Vasos Panagi: A Life for Freedom
Vasos Panagi was born on February 17, 1929, in the village of Neo Chorio, Paphos district. He died fighting for his beliefs on November 4, 1956, in the very village where he was raised.
Early Life and Recruitment
After finishing primary school in his village, Panagi worked as a laborer and a shepherd. When the national struggle began, he immediately enlisted in EOKA, becoming a dedicated member of the Neo Chorio Rifle Strike Team.
Activities as an EOKA Fighter
Panagi played a key role in concealing and distributing explosive materials. He and his comrades would collect these materials from artillery shells in the “Arnaoutis” area of Akamas, a site the British Navy had used as a firing range during the Second World War. His commitment extended to direct action, as he actively participated in sabotage missions, ambushes, and bombings against the British forces.
In May 1956, Panagi worked alongside his fellow fighters to clear bushes and prepare a landing strip at the Kapsala location in Akama. Their plan was for an airplane to secretly transport armaments from Italy to supply EOKA’s operations.
The Provocation and Ambush
On November 3, 1956, the Neo Chorio EOKA group attacked English soldiers who had restricted movement in the area due to EOKA’s frequent operations. The group’s leader, Georgios Stylianou, then devised a plan to provoke a larger response. He directed his men to raise a Greek flag at the village school and destroy a post box bearing the British royal emblem.
As anticipated, the police authorities in Polis Chrysochous dispatched military forces to the village. On November 4, at the village entrance, these vehicles drove into an EOKA ambush set by Vasos Panagi, Georgios Stylianou, and Georgios Anastasi. The fighters detonated an electric mine to immobilize the second vehicle in the convoy. They withheld fire from the first vehicle because the security forces had taken two of their countrymen from the road and were using them as human shields.
The Chase and Martyrdom
British soldiers, along with Turkish auxiliaries who had survived the attack, pursued the three men. The fighters had nearly reached the safety of a mountain peak when a British sniper wounded their leader, Georgios Stylianou, in the leg. Showing immense loyalty, Panagi and Anastasi turned back to rescue him.
During their retreat, the soldiers overtook them, opened fire, and forced them onto level ground. There, the British forces executed Georgios Stylianou with a shot to the head and stabbed both Vasos Panagi and Georgios Anastasi to death. The soldiers then carried the bodies into the village, forcing the inhabitants to walk past the mutilated corpses, which they continued to shoot and spear. Finally, they hung the bodies from their vehicles and drove them around the streets of Polis Chrysochous.
