Foinikas
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During the 1974 war,there were probably few tank battles. The Cypriot National Guard operated 32 T-34-85s and the Turkish forces used the far superior M-47 tank on the island with a few M-48s as well.During an ambush,a Turkish M113 and M-47 were captured. The M-47 was put into service immidiately.
There are several articles about it in Greek,one in english with few details,so I decided to use google translate on a very detailed one that it's in greek. This page mentions the whole story by the way https://www.proelasi.com/i-monadiki-armatomaxia-twn-ellinikwn-
Keep in mind,when PAO=recoiless rifle and if you see the word "chariot" it means battle tank.
The capture
The Turkish phalanx was approaching completely different, in fact according to one version they had also placed tires on the tracks of the M-47, in order to reduce the noise during their movement. However, the Turkish phalanx collided with the fourth infection, whose mines had been laid in a "Z" shape, resulting in four A / T mines exploding and immobilizing the M-47 chariot ahead, cutting off both of its tracks. Simultaneously or immediately after, Captain Psarras and Commander Mavris fired a 106 mm PAO shot against the tank. The Turks, after the explosions and the fire they received, abandoned another M-47 tank and two M-113 tracked trucks and after boarding the rest of them, left the area, returning to the Kyparisovounos hill. The last M-113 was destroyed immediately after the men of the National Guard (EF) with a shot of PAO 106 thousand against him. The damaged M-113 lacked the team locker and engine cover, and there were also signs of intense flame. This seems to have been the result of strong gas pressure inside. The purpose of its destruction seems to have been to cut off the route to prevent the collection of the two M-47s and the two M-113s by the Turks. 316 TE asked the Armored Cavalry Directorate, Armored personnel, to come and pick up the Turkish loot. The men of 316 TE set up watchtowers and guarded the spot, until men of armor (TT) arrived. The news about the occupation of the Turkish tanks spread very quickly. The reserve lieutenants Christos Toufexis and Isichios Sophocleous, of 366 TE, who was in Larnaca of Lapithos, learned about them. After getting permission to go home, they first went to the place where the chariots were to see them, but they were not allowed to approach them, so they left for Nicosia. They went to the offices of the newspaper "Machi" and reported on the occupation of the Turkish loot. Journalists then asked them to lead them to where the chariots were.
[...]
The Battle
On Sunday, August 4, the M-47 and M-113, along with the four Marmor Harringtons, formed a special unit of the 21st EAN, which was under the command of the 286th Motorized Infantry Battalion (MTP). In the M-47 it was observed that the rotation of the tower was done only mechanically. The technical supporter (TY) and commander of the 21st Reconnaissance Command (EAN), Lieutenant Archimandrite Nikolaos, together with the Lieutenant Konstantinos Kamperis, had also arrived in Skylloura, who, after examining it, restored the power using components taken from the other M-47. During the second phase of the invasion, it was observed that the Turkish chariots did not operate the electro-hydraulic rotation of the tower, so they were forced to turn the entire chariot or turn the tower manually.
Today there are three published testimonies, one of the captain of the crew, sergeant Drossos Konstantinos, of the reserve soldier Koudounas Andreas and of the loader sergeant Kritharis Andreas. Although the three were in the chamber's battlefield (tower), their testimonies differ significantly. This is to be expected, because everyone observes the battle from the narrow field of view they have, which for each of them is completely different. The leader is with his head out, so he has a sense of where his chariot is constantly as well as a sense of time, but it is difficult to estimate the distances. The shooter using the Laser rangefinder knows the exact distance of the enemy, but can not know where the chariot is. The gunner knows what missiles were used and how many shots the cannon fired, since he fires it each time. After a detailed examination of the three testimonies of the relevant literature, but also of the geography of the area, an overall record of the chariot battle was attempted. "While our tanks were passing through Skyloura, Greek Cypriot tanks, estimated to be up to 60, who wanted to go to Agios Vasilios, wounded two of us," said the deputy commander of the Turkish Expeditionary Brigade, Colonel Salih Gulergiuz. This false report of the Turkish colonel shows the panic of the Turks as well as their attempt to justify the many losses they suffered. The facts are as follows: At around 15:00 on 15 August, the crew was standing next to the M-47 and resting, since in the morning, no movement of the Turkish army was observed approaching their positions. Upon hearing the news that Turkish tanks were approaching, the crew boarded the M-47 and after seeing the Marmor Harrington and BTR along with the M-113 and the chief evacuating Skilloura, they moved south to the edge of the village, through the stadium. football and took a hiding place behind some eucalyptus facing south-east. Meanwhile, the other ten enemy M-47s that approached Skylloura from the northeast had entered the village, but did not realize that the M-47 they saw passing and carrying Turkish insignia was not Turkish.
On the asphalt road that connected the village of Skylloura with the village of Agios Vassilios, three enemy M-47s were moving in a phalanx. When they approached the bridge that was above the stream "Skylloura", between the two villages, they turned south and tried to go down into the stream. They were 300 meters away from the M-47, which was waiting for them to cross the bridge and hit them on it, when they would turn. The commander ordered the third to be hit, but the shooter could not see from the eucalyptus branches, so the chariot had to be moved slightly backwards. The first kinetic energy projectile hit the third chariot in the tower hoop and after an explosion, the tower was thrown into the air, without the chariot being engulfed in flames. The crew saw the results of such a missile for the first time and were overjoyed. Immediately after, they hit the first one with the same type of missile. The middle one was then hit with a chemical energy punch in the crown of the tower, causing it to be engulfed in flames. Immediately the M-47 moved backwards into the village, where the Turkish M-47s were. They moved their towers left and right, slowly, manually or turned the whole chariot, trying to locate where they were coming from, since there were no parts of the EF in the village.
An hour had already passed and the Turkish paratroopers and commandos entered the village and moved back and forth between the chariots. Then the crew of the M-47 started beating them with its three machine guns. The commander with the A / A machine gun 0.50 ″ from the top of the tower, the shooter with the wife 0.30 πολυ machine gun and the co-driver-soldier Apostolos with the 0.30 πολυ machine gun of the M-47 boat. Turkish soldiers suffered heavy casualties from M-47 fire. Meanwhile, Sergeant Kritharis realized that during the previous shots against the three tanks, all five piercings had been fired. The rest of the missiles were under the floor of the tower, so he filled the cannon with an incendiary-smoke white phosphorus projectile (used as a smoke screen to hide). The M-47 had pinned the Turkish tanks and soldiers in the area of the stadium and a little higher, when suddenly an enemy M-47 appeared at 80 meters. He was beaten, the projectile exploded on him, phosphorus was poured on him and he set it on fire. Another hour had passed, it was around 17:00, but now the Turks had realized that the M-47 was what was fighting them. Then Sergeant Drossos ordered the driver, Captain Tounta, to take the M-47 to the hill where the chief was from a route accessible to the chariot, which he had already located, in order to cover up and continue the battle there. But an unfortunate event happened. The glove worn by Sergeant Kritharis was loaded at the source during the reversal of the cannon during the previous shot, with the result that when he tried to fire a missile, the thick glove did not allow the shutter to close, so the gun could not be used. The only way for the cannon to reactivate was to artificially reverse, that is, the cannon had to rest on a fixed point and move mechanically backwards, like the movement it makes when a shot is fired. At that time it was located between the village of Skylloura and the hill that was the M-113 with the chief. The only houses they saw were the houses in Skylloura, but there were the Turks. There were no trees in the area, so they decided to use the M-113 as a fixed point for artificial regression. Seeing the M-47 heading towards him, on the M-113, the master began to make meanings and shout to them: "Hey guys, I am your Commander we are brothers"...They had fun…The Turkish soldiers and the enemy M-47s chased the M-47, but on their way out of the village of Skylloura, moving west, they encountered the stream "Pyrgos", which interrupted their speed, giving the M-47 time to land its cannon on the M-113 and carry out the artificial reversal, so that the gun works again normally. Also the chief with the A / A machine gun 0.50 ́ ́ of the M-113 fired against the Turks. Then the M-47 took a boat cover position, next to the M-113 and observed the Turkish tanks, which had now left Skylloura and came and stopped at a distance of 1,200 meters from the position of the tank, but had their sides turned towards the M-47. They created a smoke screen, firing an incendiary-smoke projectile and then hitting the nearest enemy M-47, also with an incendiary-smoke projectile, when it began to burn. They continued firing and switching positions to avoid enemy fire constantly falling on the hill. At one point the gunner, as he was throwing the hoods out of the chariot, saw to the left of the M-47 an enemy M-47 at 150 meters coming straight at them and started shouting. Then the crew leader shouted: "Left, left, Tunda back" (left to shoot the tower and the driver to move back).
The enemy M-47 fired at him and the 90mm missile passed through the M-47. Then the shooter instinctively dropped all the cartridges of his wife machine gun on the enemy M-47. The cannons of the two M-47s were found almost opposite. As the M-47 moved backwards, Koudounas fired a shot with the cannon, but due to the movement of the tank, the projectile hit low in the abdomen of the enemy tank and then on the ground, leaving the enemy M-47 intact. They refilled and moved again, forward this time. They succeeded, threw a second missile at him and destroyed it completely. They then saw three enemy M-47s heading for their positions. In the area between the village of Skylloura and the village of Agia Marina, about 15 Turkish M-47 tanks as well as M-113 and several Turkish soldiers had gathered. These were seen by the Observer of the 3rd Artillery of the 183rd Lowland Artillery Squadron (MPP), reserve lieutenant Robertos Ioannou, who gave evidence for shots to be fired against them. From the successful shots that followed, the Turks suffered additional losses, from those caused by the M-47. Taking advantage of the fire of the Artillery of the Hellenic Armed Forces, the occupied M-47 with its crew and the commander Charalambous with the M-113 collapsed towards the village of Filia, where the rest of the M / H and BTR had previously been safely gathered due to the resistance. projected the occupied M-47 against enemy tanks. So all the media of EF together with the two Turkish spoils moved to Morphou, where they spent the night.
Well you can also read about this story in fewer words at this blog here
overlord-wot.blogspot.com
There are several articles about it in Greek,one in english with few details,so I decided to use google translate on a very detailed one that it's in greek. This page mentions the whole story by the way https://www.proelasi.com/i-monadiki-armatomaxia-twn-ellinikwn-
Keep in mind,when PAO=recoiless rifle and if you see the word "chariot" it means battle tank.
The capture
The Turkish phalanx was approaching completely different, in fact according to one version they had also placed tires on the tracks of the M-47, in order to reduce the noise during their movement. However, the Turkish phalanx collided with the fourth infection, whose mines had been laid in a "Z" shape, resulting in four A / T mines exploding and immobilizing the M-47 chariot ahead, cutting off both of its tracks. Simultaneously or immediately after, Captain Psarras and Commander Mavris fired a 106 mm PAO shot against the tank. The Turks, after the explosions and the fire they received, abandoned another M-47 tank and two M-113 tracked trucks and after boarding the rest of them, left the area, returning to the Kyparisovounos hill. The last M-113 was destroyed immediately after the men of the National Guard (EF) with a shot of PAO 106 thousand against him. The damaged M-113 lacked the team locker and engine cover, and there were also signs of intense flame. This seems to have been the result of strong gas pressure inside. The purpose of its destruction seems to have been to cut off the route to prevent the collection of the two M-47s and the two M-113s by the Turks. 316 TE asked the Armored Cavalry Directorate, Armored personnel, to come and pick up the Turkish loot. The men of 316 TE set up watchtowers and guarded the spot, until men of armor (TT) arrived. The news about the occupation of the Turkish tanks spread very quickly. The reserve lieutenants Christos Toufexis and Isichios Sophocleous, of 366 TE, who was in Larnaca of Lapithos, learned about them. After getting permission to go home, they first went to the place where the chariots were to see them, but they were not allowed to approach them, so they left for Nicosia. They went to the offices of the newspaper "Machi" and reported on the occupation of the Turkish loot. Journalists then asked them to lead them to where the chariots were.
[...]
The Battle
On Sunday, August 4, the M-47 and M-113, along with the four Marmor Harringtons, formed a special unit of the 21st EAN, which was under the command of the 286th Motorized Infantry Battalion (MTP). In the M-47 it was observed that the rotation of the tower was done only mechanically. The technical supporter (TY) and commander of the 21st Reconnaissance Command (EAN), Lieutenant Archimandrite Nikolaos, together with the Lieutenant Konstantinos Kamperis, had also arrived in Skylloura, who, after examining it, restored the power using components taken from the other M-47. During the second phase of the invasion, it was observed that the Turkish chariots did not operate the electro-hydraulic rotation of the tower, so they were forced to turn the entire chariot or turn the tower manually.
Today there are three published testimonies, one of the captain of the crew, sergeant Drossos Konstantinos, of the reserve soldier Koudounas Andreas and of the loader sergeant Kritharis Andreas. Although the three were in the chamber's battlefield (tower), their testimonies differ significantly. This is to be expected, because everyone observes the battle from the narrow field of view they have, which for each of them is completely different. The leader is with his head out, so he has a sense of where his chariot is constantly as well as a sense of time, but it is difficult to estimate the distances. The shooter using the Laser rangefinder knows the exact distance of the enemy, but can not know where the chariot is. The gunner knows what missiles were used and how many shots the cannon fired, since he fires it each time. After a detailed examination of the three testimonies of the relevant literature, but also of the geography of the area, an overall record of the chariot battle was attempted. "While our tanks were passing through Skyloura, Greek Cypriot tanks, estimated to be up to 60, who wanted to go to Agios Vasilios, wounded two of us," said the deputy commander of the Turkish Expeditionary Brigade, Colonel Salih Gulergiuz. This false report of the Turkish colonel shows the panic of the Turks as well as their attempt to justify the many losses they suffered. The facts are as follows: At around 15:00 on 15 August, the crew was standing next to the M-47 and resting, since in the morning, no movement of the Turkish army was observed approaching their positions. Upon hearing the news that Turkish tanks were approaching, the crew boarded the M-47 and after seeing the Marmor Harrington and BTR along with the M-113 and the chief evacuating Skilloura, they moved south to the edge of the village, through the stadium. football and took a hiding place behind some eucalyptus facing south-east. Meanwhile, the other ten enemy M-47s that approached Skylloura from the northeast had entered the village, but did not realize that the M-47 they saw passing and carrying Turkish insignia was not Turkish.
On the asphalt road that connected the village of Skylloura with the village of Agios Vassilios, three enemy M-47s were moving in a phalanx. When they approached the bridge that was above the stream "Skylloura", between the two villages, they turned south and tried to go down into the stream. They were 300 meters away from the M-47, which was waiting for them to cross the bridge and hit them on it, when they would turn. The commander ordered the third to be hit, but the shooter could not see from the eucalyptus branches, so the chariot had to be moved slightly backwards. The first kinetic energy projectile hit the third chariot in the tower hoop and after an explosion, the tower was thrown into the air, without the chariot being engulfed in flames. The crew saw the results of such a missile for the first time and were overjoyed. Immediately after, they hit the first one with the same type of missile. The middle one was then hit with a chemical energy punch in the crown of the tower, causing it to be engulfed in flames. Immediately the M-47 moved backwards into the village, where the Turkish M-47s were. They moved their towers left and right, slowly, manually or turned the whole chariot, trying to locate where they were coming from, since there were no parts of the EF in the village.
An hour had already passed and the Turkish paratroopers and commandos entered the village and moved back and forth between the chariots. Then the crew of the M-47 started beating them with its three machine guns. The commander with the A / A machine gun 0.50 ″ from the top of the tower, the shooter with the wife 0.30 πολυ machine gun and the co-driver-soldier Apostolos with the 0.30 πολυ machine gun of the M-47 boat. Turkish soldiers suffered heavy casualties from M-47 fire. Meanwhile, Sergeant Kritharis realized that during the previous shots against the three tanks, all five piercings had been fired. The rest of the missiles were under the floor of the tower, so he filled the cannon with an incendiary-smoke white phosphorus projectile (used as a smoke screen to hide). The M-47 had pinned the Turkish tanks and soldiers in the area of the stadium and a little higher, when suddenly an enemy M-47 appeared at 80 meters. He was beaten, the projectile exploded on him, phosphorus was poured on him and he set it on fire. Another hour had passed, it was around 17:00, but now the Turks had realized that the M-47 was what was fighting them. Then Sergeant Drossos ordered the driver, Captain Tounta, to take the M-47 to the hill where the chief was from a route accessible to the chariot, which he had already located, in order to cover up and continue the battle there. But an unfortunate event happened. The glove worn by Sergeant Kritharis was loaded at the source during the reversal of the cannon during the previous shot, with the result that when he tried to fire a missile, the thick glove did not allow the shutter to close, so the gun could not be used. The only way for the cannon to reactivate was to artificially reverse, that is, the cannon had to rest on a fixed point and move mechanically backwards, like the movement it makes when a shot is fired. At that time it was located between the village of Skylloura and the hill that was the M-113 with the chief. The only houses they saw were the houses in Skylloura, but there were the Turks. There were no trees in the area, so they decided to use the M-113 as a fixed point for artificial regression. Seeing the M-47 heading towards him, on the M-113, the master began to make meanings and shout to them: "Hey guys, I am your Commander we are brothers"...They had fun…The Turkish soldiers and the enemy M-47s chased the M-47, but on their way out of the village of Skylloura, moving west, they encountered the stream "Pyrgos", which interrupted their speed, giving the M-47 time to land its cannon on the M-113 and carry out the artificial reversal, so that the gun works again normally. Also the chief with the A / A machine gun 0.50 ́ ́ of the M-113 fired against the Turks. Then the M-47 took a boat cover position, next to the M-113 and observed the Turkish tanks, which had now left Skylloura and came and stopped at a distance of 1,200 meters from the position of the tank, but had their sides turned towards the M-47. They created a smoke screen, firing an incendiary-smoke projectile and then hitting the nearest enemy M-47, also with an incendiary-smoke projectile, when it began to burn. They continued firing and switching positions to avoid enemy fire constantly falling on the hill. At one point the gunner, as he was throwing the hoods out of the chariot, saw to the left of the M-47 an enemy M-47 at 150 meters coming straight at them and started shouting. Then the crew leader shouted: "Left, left, Tunda back" (left to shoot the tower and the driver to move back).
The enemy M-47 fired at him and the 90mm missile passed through the M-47. Then the shooter instinctively dropped all the cartridges of his wife machine gun on the enemy M-47. The cannons of the two M-47s were found almost opposite. As the M-47 moved backwards, Koudounas fired a shot with the cannon, but due to the movement of the tank, the projectile hit low in the abdomen of the enemy tank and then on the ground, leaving the enemy M-47 intact. They refilled and moved again, forward this time. They succeeded, threw a second missile at him and destroyed it completely. They then saw three enemy M-47s heading for their positions. In the area between the village of Skylloura and the village of Agia Marina, about 15 Turkish M-47 tanks as well as M-113 and several Turkish soldiers had gathered. These were seen by the Observer of the 3rd Artillery of the 183rd Lowland Artillery Squadron (MPP), reserve lieutenant Robertos Ioannou, who gave evidence for shots to be fired against them. From the successful shots that followed, the Turks suffered additional losses, from those caused by the M-47. Taking advantage of the fire of the Artillery of the Hellenic Armed Forces, the occupied M-47 with its crew and the commander Charalambous with the M-113 collapsed towards the village of Filia, where the rest of the M / H and BTR had previously been safely gathered due to the resistance. projected the occupied M-47 against enemy tanks. So all the media of EF together with the two Turkish spoils moved to Morphou, where they spent the night.
Well you can also read about this story in fewer words at this blog here
Trojan Tank
In 1974 after several periods of violence between the ethnically split inhabitants of Cyprus, two NATO countries went to war with each other...
overlord-wot.blogspot.com
