Dimitrios Ioannou ( el, Δημήτριος Ιωάννου, 1861–1926) was a senior officer of the
Hellenic Army who fought in the
Macedonian front
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...
during
World War I and in the opening stages of the
Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922.
Biography
Born on 23 October 1861 at
Levadeia, Ioannou entered the
Hellenic Military Academy and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Engineers on 25 July 1884. In 1897, as a Captain, he participated in the Greek expeditionary force to
Crete under Colonel
Timoleon Vassos. By the time the
First Balkan War broke out October 1912 he was a Lt. Colonel, and served as chief of staff of the
Army of Epirus The following is the order of battle of the Hellenic Army during the First Balkan War.
Background
Greece, a state of 2,666,000 people in 1912,Erickson (2003), p. 70 was considered the weakest of the three main Balkan allies, since it fielded th ...
, under Lt. General
Konstantinos Sapountzakis. Later, during the
Battle of Bizani
The Battle of Bizani (, ''Máchi tou Bizaníou''; tr, Bizani Muharebesi, italic=no) took place in Epirus on . The battle was fought between Greek and Ottoman forces during the last stages of the First Balkan War, and revolved around the forts ...
, he commanded a detachment of four
Evzone
The Evzones or Evzonoi ( el, Εύζωνες, Εύζωνοι, ) were several historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army. Today, they are the members of the Presidential Guard ( el, Προεδρική Φρουρά , transli ...
battalions, and was distinguished for his drive and determination.
He was named as the commanding officer of the newly raised
9th Infantry Division in 1913, and commanded it until 1916, when he joined the
Venizelist Movement of National Defence in
Thessaloniki, which, in opposition to the royal government in
Athens, entered
World War I on the side of the
Entente Powers. Ioannou was tasked with the formation of the
Archipelago Division
The Archipelago Division ( el, Μεραρχία Ἀρχιπελάγους, Merarchia Archipelagous) was an infantry division of Greece in World War I and the early stages of the Asia Minor Campaign.
Establishment
The division began being rais ...
, drawn from the inhabitants of the
Aegean islands. By May 1917, his division was ready and deployed in the
Monastir sector of the
Macedonian front
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...
. He led his division to victory at the
Battle of Skra-di-Legen in May 1918, and participated with it in the
general Allied offensive of September 1918, which broke the German-Bulgarian front. The
armistice with Bulgaria
The Armistice of Salonica (also known as the Armistice of Thessalonica) was signed on 29 September 1918 between Bulgaria and the Allied Powers in Thessaloniki. The convention followed a request by the Bulgarian government for a ceasefire on 24 ...
found him with his division at
Pehčevo.

Promoted to Lieutenant General already a few months earlier, Ioannou now assumed command of
I Army Corps and then of the Army of Epirus. Following the
Greek landing at Smyrna in May 1919 and the establishment of a
zone of occupation around the city, he was chosen to command the newly constituted
Smyrna Army Corps, which he led in the spring operations and the
summer offensive of 1920. Following the
unexpected electoral victory of the anti-Venizelist
United Opposition United Opposition may refer to:
*United Opposition (Greece)
*United Opposition (Hungary, 1930s)
*United Opposition (Philippines)
*United Opposition (Soviet Union)
* United Opposition of Serbia
See also
*Opposition (politics)
*United for Hungary
...
in November 1920, he was dismissed from his post. He died in 1926 in Athens.
Legacy
Ioannou enjoyed a reputation as an expert in fortifications, but distinguished himself for his—often reckless—bravery and aggressiveness as a leader.
The Greek writer
Stratis Myrivilis
Efstratios Stamatopoulos (30 June 1890 – 19 July 1969) was a Greek writer. He is known for writing novels, novellas, and short stories under the pseudonym Stratis Myrivilis . He is associated with the "Generation of the '30s". He was nominated ...
, in his anti-war novel ''Life in the Tomb'', which describes life on the Macedonian Front based on the author's own experiences as a soldier in the Archipelago Division, gives a portrait of Ioannou, under his popular nickname Balafaras: a slightly buffoonish but larger-than-life man, who likes to demonstrate his personal bravery by refusing to take cover or wear a helmet while visiting the trenches in full uniform, and whose more foolhardy impulses have to be restrained by his aides and the French high command.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ioannou, Dimitrios
1861 births
1926 deaths
People from Livadeia
Hellenic Army generals
Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars
Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
Recipients of the War Cross (Greece)
Greek military personnel of World War I