Elias Degiannis, Greek commander (b. 1912)
Ilias Degiannis (Greek: Ηλίας Ντεγιάννης; 22 December 1912 – 18 June 1943) was a Greek navy officer Resistance leader during the Axis occupation of Greece.
Degiannis had participated in the abortive pro-Republican coup attempt of March 1935, and been dismissed from the navy as a result.He was one of a number of pro-Liberal or left-wing Greeks contacted and recruited by Section D of British intelligence in early 1941, forming an intelligence cell called "Prometheus" (Προμηθεύς) under the leadership of Colonel Evripidis Bakirtzis. Due to the German invasion of Greece and the rapid conquest of the country in April–May 1941, the British were not able to organize their clandestine network on a firm basis or provide them with suitable material such as radios. Following the British withdrawal, only the Prometheus group used its transmitter to send information to SOE in Cairo.In early 1942, Bakirtzis was forced to leave Greece because his identity had been revealed to the Germans. Degiannis, along with fellow participants in the 1935 coup Charalambos Koutsogiannopoulos and Dimitris Bardopoulos, was left in charge of the group which was reorganized as "Prometheus II". The group collected intelligence for the SOE and engaged in a successful sabotage campaign against Axis shipping.He was arrested, tortured and executed by the Germans on 18 June 1943. He was promoted posthumously to Commander.
In December 1980 the Hellenic Navy commissioned the La Combattante IIIb-class fast attack craft Ypoploiarchos Degiannis (P 26) in his honour.
His brother Theodoros Degiannis became an admiral and chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff in 1982–1984, while another brother Ioannis Degiannis became a senior judge, presiding over the Greek Junta Trials.
1943Jun, 18
Elias Degiannis
Choose Another Date
Events on 1943
- 11Feb
Dwight D. Eisenhower
World War II: General Dwight D. Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe. - 30May
Auschwitz concentration camp
The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp. - 19Jun
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL merge for one season due to player shortages caused by World War II. - 6Nov
Kiev
World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Kiev. Before withdrawing, the Germans destroy most of the city's ancient buildings. - 4Dec
Josip Broz Tito
World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.