REVOLT CRUSHED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22519, 13 March 1935, Page 7

REVOLT CRUSHED

GREEK REBELS IN FLIGHT SUCCESS OF LOYAL TROOPS (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) ATHENS, March 11. The Government troops, advancing on Serres at dawn, did not meet resistance and are pushing eastward. They occupied Deinirhissar. The rebels are in full flight and have evacuated the town of Drama. Rebel officers are fleeing northward, leaving their men to look after themselves. Three thousand were captured. It is reported that General Kameuos is seeking terms for his surrender. ATHENS BACK TO NORMAL ATHENS, March 11. The city is normal and the authorities have resumed their functions in all the towns in Macedonia and Thrace. Field operations have virtually ended. General lonides entered Drama at the head of the loyal troops. The population of Serres wildly cheered General Kondylis's soldiers. General Kainenos is reported to have been deserted by all his followers except 17 officers. After the abandonment of Kavalla he fled to' seek refuge either in Bulgaria or at sea. His chief of staff i 9 believed to have committed suicide. The rebel cruiser Helle has left Kavalla for Salonika under Government orders. MANY SURRENDERS SOFIA, March 11. Kainenos Xidi, Governor of Thrace, three colonels, three lieutenant-colonels, four majors, one captain, two lieutenants, (Cud one civilian crossed the Bulgarian border and surrendered to the authorities at Mastanlu, who disarmed them and placed them under supervision.-The Greek '•Legation may request Kamenos's extradition. He ascribes the desertion of the troops to demoralisation due to lack of reinforcements, artillery, aeroplanes and ammunition. The rebel officers who surrendered at Nevrokop declare that the loyal units of the navy turned the rebel defeat into a rout by landing a force at Dedeagach, which made the rebels believe that a large body was taking them in the rear. GENERAL PLASTIRAS , SAN REMO, March 11. General Plastiras, trying to enter France, was stopped at Bordighera, and has gone to Genoa. MAIL PLANES DIVERTED SYDNEY, March 12. The postal authorities advise that owing to the unsuitable conditions in Greece Imperial Airways have suspended the call at Athens and have diverted the route from Alexandria to Benghazi, which will add one day to the flight schedule. REBEL OFFICERS ESCAPE LONDON, March 11. (Received March 12, at 5.5 p.m.) Following the collapse of the rebellion ii Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, the aerial bombing has ceased, to avoid endangering non-combatants. Consular authorities at Athens believe that no foreigners were injured. The Government has undertaken to safeguard the lives and "property of foreigners. With the rebels in full (light, to-day appears to be devoted largely to consolidation of the Government position. A number of senior rebel officers escaped from Serres after seizing the equivalent of £120,000 from the branch of the National jJank. A Government newspaper estimates that the revolt cost £12,000,000, including loss of business and currency confiscated by the rebels. The Physicians' Association passed a resolution characterising the revolt as the worst treason in Greece's history, describing M. Venizelos as a common impostor, allegedly coming from a family suffering from hereditary insanity. The association offered the services of its members to the Government free. SURRENDER OF CRUISER . LONDON, March 12. (Received March 12, at 10 p.m.) Sir Percival Phillips, the Daily Telegraph's special Athei.s correspondent, reports that the surrender of the cruiser Helle was effected under dramatic circumstances. The Ministry of Marine at night received urgent radio messages from Sub-lieutenant Vakolopoulos, aboard the Helle, stating that all the combatant officers had fled ashore following a bombardment by the Government destroyer flotilla. He was left in command, and put the ship at the disposal of the Government, requesting orders from the Ministry, which sent inst ctions and a message for the sailors, which the commander read to the crew by the light of an electric torch. This said the Government was convinced that the sailors and a large proportion of the petty officers had been forced into the revolution unwillingly. Now that they were masters of the ship the Government urged surrender. Sublieutenant Vakolopoulos received the crew's unanimous submission and left the harbour within an hour, steaming, as directed by the Ministry, to a point off Kasandra Promontory, south-east of Salonika. NET CLOSING ON REBELS LONDON, March 11. (Received March 12, at 8.30 p.m.) General Kondylis told the British United Press special correspondent that with the victorious Government troops occupying Serres, " the campaign may be considered finished with the occupation of Serres, because it is the key to the whole situation from the military standpoint. No further armed resistance is expected on the mainland." General Kondylis, in reference to Crete, said: "If the rebels continue their resistance we shall first negotiate pacifically. Unfortunately, however, M. Venizelos seems to have become crazy. I deliberately delayed opening hostilities to prevent needless bloodshed, in which I have been highly unsuccessful." Major Sampson, the British military attache at Athens, has arrived at Serres. He speaks highly of the conduct of the campaign. Interviewed by the United Press representative after crossing the frontier, General Kamenos admitted that the efforts to overthrow the Saldaris regime must temporarily at any rate be considered to he lost. General Kamenos's staff has been disarmed, and will be sent to Sofia. The News-Chronicle's Athens correspondent says that two rebel officers, besides the chief" of staff, Major Panyagiopoulos, committed suicide in the field. General Kamenos and his officers took £120,000 from the Serres bank before their retreat. Cavalry and bomb-

ing planes completed the rebel rout. Remnants of the rebel troops will be hemmed in and are expected to be disposed of in a day. The Daily Mail's Athens correspondent says it is estimated that the rebellion has cost the authorities £12,000,000, consisting of currency confiscated by the "rebels, military expenditure, damage to warships and property, and loss of business. OFFICER COMMITS SUICIDE LONDON, March 11. (Received March 12, at 8 p.m.) General Kamenos's chief of staff, Colonel PanygiopoulOs pulled out a revolver and committed suicide as a party of rebel leaders crossed the Bulgarian frontier. GOVERNMENT CASUALTIES ATHENS, March 12. (Received March 13, at 1.30 a.m.) The revolt in Crete has ended, and Government authority has been re-estab-lished in all the iEgean islands, including Mitylene, Samos and Crios. All the rebel warships except the Averoff and one submarine surrendered to the Government in Insuda Bay. Officers from the destroyers Psara, Leon and Nireus previously boarded the Averoff, which steamed away in a north-westerly direction with M. Venizelos and his wife and 100 rebel officers aboard. It is believed that" their destination will be Rhodes. The Government casualties in the Macedonia fighting were 11 killed and 28 wounded. The sum of'£loo,ooo, which was looted from local banks, has been found on captured rebels. The Mayor of Athens called on the people to give thanks for victory, at a mass meeting this afternoon.