Operation Lucky Alphonse

Operation Lucky Alphonse was a failed British Armed Forces operation that occurred during the EOKA insurgency in Cyprus.^[3] The British military sustained more than 30 casualties. Albeit almost all casualties were sustained from an accidental forest fire.^[4]

Operation Lucky Alphonse
Part of Cyprus Emergency
Date 7 June 1956 - 23 June 1956 Location Troodos Mountains, Cyprus Result EOKA victory
Belligerents
EOKA	British Empire
Commanders and leaders
Georgios Grivas	Brigadier Geoffrey Baker
Units involved
Mountain Group	British Armed Forces[1][2] Royal Marines The Parachute Regiment The Gordon Highlanders The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The South Staffordshire Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Horse Guards The RAF Regiment HMS Diamond C Company of the 1st Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry
Strength
Unknown	5,000–20,000
Casualties and losses
	30+

Background

Operation Lucky Alphonse was launched in the area of the Troodos Mountains in order to destroy bases in the area and also to find and capture or even eliminate the EOKA leader Georgios Grivas.^[5][6] It was the continuation of the previous "Operation pepperpot" which had led the British Armed Forces to capturing a few weapons and weakening three cells.^[7] Grivas, alongside EOKAs second in command, Grigoris Afxentiou, had previously escaped capture by the British in the Battle of Spilia, which took place in December 1955, making the British forces get entangled in a friendly fire incident which Britain took heavy casualties.^[8]

Operation

The operation entailed multiple units of the armed forces in the Troodos mountains and at some point, Grivas was spotted, however, in the ensuing gunfight, Grivas managed to escape.^[9][10] A fire starting shortly after leaving more than 30 casualties, however having minor success in the seizure of some ammunition, documents and the arrest of two individuals.^[11][12]

References

1. "FLEEING THE FIRESTORM". www.keymilitary.com. 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
2. "Joseph A Hawker | ParaData". www.paradata.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
3. "Norfolks' horrors and heroism in Cyprus Emergency". Eastern Daily Press. 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
4. "CYPRUS: Fire & Smoke". Time. 1956-07-02. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
5. TIME (1956-07-02). "CYPRUS: Fire & Smoke". TIME. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
6. "FLEEING THE FIRESTORM". www.keymilitary.com. 2017-12-28. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
7. Drohan, Brian (2016). RIGHTS AT WAR: BRITISH COUNTERINSURGENCY IN CYPRUS, ADEN, AND NORTHERN IRELAND. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. p. 46. In June, the army nearly captured EOKA leader George Grivas. Operation Pepperpot resulted in the capture of several weapons caches, the annihilation of two EOKA operational cells, and had inflicted heavy casualties on a third.
8. Edwards, Aaron; Hadjiathanasiou, Maria (31 May 2021). "Brothers in arms? How the IRA and EOKA insurgencies transcended the local and became transnational, Small Wars & Insurgencies". Routledge. 32: 646. doi:10.1080/09592318.2021.1932105 – via Taylor and Francis. Security Forces were closing in on EOKA's mountain gangs, almost succeeding in capturing Grivas in the Battle of Spilia. Grivas's escape provided his movement with a propaganda victory.
9. Jordan Lim, Preston (5 July 2018). THE EVOLUTION OF BRITISH COUNTERINSURGENCY DURING THE CYPRUS REVOLT, 1955–1959 (1 ed.). Beijing, China: Palgrave Pivot Cham. p. 29. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91620-0. ISBN 978-3-319-91619-4. LCCN 2018944943. In June 1956, for example, the army mounted Operation Lucky Alphonse in the Troodos Mountains in an effort to capture Grivas; as Grivas himself recollected, an army patrol came within several feet of capturing the rebel leader.
10. Newsinger, John (2015). "EOKA offensive". British Counterinsurgency (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 102. doi:10.1057/9781137316868. ISBN 978-0-230-29824-8. Once again, Grivas only narrowly escaped his pursuers. He was nearly taken by a paratroop patrol, escaping under fire and leaving
11. "FLEEING THE FIRESTORM". www.keymilitary.com. 2017-12-28. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
12. TIME (1956-07-02). "CYPRUS: Fire & Smoke". TIME. Retrieved 2024-11-03.

• David Carter, The Tragedy of Lucky Alphonse (The Paphos Fire), Britain's Small Wars, 2005

See also

• Modern history of Cyprus