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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