The Cypriot National Guard employs several armoured vehicles in its operations.
History of Cypriot armored warfare 1964–74 In August 1964, the Cypriot National Guard, under the leadership of Brig. General Georgios Grivas, engaged an armed Turkish Cypriot militia in heavy fighting at the Battle of Tylliria. During this time, the Cypriot National Guard possessed around 40 ex-Hellenic Army Marmon Herrington Mk-IVF armoured vehicles, which were distributed primarily across the north of the island, in positions facing the massive fortified Turkish enclaves at Kokkina (a coastal beachhead in Morphou district) and especially Saint Hilarion (a complex of Turkish Cypriot mountain and highland positions in Kyrenia district). At the time, the Cypriot National Guard also possessed four Daimler Dingo armoured scout cars (first sighted on 1 October 1964 Independence Day parade in Nicosia) which were formerly of the British Army and had been supplied in 1960 for policing duties, along with an estimated 3 Shorland armoured cars and a number of C-17 armoured utility trucks.
On 8–9 August 1964, a sustained Turkish air-attack in the Tylliria area resulted in the destruction of a Marmon Herrington Mk-IVF armoured car, which caught fire after a bomb fell on a nearby building in Kato Pyrgos on 9 August. On the same day, a Greek Cypriot Daimler Dingo was fired upon by a Turkish Cypriot machine gun position at Ortakioi, resulting in a sustained gun battle.Ralph Crane// Time Life Pictures / Getty Images
The running battles between the Cypriot National Guard (and smaller armed factions such as EOKA) with the Turkish Cypriots illuminated major deficiencies in the Greek Cypriot ability to apply armoured assets effectively in the battlefield, since the only available vehicles were lightly armed, and lacked heavy armour or firepower. Thus, in September 1964, the Republic of Cyprus secured a major arms deal with the Soviet Union for the delivery of 35 T-34/85 medium tanks and 45 BTR-152 armoured personnel carriers, the former to equip a medium tank battalion (the 23 ΕΜΑ) and the latter to equip a mechanised infantry battalion (the 286 MTP).
Until the arrival of these vehicles in late 1965, the Greek Cypriots were forced to overcome the limitations of their National Guard by supplementing their armoured forces with home-made armoured vehicles, produced both by the National Guard Technical Corps and civilian contracts. This led to the creation of a small national arms industry, centred around a handful of civilian companies, which largely prevailed until the 1974 invasion. The loss of several important warehouses and factories (especially those of the Kaisis Motor Company) near Nicosia International Airport in the 1974 invasion, combined with the effective destruction of the island's economy, effectively ended the Cypriot arms industry, and it never returned to prominence.
1974 invasion of Cyprus by Turkey On 20 July 1974, Turkey initiated a surprise invasion of the island of Cyprus without issuing a declaration of war, on the pretext of intervening against a military coup taking place in the Capital of Nicosia.
At the outset, the first Greek Cypriot unit (the 251 Infantry battalion) to reach the Turkish beachhead at Pentemilli (Five Mile Beach) was equipped with five T-34/85 tanks seconded from the 23 ΕΜΑ. These tanks pressed aggressively into the beachhead zone and destroyed two Turkish recoilless rifle positions and two Turkish M-113 APCs, before four vehicles succumbed to anti-tank weapons and air attack. The fifth tank withdrew and was abandoned at the camp of the 251 Battalion with mechanical problems.
On the same day, the 23 ΕΜΑ medium tank battalion was instructed to support Greek and Greek Cypriot forces in an attack on the Turkish-controlled enclave of Geunyeli, just north-west of Nicosia, which was being used to blockade the Nicosia-Kyrenia highway and prevent Greek Cypriot reinforcements from reaching Kyrenia, which was under attack. Fearing that the Turks might also use Geunyeli to form a bridgehead between Kyrenia and Nicosia, some 19 T-34/85 tanks were deployed in the action in a concerted effort with infantry and artillery to destroy Turkish resistance there.
Upon reaching the Turkish defensive line at Geunyeli, the Greek Cypriot and Greek coalition formation encountered fortifications and a line of anti-tank obstacles that could not be circumnavigated. Two tanks attempted to press through and became trapped, and had to be abandoned under heavy fire. A further two T-34s were destroyed by Turkish war planes, which were now subjecting the area to bombardment. Facing a disaster, the Greek Cypriots recalled their fifteen remaining T-34s to a safe distance in order to provide supporting fire. However, continuing air attacks and smoke cover caused confusion and disarray, and the Greek Cypriot and Greek forces withdrew rather than press into the enclave without support.
Main Cypriot armored vehicles of 1960 - 1974 This section includes vehicles that entered service during the period of 1960 - 1974.
T-34/85 main battle tank The Greek Cypriots operated a total of 32-35 Russian-made T-34 tanks that were acquired from Soviet Union and delivered via Egypt in 1964–65 on board Cypriot merchant ship "Constantis Boushes" (Kωνσταντής Mπουσές). These tanks were supplied to the 23ΕΜΑ Medium Tank Battalion, with the main base at Kokkinotrimithia, Kyrenia (this base was vacant at the time of the Turkish invasion, since tanks were needed in Nicosia for the 15 July coup). The T-34 variant in service was the later-model T-34/85, equipped with a WW2-era 85mm gun.
The vehicles were operated in a dark green camouflage, probably used by the original Warsaw Pact user, and retained this camouflage afterwards, though during combat, there is evidence that the tanks were streaked with paint or mud to break up the colour. Cypriot National Guard T-34s were entirely unique from all Soviet and Warsaw Pact countries in that they mounted the US M2 Browning .50-cal machine gun, originally on the rear of the turret roof, on top of the ventilator domes. Some time before 1974, the armament was then moved forward to the front of the turret, in front of the commanders cupola. The standard identifying marking was a dark blue square overlaid with a white cross, identical to that used by the Hellenic Army, and intended to show the obvious affinity of the indigenous population majority towards Hellenism, and to some extent, unionism with Greece. All of the tanks carried a number plate painted onto the front glacis plate. Following the 1974 invasion by Turkey, numbers in service were drastically reduced through attrition, and the last remaining operational examples were painted in sand yellow and green camouflage, with a yellow bridging class disk applied centrally to their lower bow plate.
Typical features of the Cypriot T-34/85 included a lack of uniformity, suggesting different factory and date sources of manufacture, with varied sub-types of turret for the 85mm gun, and a tendency to employ different types of wheels, often on the same vehicle. The most commonly used wheel type was the 5-spoked "starfish" shaped type, though it is common to see multi-spoke fan-shaped and solid-disc shaped wheel.Original Research from photographs published by Vlassis, Savvas 2004, O APPORITOS ATILLAS, and Drousitis Makarios 2004, Greek Coup and Turkish Invasion
In 1985, the remaining handful of T-34s were withdrawn from service.
BTR-152V1 APC Around 40 BTR-152V1 armored personnel carriers were acquired for the Cypriot National Guard from the Soviet Union in 1964-65 during the early presidency of Archbishop Makarios. During the period of the 1974 war, all of the BTR-152 armored personnel carriers are believed to have served with the 286MTP (Tagmatos Pezikou / Battalion Infantry Mechanised).
The National Guard only used the V1 production model of the BTR-152, of a variant with a frontal winch emplacement and no roof, and mounting a version of the Goryunov 7.62mm coaxial machine gun with steel plate protection. Camouflage appears to have been olive green or similar shade, and would probably have been coated with mud during combat conditions to break up the colour, as was the tendency with Cypriot armored vehicles. Vehicles captured by the Turkish Army were painted white for display purposes. A Hellenic Army blue-white cross insignia was typically carried on either front door of the vehicle, and by 1965, all vehicles operated with the standard "EF-1234" registration, EF denoting Ethniki Froura, or National Guard.
Marmon Herrington Mk-IVF AFV An estimated 40 of these armored cars served in the 21 EAN (21st Armored Reconnaissance Battalion), which are known to have been in service in 1964. The vehicles were either supplied from Britain or Greece as surplus. The Marmon Herrington Mk-IVF's in service with the National Guard during 1974 were likely to be some of the very last of their type to see main deployment in battle, anywhere in the world (a situation similar to the Daimler Dingo's and M8 Greyhounds) - evidence of a modern war fought with vintage weapons by a Commonwealth country, where virtually the entire inventory is made up of surplus materials from other countries.
Although the vehicle was typically intended for a 3-man crew, it is not uncommon to encounter photographs suggesting a four-man crew in Cypriot service.
During the war of July–August 1974, and the coup preceding it, Marmon-Herrington Mk-IVF armored vehicles were photographed with two-tone camouflage (dark olive green and mustard white), probably applied just before combat conditions to break up the colour. It was standard practice in combat conditions to completely cover the vehicle with foliage and / or foliage mesh, and this too is recorded by photography. External stores were either strapped in bags on the side of the hull, or in baskets or holders on the rear quarters of the hull. A spare tyre was typically carried at the rear of the vehicle. During 1964, there are photographic records that the Marmon Herrington's carried a two-digit identification number, painted in white paint on the front right quarter of the chassis, just right of the headlamp on that side, with one recorded number being "39". The vehicles were routinely brought out in immaculate conditions for parades during the 1960s, which were fairly frequent, and may often have been reviewed without identification numbers. In some instances, the carriage baskets at the rear were either removed or painted bright white for parades. All of the vehicles mounted a radio set with high-gain antennae.Original research from various photographic sources, including www.corbis.com, as well as published sources:Vlassis, Savvas 2004, O APPORITOS ATILLAS, and Drousitis Makarios 2004, Greek Coup and Turkish Invasion
The vehicle was not particularly well armored by 1970s combat standards, achieving up to 20mm and moderate sloping of the front and side plating. Survivability would have been largely down to a potential road speed of 80 km/h and the addition of two forward firing smoke mortars, as well as a radio for situational awareness. Armament was a British QF 2-pounder 40mm anti-tank gun, of WW2 era, with a range of anything up to 1,000 yards at a muzzle velocity of 2,650 feet per second, mounted in a two-man turret. Secondary armament was a coaxial Browning 7.62mm machine gun, suggesting a late production 1943 sub-variant.George Forty - World War Two Armored Fighting Vehicles and Self-Propelled Artillery, Osprey Publishing 1996, .
One of these vehicles with the designation of EF020 is now on display at the National Tank Museum in Bonnington, Dorset, England, and it was transported to the UK in 1986.
M47 Patton main battle tank (captured)