The battle of Metaxades was nothing more than a serious distraction carried out by the units of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) in Thrace to attract units of the Hellenic Army (HE) to the region. The battle in the small village of Evros was the last attempt of the DSE to operate outside the fortified complexes in Grammos and Vici.
To carry out the operation, units of approximately 800 fighters were assembled, after heavy armament, which from the evening of May 14 had suddenly and strongly occupied the line of heights around the villages of Metaxades, Paliouri, Avdella and Polia. Half of them were deployed with the aim of attacking the countries and especially the Metaxades, while the other half undertook missions to cover the operation and carry out cuts.
The whole area was covered by a company of scouts with a strength of only two officers and 32 men. The company was led by reserve lieutenant Lalos. The presence of the rebel units in the area forced the inhabitants of the mentioned villages to abandon them and take refuge in the protection of the company's support point, in a low hill, south of the village of Metaxades.
A total of more than 800 residents of the surrounding villages gathered there, of which the vast majority were civilians, old men, women and children. The hill was completely dry. The company commander, however, reported via radio that the morale of himself and his men was very high and he awaited the DSE attack with courage.
His only concern was shortages of ammunition, food and water. However, the command of the 81st Light Infantry Regiment, to which the company belonged, pledged to do everything humanly possible to lift its siege as soon as possible. In the meantime, the DSE launched the same evening – around 20.30 – its first attack against the defensive perimeter of the besieged. The insurgent units hit the defensive perimeter as a whole, also performing hyperkerotic maneuvers. He let the guards get closer so that no bullet would "go astray" and then opened fire.
For an hour the rebels tried to get within striking distance but failed with casualties and were finally persuaded to withdraw to try again later. The attack was repeated around 23.00 and then two more times in the early hours of May 16. However, the heroic guards, although outnumbered by more than 10 to 1, courageously faced the repeated assaults of the rebels.
However, the repeated night attacks of the rebels had already made the situation of the defenders critical. As mentioned the euphemistic guard company was already facing a shortage of ammunition before the start of the battle. On the morning of May 16 the company commander sent an urgent signal to his colonel, stating that if ammunition was not supplied all that remained was to act with the lance, to "spare the honor of his guns and men." of ».
The commander of the regiment, lieutenant colonel Georgios Vlasis, expressly forbade Lalos to carry out this glorious suicide. Instead, he ordered him to hold the hill "even with his teeth", as he characteristically told him. He himself would see to it that they were freed.
Lieutenant-Colonel Vlasis reports:"On the morning of the 16th and after carefully studying the situation, I ordered a field artillery platoon (2 guns) and a company of the 551st Infantry Brigade to be quickly moved from Mikros Derio to the Metaxades area, and at the same time I asked for the reinforcement of a platoon to deal with of the situation ». The artillery unit arrived at 10.30 in the morning of May 16 at the height of the village of Ladi and immediately began harassing the rebels.
However, the company of the 551TP was assigned to the 40th Battalion of the National Guard (TE), while to reinforce the Metaxades garrison, the Military Administration of Thrace (SDF) assigned a company of the 39th TE, also with little ammunition. Vlasis immediately complained to the administration, which probably did not realize the seriousness of the situation. However, instead of another answer, the SDF provided the 81st ESP and the 38th TE. Vlasis then decided to throw the 38th TE behind the rebels, on the Bulgarian border, in order to cut off their escape route, taking advantage of the information of the Metaxades company.
But the national guard battalions, in addition to their known weaknesses, also faced a lack of ammunition and were unable to undertake immediate offensive actions. Vlasis was furious with anger and after "decorating" the administration with plenty of "French" he demanded at least the aerial resupply of his company. The Air Force (then EBA) was immediately informed and although it considered that the attempt to resupply the besieged by air would be doomed to failure due to the terrain.
The plane that would undertake such a mission simply had little chance of returning as it would be absolutely exposed to the fire of the rebels from the surrounding hills. Nevertheless, the Greek aviators, with their well-known self-sacrifice, undertook the operation. On the evening of May 16 a slow moving Dakota, accompanied by two Spitfires made the first drop, from a relatively safe height for aircraft. But very few of the ammunition boxes fell within the limited defensive perimeter. They should have flown lower.
Meanwhile on the ground, the insurgents did not venture new large-scale attacks. They contented themselves with besieging the defenders, certain that thirst would quench them. The next day, May 17, Vlasis, knowing the tragic situation of the besieged, decided to accelerate the actions for their release. Always asking for the assistance of the Air Force, he organized the extrication operation, in close cooperation with the commander of the 40TE, Major Apostolakis, who organized the offensive action.
According to the plan, a company of the 39th TE would form the base of fire, with the support of which the company of the 551TP would go out to break the rebel cordon at Metaxades. Vlasis himself, along with Apostolakis, settled in an advanced machine gun to direct the attack. However, the company of the 39th TE at the first fire of the rebels "broke" and retreated, leaving the two officers alone to fight in the machine gun as ordinary infantrymen!
As luck would have it, the attack never took place. However, even the rebels could not take advantage of their success, since the Greek wings covered the battlefield, spreading death. Only at night did the rebels press the besieged. Lt. Col. Vlasis writes:"The air force fully performed its duty and we owe it a lot of favors and gratitude, during the evening hours the resupply of the Company from the air was very successful ».
That same evening, the SDF informed Vlasis that it was finally sending him serious reinforcements, a regular army detachment of the 77th ETP (Light Infantry Battalion), under Major Dimidis. Vlasis Perichareis suggested launching an attack with the 77th ETP's maneuver in the rear of the rebels with a simultaneous frontal attack by the 40th TE. The attack would be launched on May 18. Finally, the attack was carried out at 17.15 on May 18, but without the participation of the platoon of the 77th ETP, due to its late arrival from Didymoteicho. The plan of attack was accordingly modified and the brunt of the attack was now undertaken by the company of the 551TP, reinforced by an armored vehicle platoon (led by Lt. Dokos), supported by the field artillery platoon and reinforced also by a section of 16 volunteers, under Lt. Zerboudakis.
However, the attack was launched normally at the scheduled time and within 30 minutes the left side of the rebels (Asvestaries hill) had collapsed. Terrified, the rebels fled, leaving behind their loot. The men of the 551TP joined the enslaved besieged, who had survived four days without food and mostly water, even drinking their own urine! Nevertheless, they withstood the attacks of the rebels, fighting all of them, soldiers, old men, women and children, even with stones and sticks. An important role in saving them was played by the Air Force, which in those critical days managed to isolate the battlefield. The IS counterattack continued until May 20, forcing the remnants of the DSE units to seek refuge in "sister" Bulgaria.