Greece Returns to the Desert Where 89 Soldiers Fell

EL ALAMEIN, October 2026 — Greece honoured the 89 officers and soldiers of its 1st Brigade who fell in Egypt in 1942, as Deputy Defence Minister Thanasis Davakis attended the El Alamein anniversary ceremony on Saturday.

Davakis represented the Greek government at the Greek Military Memorial of El Alamein, marking 84 years since the battle. The Ministry of National Defence sent him to pay tribute to Greeks who died fighting alongside the Allies against Nazism.

A memorial service opened the El Alamein anniversary, followed by the traditional roll call of the dead. Davakis then laid a wreath at the memorial to the fallen.

Greece’s ambassador to Egypt, Nikolaos Papageorgiou, attended, as did Cyprus’s ambassador, Elena Rafti, and Germany’s ambassador, Jürgen Schulz.

Air Vice Marshal Konstantinos Bouzos, chief of staff of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, represented the armed forces. Members of the Greek community, pupils from Greek schools in Egypt and scouts also took part.

Davakis at the El Alamein anniversary

In his El Alamein anniversary address, Davakis stressed the weight of the Greek fighters’ sacrifice in the Middle East. At the time, Greece itself lay under a triple occupation.

“We stand here today with a feeling of deep reverence and national pride at this sacred spot in the Egyptian desert,” Davakis said.

“At the sacred place where Greek virtue, the unbowed spirit and self-sacrifice met world history.”

He described how the flame of Greek freedom passed to the Middle East. Volunteers from the Egyptian Greek community joined hundreds of officers and soldiers who crossed the sea despite great danger, he said.

Greeks in the Allied front line

Under Colonel Pafsanias Katsotas, the 1st Greek Brigade fought on the front line within the British Eighth Army, Davakis said. Greek naval and air force units also served there.

Those forces were not mere observers, he said, but paid a heavy toll in blood for the freedom of Europe.

The Second Battle of El Alamein ran from 23 October to early November 1942. It ended in an Allied victory over German and Italian forces in North Africa.

Greek airmen also played a part. Last October, the Hellenic Air Force honoured Greek and British pilots who flew together in the desert.

Earlier this year, Davakis also represented the government at the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Crete in Chania. Each El Alamein anniversary draws Greeks from across Egypt to the desert memorial.

Source: Ta Nea

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