The Battle of Cyprus in 1974 was decided in the two days of July 20-22, when the Greek forces, failed to eliminate the Turkish bridgehead at Pendemili in Kyrenia. This failure was a function of many factors, but basically it had to do with the inadequacy of the means available for the purpose. The main protagonist in this effort was the 286th Motorized Infantry Battalion (MIB). The 286 MKTP was formed in 1965. It was equipped with light armored, wheeled BTR vehicles of Soviet manufacture. The battalion was made up of three motorized rifle companies, a support company (heavy weapons) and a command company. The support company had a mortar platoon (four 81 mm guns), an anti-tank platoon with six 106 mm PAOs. and PAO of 57 mm. In 1973 the support company was disbanded
The battalion had old weapons and was under-manned. The men carried WW2 Lee-Enfield Mk.4 repeating rifles and old Sten submachine guns.
The companies had no machine guns except those mounted on the BTR vehicles. Each platoon had a Bren machine gun and a 60mm mortar. Each company had a heavy weapons platoon with three 81mm mortars. a PAO of 57 mm. and old WWII German MG 42 7.92mm machine guns.
Supplying the battalion with ammunition was a nightmare for the officer in charge, as he had to keep a stockpile of the Soviet 7.62mm SGMB Goryonov machine guns. contained in the battalion's 19 BTR-152 V1 vehicles, stock of 7.92 mm cartridges. for German machine guns, of 0.303 in. for Lee-Enfield rifles and 9 mm. for the Sten submachine guns. He also had to keep a stock of both types of mortars. And all this for a unit of 300 men.
Each rifle company had six BTR-152s. These Soviet vehicles were nothing more than wheeled reconnaissance vehicles, open in their upper part. They were bought in 1965 and due to a lack of spare parts, in 1974, their condition was not good. Thanks to the efforts of its commander, Lt. Col. Georgios Butou, and the dedication of the men, it was possible to utilize all the battalion's vehicles on the critical day.
Moving towards the Turkish bridgehead, on 20 July 1974, the battalion was attacked by the Turkish air force and decimated. Finally, only six vehicles with about 100 men arrived in front of the Turkish bridgehead.
There they were joined by 40 men, who had remained under arms, of the 316th National Guard Battalion and 46 men of the 281st Infantry Battalion. These forces formed a group, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bufa, who was ordered to counter-attack the Turks and drive them into the sea, although he had less than 200 men.
It was obvious that this mission had no chance of success. Nevertheless, officers and soldiers took her on! This was also its greatness, that 200 "crazy" Greeks were found to execute it. The counterattack would be carried out in two converging directions. North would act on 286 and south on 281 with a view to joining the Pendemili coast.
The 286th moved with a BTR-152 as the vanguard, supported by 106mm PAOs. The rest of the BTR-152s followed behind. The noise of the engines of the vehicles attracted the Turks, who started firing with every available weapon, blindly!
The Turkish tracer bombs also showed the positions of the Turkish weapons, which they undertook to silence the Greek PAOs. The Greek forces advanced satisfactorily in the sector of 286. The leading BTR-152 even managed to get behind the Turkish lines, but was forced to retreat in order not to be cut off. In the attack sector of 281, on the contrary, the situation was more difficult.
The battalion was forced to advance without support, receiving fire in its flanks. Nevertheless, he managed to join the 286. One more jump and Cyprus' fate would have been different. But it all ended there.
The attack was called off at about 0400 when it became apparent that it could not succeed, when the few Greek troops were exhausted – 200 men! If there was a full battalion at the disposal of the Bufa Group, things would be completely different. The expected in the area 366 National Guard Battalion never arrived in Kyrenia.
After the failure of the night counter-attack, in the early afternoon of July 21, it was decided to carry out a new counter-attack, with the aim of at least pinning the Turkish forces on the lips of the achieved bridgehead. Carrying out an attack in broad daylight, under the fire of Turkish destroyers and under the absolute superiority of the Turkish air force, was tantamount to suicide. Nevertheless it was executed!
This time the 286th bore the brunt of the fight, as the 281st had been almost completely disbanded, after the losses it had sustained in the night attack. The offensive force of 286 moved in two phalanxes led by lieutenants Sylligardo and Fantidi, respectively, supported by the tireless platoon of the PAOs of the hero second lieutenant Georgios Kalvaris, who although wounded since the morning of the previous day, remained by the side of the hismen .
The attack went badly from the start. Turkish anti-tank guided missiles began to hit the BTR-152s. In an inferno of shells the 286 tried to move, but could not. Besides, the Turks had already strengthened their forces at the bridgehead and executed a counterattack in turn.
The minimal Greek forces could not hold them back. Soon the front was broken and the Turks found themselves in the rear of 286, also capturing the command post of Lt. Col. Bufa. The battle of Kyrenia was lost.