The Ashiotis Inserdent

The Ashiotis Incident
9th of October 1957 Kakopetria ByRfn Alan (Gunner) RileySignal platoon H.Q. Coy 1st Royal Ulster Rifles

This is the story is about the surrender of Michael Ashiotis to 1 RUR on 9 October 1957. After murdering two companions in a hide above the village of Kakopetria in the Troodos mountains, Ashiotis surrendered himself to 1 RUR stating that Grivas had issued a death list that included his name as an untrustworthy member of EOKA. Ashiotis was given a new identity and sent to live in England. After a very short stay, and being racked by guilt (According to a report issued later by EOKA), he returned to Cyprus and the tender mercies of Grivas, who had him executed. My old mate ‘Gunner’ Riley who sadly died of Cancer last year told this account of what happened to me.

Dave Cranston Ex Royal Ulster Rifles.

I was lying in bed reading a book, at about 1:00 a.m. in walked the sergeant and he said, "Get dressed at once. We need a Signaller to go out on patrol." Rumour was, a top EOKA terrorist had given himself up, and while he was away EOKA had returned to his hideout and killed two of his companions. I got dressed in a flash and went straight to the stores where the Colour Sergeant issued me with a wireless set number 88. The set was in pieces and before I had time to assemble it I was whisked away with it cradled in my arms. I got to the vehicle (Rolls Royce Champ) and sat in the rear passenger seat. A sergeant sat on the other side and sandwiched between us with a blanket over his head was the terrorist who would give himself up. He was handcuffed by the wrist to the sergeant, who kept a revolver stuck in the terrorist's ribs. We drove off into the darkness and the rest of the patrol followed behind.

We did not seem to travel very far into the hills when the vehicle stopped and we started out on foot to the supposed site of the terrorists' hideout. I was still cradling the radio said in my arms and when we had gone some distance the officer in charge told me to open communications. I set up the 88 set but it was dead as a F***ing DO DO. The officer mumbled something like, "Can't hang around here. Move on." When I looked around me, I was alone and there was not a soul in sight. I think I was far too concerned about losing bits of the radio and I was on my knees gathering the parts together when the fear came over me. I started to tremble, and looking around all sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind, like, "Anyone could jump me here and knife me, I've got no quarrel with these people, and I just want to go home alive." Then a figure appeared out of the darkness and whispered, "Come on." I thought, "What a relief."

We reached the hideout, a large burrow under the ground and there were two dead terrorists inside. The sergeant, a Korean War veteran said, "Grab a leg. He won't bite you, as he's dead". Until that night I had never seen a dead body let alone touched one. We laid the bodies on the ground. One of them seemed so young and he wore a gold St. Christopher medallion around his neck. I noticed two or three puncture wounds on his face that were from the bullets that hit him. Someone heard a voice and we adopted defensive positions. I was only a few feet from the on terrorist's body when I thought I saw movement and aimed my Sterling at it. As it became lighter, around sunrise, I saw the movement was just a bush moving against a silver birch tree.

This photo is of the hide where Ashiotis
murdered his companions.

The Special Branch arrived and wanted to know where the EOKA radio receiver and binoculars had gone and they accused us of stealing them. Later that morning we went down the mountain to a farm to get a donkey so we could take the bodies down. Our Turkish interpreter did his best to translate but could not get the peasant to understand, so we took the donkey anyway. I'm certain the peasant was just acting dumb as to help the SB meant death. We were relieved later by a patrol that included one of my National Service draft, and he told me that he was being shipped back to the UK the following day, a month earlier than expected, and that I was going with him. That was what drew a big cheer.

Before we left the scene, Lieutenant Knox arrived with explosives and blew up the terrorist hideout. Half the mountainside seemed to go up with it. Back to company HQ, I picked up my gear and boarded a three-tonner for the trip to battalion HQ in Platres, then to Nicosia, and home I thought. Fate still had a fright in store for me in the shape of a large crowd at the road junction in a village, which was the village the dead terrorist came from. The police asked us to stay a while so that some of the villagers would think the army was on its way. "Oh no" I thought, "Not this close to Demob. I did not want to be involved in a riot and I only wanted out." The driver said, "Don't worry Gunner. At the first sign of trouble my toes are down and we are off, right through them if we have to." After a short time we left and I was homebound in one piece.

Rfn Alan (Gunner) RileySignal Platoon HQ Coy 1st Royal Ulster Rifles

Back to Cyprus Index