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- General of the Greek Army Charalambos Katsimitros (Χαράλαμπος Κατσιμήτρος), 1886
- General of the Greek Army Ioannis Pitsikas (Ιωάννης Πιτσίκας), 1881
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Charalambos Katsimitros (Greek: Χαράλαμπος Κατσιμήτρος, 1886 in Kleitsos, Evrytania - 1962 in Athens) was a Greek general who distinguished himself during the Italian invasion of Greece.
Katsimitros entered the Army in 1904. He participated in the Balkan Wars as a Second Lieutenant in 1913 and fought in the Macedonian Front with the rank of Captain, in 1917 - 1918, during the First World War. With the rank of Major he took part and was wounded in the battle of Hasan Bel, in the Asia Minor Campaign. During the following years he was promoted to senior staff positions within the Army Ministry. In 1936 he was promoted to Major General and served as commander of the 7th Division in Drama, the 9th Division in Kozani and in 9 February 1938 he was put in command of the 8th Infantry Division of Epirus based in Ioannina. After Albania was occupied by Italy in the spring of 1939, he made great efforts to prepare for a possible Italian invasion via Albania by constructing fortifications and familiarizing his men with the harsh local terrain.
On the outbreak of the war, Katsimitros' unit was fully mobilized, reinforced with an additional regiment, and deployed to meet the Italians. He took the decision to organize forward defense and hold the Elaia (Kalpaki) position, despite opposite instructions from the General Staff, and succeeded in defending it against repeated attacks until November 9. In this way he managed to contain the Italian offensive in the Epirus sector, and bought valuable time for the Greek reinforcements to arrive.
When the Greek counter offensive began, Katsimitros led his division into Albania, after forcing the pass of Kakavia. After the German attack on Greece began, he retreated with the rest of the Army of Epirus, and the capitulation found him in Ioannina.
Along with other prominent generals, Katsimitros became a member of the first collaboration government of General Georgios Tsolakoglou, serving from April to September 1941. After Liberation, he was tried and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for this, but received a royal pardon in 1949, was promoted to Lieutenant General for his service during the Greco - Italian War and the Battle of Greece.
Katsimitros died in Athens in February 1962.
Ioannis Pitsikas (Greek: Ιωάννης Πιτσίκας, 1881 – 1975) was a Greek Army general active in World War II, who served as Mayor of Athens and twice in cabinet posts in interim governments post - war.
Pitsikas was born in 1881 in the village of Kallithea in Spercheiada. He became a career officer in the Greek Army after studies in the Hellenic Army Academy, and fought in the Balkan Wars and the Asia Minor Campaign. Trained as a staff officer in the 1920s, he served as CO of the 6th Infantry Division until 1935, and then, promoted to Lieutenant General, as CO of I Army Corps until 1940.
With the outbreak of the Greco - Italian War, he assumed command of the Epirus Army Section (Τμήμα Στρατιάς Ηπείρου) on the Albanian front, and later of the Western Macedonia Army Section (Τμήμα Στρατιάς Δυτικής Μακεδονίας), which he led until the Greek Army's capitulation during the German invasion of Greece. In July 1943 he was arrested by the German occupation authorities along with a number of other senior generals, led by Alexander Papagos, for their contacts with the Allies in the Middle East, and transported to Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany.
Released from captivity after the war's end, he served as Mayor of Athens in 1946 – 1950, Minister of National Defense in Dimitrios Kiousopoulos' caretaker government in 1952, and as Minister for Northern Greece in the caretaker cabinet of Konstantinos Dovas in 1961. He died in 1975.