Thursday 29 January 2009



Eliophotes: building 12b6 - "ΛΟΚ [LOK]". LOK was Lochos Oreinon Katadromon (Λόχος Ορεινών Καταδρομών), the Mountain Commandos' Company or Hellenic Raiding Force, which was a British-created Greek fascist paramilitary.

[Corrected on the 17th of June 2009.]

The crossed-out information above is correct, but irrelevant to this graffiti in this village.

Before, I didn't want to say that Greek Cypriot commandos were also called LOK, because I hadn't had access to any reliable sources. But, luckily, a Greek Cypriot friend, DT, mentioned it to me on Cyprus Forum:
DT. wrote:
Sam you do know ΛΟΚ (Λοκατζιδες [Lokatzides]) is the present day commando forces of the National Guard right?
In continuation of this you do know that LOK conduct war games till this day in deserted villages (obviously since they can't enter inhabited ones). Its common place for them to inscribe ΛΟΚ at places where they frequent for training.

2 of my mates who are in the commandoes will be away for the weekend on exercises in 3 deserted villages (which they wouldn't appreciate me naming right now.)
This is a problem I don't know how to solve. The more recent destruction in National Guard and Commando war games and other military exercises does not only destroy the villages; it destroys the evidence of the previous destruction.

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