REBEL MOB FLEES

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 80, 29 December 1931, Page 7

REBEL MOB FLEES

Faced by Handful of British Soldiers EPIC CYPRUS SCENE A British officer’s wile who recently returned to London from Cyprus supplied a graphic account of the Insurrection as witnessed by British residents at Kyrenia, where there were 54 English women and children. On Thursday, October 22, a motor driver brought news from Nicosia that Government House had been burnt by the Enosis rioters (meaning people favouring union with Greece) the night before, she writes. At Kyrenia on the Saturday evening we were still without military protection, notwithstanding constant requests sent in to Nicosia. We all wondered what would happen on the following day, Sunday, which was the Feast Day of the Greek Flag of Independence, and even in normal times always celebrated with a certain amount of disturbance and seditious speech-making. About 8 o’clock on Sunday morning we were told that the people were massing at the Bishop of Kyrenia’s Palace, some 300 yards from my house, and the same distance from the Commissioner’s. At 9.30 we heard a mob approaching up the main street and moving toward the Government offices, which are not far from the Commissioner’s house and mine.

Flag from Toy Cupboard. The Commissioner, Mr. Dennis, who was in his house, rushed single-hand-ed to try and intercept the rioters, but in spite of his gallant action he arrived too late to prevent them from tearing down the Union Jack and reducing it to shreds and substituting a Greek flag on .the pole. AU Mr. Dennis could do was to read the Riot Act and then enter his office up a flight of steps. Several of the rioters rushed at him in a threatening way, but the Bishop called them back. A Cypriot policeman was guarding the Government offices when the mob arrived. He challenged the crowd and said that he would shoot anybody who touched the flag, but the Bishop dramatically bared his chest and said, "Shoot away.”

As soon as possible a dispatch was sent to Nicosia, and the incident was reported. A reinforcement of soldiers was asked for.

It is worth recording that the Commissioner’s offices were not left long without a Union Jack. The one normally flown at his own house was transferred to the office flagstaff, and my little daughter supplied one of her own from her toy cupboard to fly over the Commissioner’s house.

Sergeant Takes Charge. At 12.15 p.m. a detachment of the King’s Liverpool Regiment arrived from Nicosia in three cars. They consisted of one sergeant, one corporal and 15 men, with a machinegun. Sergeant Doyle was in charge. He quickly sized up the situation and took Whatever steps were necessary to protect important points, but was obliged in doing bo to break up his small force into several detachments. Although these soldiers had come from Egypt by air and had been without sleep for three days and Hights, they were full of fight and in good heart. During the afternoon from the roof of my house we could see streams of villagers concentrating at the Bishop’s Palace from all directions, and the Bishop' himself was plainly visible with the aid of field glasses moving 'about in a crowd and addressing them. Mr. Dennis kept Nicosia informed of what was taking place, but in view of the orders which he had received he could not allow Sergeant Doyle and his men to carry out the arrest of the Bishop, which they were very keen to do there and then, until further reinforcements had arrived. At 8.30 p.m. the sky was clear and there was a very bright full moon, which enabled us to see the rioters, numbering about 2000, at the Bishop’s Palace. By this time they were well primed with drink, and we saw them beginning to surge forward, shouting and yelling “Down with the English; let us make the place run with English blood.” , They were armed with crowbars, sickles, knives, and some had shotguns, and advanced hurling stones at Sergeant Doyle and the few men with him who were not engaged in guarding other points. The local police inspector was also there with Sergeant Doyle and some of his police.

Defenders Forced to Fire. The rioters were summoned to stop and disperse, but continued to advance, hurling showers of stones. To intimidate the rioters, shots were fired in the air, but without effect At last, when the situation had become very serious, a few aimed shots were fired into the crowd, stopping them at once. Three rioters were wounded, and the rest of the crowd dispersed in every direction and vanished as if by magic. A few hundred returned to the Bishop's Palace, screaming and yelling for a doctor. As soon as possible the local police took steps to remove the wounded to the Kyrenia Cottage Hospital for treatment. . , At 11.30 reinforcements arrived from Nicosia in lorries. They went to the Bishop’s Palace, but finding the door barred had to break it open. They arrested several of tbe leaders after a scuffle, but at first the Bishop could not be found. He was eventually found hiding in an attic and taken off in a lorry. All was quiet after the Bishop’s firrest. The” people who attacked had been primed with cheap Cyprus brandy, and were therefore in a very dangerous mood. , . I shall always remember the gallant rush of the Commissioner to try to save the flag in the face of overwhelming odds, our relief at seeing Sergeant Doyle and his men arrive, the splendid Wav in which he and his men set about defending us, and the' thoughts which flashed through out minds when at one moment Suring the attack we thought the soldiers had been unable to stem the rush.