Liopetri barn battle

On 2 September 1958 at the Barn at Liopetri EOKA fought one of its most epic battles. The humble barn was dubbed “A New Inn at Gravia”. Regarding the four heroes of the battle, Andreas Karyos, Elias Papakyriakou, Fotis Pittas and Christos Samaras, EOKA leader Digenis wrote in his Memoirs:

The facts related to the battle of the Barn and the heroic deaths of the four young men are as follows:

On the night of 30 August the four freedom fighters went to Liopetri to train the local EOKA members in ambush-related issues. At 2.00 a.m. on 1st September military vehicles appeared near the village. The fighters made an attempt to leave the village but were unable to do so because of the presence of soldiers.

They then decided to drive through the vice in which they were held. In the attempt they exchanged fire with British soldiers but were forced to return to Liopetri. At about 3.00 a.m. they took refuge in the barn belonging to Panayiotis Kallis.

There followed a curfew and interrogations of all the inhabitants who until 3.00 a.m. were held behind barbed wire. The barn was searched but without result. At 1.00 a.m. on 2nd September the British returned following information received, surrounded the barn and demanded from the owner to be told where the four fighters were hiding.

The owner and his family gave no information despite the torture to which they were subjected. The British called on the fighters to surrender but received no reply. Using the owner for cover, they then fired inside the barn, but once again they received no reply.

On the morning of 2nd September another curfew was imposed and the barn owner was once again subjected to torture. The four men fired on a posse of soldiers drawing near the barn. The British then asked for reinforcements that were not long in arriving. The shooting continued and the fighters were called upon to surrender. A small interruption followed and the shooting resumed with even greater intensity. Several soldiers were wounded.

The British threw bombs and hand grenades but to no avail. One of the fighters ran out of the barn shooting but was gunned down by a British soldier. The remaining fighters continued to shoot injuring a soldier and a captain. In a new exchange of fire a second freedom fighter was killed. A group of soldiers climbed on to the roof of the barn, where they opened a hole and threw down petrol-soaked rags.

The rags caught fire but this soon went out. While the battle continued with automatic weapons and hand grenades, an English helicopter dropped firebombs and the barn was immediately set alight. The two fighters immediately ran out only to be gunned down by the soldiers.

The heroic deaths of the four EOKA fighters touched the entire Cypriot people and caused world-wide admiration. Immediately after Cyprus became independent, the place of their sacrifice, in which statues were set up honouring the four men, became a shrine of national pilgrimage. The barn and the courtyard surrounding it are now a Monument to the magnificence of their heroism and self-sacrifice.