 April 1940. It included Infantry, Mechanical, Transport and Pack Transport Companies. Cypriot mule drivers were the first colonial troops sent to the Western Front.{{cite news |title=Cypriots among the forgotten troops of Dunkirk |url=http://www.parikiaki.com/2017/08/cypriots-among-the-forgotten-troops-of-dunkirk/ |access-date=22 November 2018 |work=Cyprus Mail}} They served in France, Ethiopia, Palestine, and Italy carrying equipment to areas inaccessible to vehicles. They were used to supply and support other troops at Monte Cassino.

On a brief visit to Cyprus in 1943, Winston Churchill praised the "soldiers of the Cyprus Regiment who have served honourably on many fields from Libya to Dunkirk."{{cite news |title=Brave Call to a Brave People |first=Nathan |last=Morley |url=http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=47654&cat_id=9 |newspaper=Cyprus Mail |location=Nicosia |date=2009 }} {{dead link|date=May 2012}}

About 30,000 Cypriots served in the Cyprus Regiment. The regiment was involved in action from the very start and served in the Battle of France, in the Greek Campaign (the Battle of Greece, in which about 600 soldiers were captured at Kalamata, in 1941), North Africa (Operation Compass), France, the Middle East and Italy. Many soldiers were taken prisoner especially at the beginning of the war and were interned in various POW camps, including Stalag VIII-B Lamsdorf, Stalag IV-C at Wistritz near Teplitz (now in the Czech Republic), and Stalag IV-B near Dresden. The soldiers captured in Kalamata were transported by train to prisoner of war camps.

In the post-war years the regiment served in Cyprus and the Middle East, including Palestine during the 1945-1948 period. The regiment was disbanded on 31 March 1950.

References

Sources

Panyiotou, Nicos. Cyprus' participation in World War II. Nicosia : Theopres Press Ltd., 1985.
50th anniversary of The Cyprus Regiment, 1939-1945. Nicosia : Republic of Cyprus Press & Information Office, 1990
[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37609/supplement/3004 London Gazette : Operations in the Middle East from August, 1939 to November, 1940 (Publication date: 11 June 1946 Supplement: 37609 Page: 2997)] (
Jackson, Ashley. The British Empire and the Second World War
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

External links

[https://archive.today/20130420013039/http://www.cyprusregiment.co.uk/cyprus_regiment_history.html Cyprus Regiment History]
[http://www.cyprusveterans.com.cy Cyprus Veterans' Association] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615222550/http://cyprusveterans.com.cy/ |date=15 June 2020 }}
[http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-3605.html Cyprus Armed Forces]
[http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2328/1779/1/333-%20342_kazamias.pdf Kazamias, Georgios. Military Recruitment and Selection in a British Colony: The Cyprus Regiment 1939–1944]
[http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/33041 Imperial War Museum : Cypriots Serving with the British Forces]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721075507/http://www.daedalus.gr/prdinformatics/HOC/cyprusinworldwartwoAEn.htm The participation of Cypriots in World War II]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20091028032013/http://www.tcca.org/current_projects/warheroes/mehmet.html Turkish Cypriots in World War II]
[http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_compass3.html Operation Compass (1940-1941): Orders of Battle]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061230172717/http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/pow/stalag4b-2.html The Wartime Memories Project - Stalag IV-B POW Camp]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110728134340/http://twgpp.org/results.php?country=&force=&nationality=32 Commonwealth War Graves Commission : Cyprus Regiment]
[http://www.cyprusedirectory.com/cyprusguide/Cyprus.aspx?ID=2600 New medals for WWII veteran who lost originals in 1974] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313092545/http://cyprusedirectory.com/cyprusguide/cyprus.aspx?id=2600 |date=13 March 2016 }}
[http://moadoph.gov.au/exhibitions/online/menzies/thegreekcampaign.htm Robert Menzies’ 1941 Diary : The Greek campaign] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511004132/http://moadoph.gov.au/exhibitions/online/menzies/thegreekcampaign.htm |date=11 May 2013 }}
[http://www.naval-history.net/WW2MiscVictoryParade1.htm Official Programme of the Victory Celebrations, London, England, 8 June 1946]
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/categories/c55624/ WW2 Peoples War : Gunner Bellas, POW]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20081204234742/http://www.my-crete-site.co.uk/wo_bill_knox.htm Battle of Crete WO Bill Knox]

Category:Battalions of the British Army

Category:Military units and formations established in 1940

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1950

Category:Military history of Cyprus

Category:British Cyprus

Category:Cyprus in World War II