{"id":4875,"date":"2026-10-28T13:18:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4875"},"modified":"2026-10-28T13:18:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:18:57","slug":"this-is-how-i-experienced-28-october-1940-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4875","title":{"rendered":"THIS IS HOW I EXPERIENCED 28 OCTOBER 1940"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Major General (Ret.) K. H. Constantinidis<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was Monday morning, 28 October 1940, and, as every day, we went to school. I was then eleven years old, a first-year student at the eight-year Gymnasium of Kyparissia. Our school was located in the upper part of the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From early that morning, we sensed an atmosphere of unrest throughout the town. At school, the headmaster announced that there would be no lessons because Italy had declared war on Greece and several of our teachers had been called up for military service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were instructed to assemble in the courtyard of the Metropolitan Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The place soon filled with Greek flags, and speakers delivered speeches condemning the cowardly Italian attack on Epirus. Cheers and cries of victory rang out. For us, victory was certain, as though it were guaranteed by some higher power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before this, our light cruiser Elli<\/em> had been cowardly torpedoed and sunk at Tinos on 15 August, the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. The incident had filled us all with indignation. Although the government, for political reasons, had declared that the torpedo attack had been carried out by a submarine of \u201cunknown nationality,\u201d the Greek people knew that the submarine was Italian. A silent anguish gripped us all, and we longed for revenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, we felt, the opportunity had finally come to avenge that outrage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the speeches and cheering continued, we suddenly heard the distant drone of aircraft coming from the Ionian Sea. A little later, we spotted a large formation of planes heading north. Without knowing their nationality, we burst into cheers, believing them to be Greek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, however, we learned the sad truth: Italian aircraft had bombed residential areas of Patras, killing innocent civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was how we experienced the first day of the Greco-Italian War. It felt almost like a popular festival rather than the beginning of the most tragic chapter in our history, which followed the great victory of \u201cNO\u201d on the Albanian mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had scarcely begun to savor our army\u2019s victories when Hitler\u2019s mighty Germany declared war on Greece on 6 April 1941. The resistance put up by the Metaxas Line forts was heroic. Nevertheless, following day-long battles in Yugoslavia, the enemy entered Greece through Western Macedonia, rendering the continuation of the struggle at the forts futile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crete, however, remained free until the end of May. The Axis powers then conquered the island in a special airborne operation, during which they suffered heavy casualties, losing a substantial part of their elite paratrooper forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time gained through the Battle of the Metaxas Line and the Battle of Crete proved crucial in delaying the German advance toward Moscow and, possibly, in contributing to the eventual defeat of the Axis on the Eastern Front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This spirit of victory prevailed among the Greek people at the time and was transmitted to the Greek Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sofia Vembo was the Tyrtaeus<\/em> of the Epic of 1940\u2014the poet and singer who inspired the nation\u2019s fighting spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strange and inexplicable sense of determination, patriotism, and enthusiasm prevailed among both the leadership and the people during those days. One might have thought that our young men, called up for military service, were going off to a celebration: proud, happy, and smiling. And we applauded them as they departed by train. Those were unforgettable moments, etched deeply into our souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The achievement of our national leader, Ioannis Metaxas, was of historic significance. On that morning, he gave expression to the will of the entire Greek nation: of those who had lived before us, of his contemporaries, and of those yet to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout that day, the reservists departed with smiles on their faces, traveling in enclosed railway carriages, aboard ships, and in motor vehicles, on their way to the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relatives and friends bid them farewell with deep emotion and embraces, but not with tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honor and glory to the heroic warriors of 1940 and to all the heroes of our nation who laid down their lives for their homeland throughout our long history.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(28 October 2026)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major General (Ret.) Konstantinos Constantinidis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author \u2013 Member of the Society of Greek Writers<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amphiktyon Blog:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.amphiktyon.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amphiktyon Official Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.amphiktyon.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Major General (Ret.) K. H. Constantinidis It was Monday morning, 28 October 1940, and, as every day, we went to school. I was then eleven years old, a first-year student at the eight-year Gymnasium of Kyparissia. Our school was located in the upper part of the town. From early that morning, we sensed an … <\/p>\n

\u03a3\u03c5\u03bd\u03b5\u03c7\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 “THIS IS HOW I EXPERIENCED 28 OCTOBER 1940”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4876,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4875\/revisions\/4876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}