Panagiotis Toumazou finished primary school and Greek High School in Famagusta and worked for a while as a customs officer.

He joined the fight in 1955, while he was still a student, in a school team to which Petrakis Giallouros also belonged and he also collaborated with the teams of the Commercial High School of Famagusta. He began his activity with the circulation of leaflets and the writing of slogans and continued it in strike groups and ambushes. In December 1955 he took part in a bombing attack against a military vehicle. During the period of the Turkish attacks, on July 20, 1958, by order of the Organization, he attacked together with a competitor against a Turkish agent of the British.

He was betrayed and wanted, so he fled to a rebel group in the Soleas sector with the nickname “Onisilos”.

“In October 1958“, recounts the competitor of Antonakis Solomonos, “we were ambushed for thirteen nights on the Kakopetrias-Karvounas road, with the order of our section leader to strike. On the thirteenth day Iotis, as we called Toumazos, cut a wild olive branch, put it in his pocket and said to us:

‘If I fall, let the English find it and let them know that we are fighting for peace’. 

There were three of us. Andreas Aggeli was also with us. It was 7:15 in the evening, on October 22, 1958, when two large cars with soldiers appeared. We attacked, me with the automatic and Iotis pressed the mine switch. I was next to him. The mine mechanism did not work and did not explode. Iotis rose to throw a grenade. Then an English bullet hit him in the head.

I tried to pick him up. But the flames, caused by the English with the flamethrowers, surrounded me from all sides. I couldn’t move him. I stepped back. He stayed there with the olive branch in his pocket.”