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couple of ELAS snipers hiding in a school a few hundred yards away from
the British Embassy took a few pot shots at him as he got out of an
armoured vehicle which had brought him from the airport。 Next day； when
he attended a meeting of all parties； the ELAS representative walked in
wearing a military…style uniform with crossed bandoleers across his chest；
and carrying two pistols。 Churchill turned to his interpreter and said
quietly： 〃Tell him to leave his toys outside； or I fly back to London
immediately； to spend Christmas properly with my family。〃
1945： On the 1st of January Archbishop Damaskinos was appointed
Regent。 （It had been agreed that the King should not return to Greece until
his position had been clarified by a plebiscite）。 Plastiras replaced
Papandreou as Prime Minister。 After the Varkiza agreement the guerrilla
war （or civil war） was officially brought to an end。
Years later in a broadcast； Chris Woodhouse summarised what the
S。O。E。 mission to Greece had achieved。
1。 It had provided the technical expertise； such as the handling of
explosives； without which the major sabotage successes would have been
impossible。
2。 It had provided the tactical planning and supplied the
communications which successfully harnessed the courage of the Greeks
to the strategic requirements of the Allied commanders。 3。 Most important
of all； in the long run； it assured that no armed force in occupied Greece
would gain a monopoly of power on the day of liberation。 The final aim of
the mission was to leave the Greeks with a free choice at the end of the
war … a choice between a Monarchy； a Republic or even a Communist
regime if they wanted it。 But the recent dramatic events in the closing
months of 1989 in Poland； the U。S。S。R。； Hungary； the East German
Democratic Republic； Czechoslovakia and finally Romania have proved
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
that the last choice would have been an unwise one if the Greeks had also
opted for Communism。
1946： Following a plebiscite King George II returned to Greece at the
end of September and appointed Panayis Tsaldaris as his Prime Minister。
When I returned to Athens in October 1944 on H。H。M。S。 AVEROF I
had been appointed Radio Monitoring Officer of the Anglo…Greek
Information Service （A。G。I。S。） with a staff of about 25 W/T operators and
typists to assist me。 My unit was a section of the Press Department of the
British Embassy。 I think the choice of title was a rather unfortunate
mistake。 The English words ‘information' and ‘intelligence' have only one
equivalent word in Greek pliroforiesq。 And most Greeks hold peculiar
views about the C。I。A。 and the British Intelligence Service。 So here I was
strutting about in the uniform of a war correspondent bearing the flashes
‘I。S。'； the butt of many a joke from my friends who accused me of being a
master spy。 My boss； Colonel Johnson； who had been the British Council
representative in Greece prior to the outbreak of war in 1939； came to my
office one morning and told me that he had heard a rumour that King
George of the Hellenes； who was then in London； was going to broadcast
in the Greek service of the B。B。C。 I replied I had heard nothing； but would
try and find out if the rumour was true。 As he left my office I glanced at
my watch； it was 11 o'clock in the morning； 9 o'clock in London。 I
telephoned the General Manager of Cable & Wireless； Mr Briggs； who
was a personal friend。 I told him I wanted to make use of his facilities to
ask an urgent question of the B。B。C。 in London。 He replied； 〃Tell
McTaggert〃 （the engineer in charge of the Central Telegraph Office） 〃that
I said he should help you in any way possible。〃
〃Mac〃； I said over the telephone； 〃would you get one of your
operators to ring the B。B。C。 in Bush House （from where the World Service
originates） and ask them if they have any plans for a broadcast by King
George of the Hellenes。〃 I immediately tuned one of my receivers to the
frequency of the London telegraph link； which was carrying high speed
morse traffic。 In a short while the tape was stopped and an operator； using
a hand key； asked my question slowly in plain language； and then the tape
was put on again。 I waited anxiously for about five minutes。 Again the
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tape was stopped； a single letter ‘R' （for received） was sent by hand； and
traffic returned to normal。 My telephone rang； it was McTaggert。 〃Nothing
doing； old boy。 The B。B。C。 have no plans for such a broadcast。〃 I thanked
him and looked at my watch。 It was 11。25； just 25 minutes had elapsed。 I
called my boss and told him the answer to his question。 〃How do you
know？〃； he asked。 〃I asked the B。B。C。； sir。〃 〃You what？〃； he shouted at me。
〃Don't you know there's a war on？ I'm coming to see you。〃 He stormed
into my office and demanded an explanation； so I told him what I had
done。 〃Good God； what is this going to cost us？〃。 〃Nothing at all； sir。
There is no provision for anything like that in the operating procedure〃。
〃Then I must write a letter to Cable & Wireless to thank them。〃 I thought
to myself； why don't you write a letter to Norman and thank him for
having friends in the right places。 But I kept my mouth shut。
My equipment and my staff of 20 men and 5 girls were housed on the
6th floor of the Metohikon Tamion building。 When ELAS marched on
Athens； there was constant firing； shelling and bombing throughout the 24
hours of the day and night for three or four weeks。 The bombing was by
light aircraft of the R。A。F。 on the ELAS positions in the suburbs and
Beaufighter aircraft straffing them with 20 mm cannon。 Then ELAS set up
a 75 mm gun in the northern suburb of Aharnon； and started hitting us
back。 When we had received several hits on and around our H。Q。 building；
I was ordered to move down to the second floor； to safer accommodation。
I extended some of my antenna down…leads； and resumed normal service。
One of our assignments was to transcribe； every day； what was said in the
Greek transmissions of nineteen different countries about the situation in
Greece； and to produce a daily summary in English； for the benefit of the
Press Department。
In the summer of 1945 we began having interference on GIN； a
station of the British Post Office which operated around 10MHz；
transmitting a REUTER news service for Europe on the German
Hellschreiber （Hell printer） system。 This was a sort of very course TV
picture of 49 dots； seven by seven。 The letter 'I' for instance came out as
seven dots vertically； and the letter 'T' just had another six dots across the
top。 The letters were very crude but readable； provided there was no
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