Early Life
Kostas Loizou was born on September 7, 1935, in the village of Marathovounos, located in the Famagusta province. He attended the local primary school and later worked as a blacksmith in the city of Nicosia.
EOKA Involvement and Urban Warfare
When the struggle for liberation began, Loizou was among the first to join the EOKA organization. He used his skills as a blacksmith to produce bombs for his own team and for other guerrilla groups. He later joined a specialized executive team in Nicosia, working closely with fellow heroes Stelios Mavrommatis and Stavros Stylianidis. Their group operated in the city centre, an area the British later nicknamed the “mile of death” due to the many successful attacks on soldiers that occurred there.
Life as a Fugitive
In late April or early May of 1956, after a failed attempt to execute a traitor, Loizou was forced to flee. He found refuge in the mountains near Kykkos, hiding in the lair of the fighter Markos Drakos in the “Troulinos” area near Kalopanagiotis. The British authorities publicly declared him a wanted man, offering a £5000 reward for his capture.
Leadership and Final Battle
Following the death of Markos Drakos in March 1958, the EOKA leader, Digenis, appointed Loizou as the leader of his own rebel group. Loizou and his team then moved to the “Avroulies” area near the village of Kampos, where they constructed a mountain hideout.
For twenty-nine months, Loizou lived as a fugitive fighter, enduring immense hardship and constant persecution from the authorities. During this time, his group also dealt significant blows to the enemy through numerous ambushes and battles.
Death and Legacy
On October 1, 1958, Loizou’s group launched an attack on the police station in Kampos. During the assault, a fire broke out, and Loizou suffered severe, life-threatening burns. Despite the dedicated efforts of a fighter nurse, Panagiotas Pitsillidou, Kostas Loizou succumbed to his injuries after twenty-five painful days died on October 26, 1958.
His comrades kept his death a secret until the end of the conflict. After the struggle, they recovered his remains and buried him with full honors in his home village of Marathovounos, laying him to rest beside his distant cousin, the fellow hero Michael Georgallas.
