• Freedom Fighter Evagoras Pallikarides (Ευαγόρας Παλληκαρίδης), 1938
• Freedom Fighter Kyriakos Matsis (Κυριάκος Μάτσης), 1926

 

Due to celebrations in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, the British raised the Union Jack at all schools throughout Cyprus. Paphos was the only town where celebrations were not held because Evagoras had deliberately taken down the British flag and knew full well what the consequences of such an act would be. He carried on his resistance with demonstrations and an assault on two British soldiers. Anticipating arrest he decided to take to the mountains.

When EOKA began the struggle against British colonialism in 1955, Pallikarides took part in several anti - British demonstrations and joined EOKA when he was just 17 years old. In one of these, in November 1955, in an effort to free a friend who had been arrested, he struck a British soldier and was arrested himself. He was ordered to appear for trial but instead joined one of the many EOKA guerrilla groups that operated throughout Cyprus. Over the next year, Pallikarides participated in several guerrilla operations. Meanwhile, a reward of 5,000 pounds was put on his head by the British Army.

Pallikarides was arrested on December 18, 1956 because he was caught red handed with his guns loaded on a donkey. The police had privately reported that he had murdered a man, considered to be a British collaborator by EOKA, although there was no evidence for this claim of murder. This was no surprise since the man who had actually carried out the shooting, his surname was Kokkinos, stepped forward from EOKA's ranks and informed General George Grivas that he wanted to hand himself in to the British Authorities to save the life of Pallikarides (though admittedly we do not know this for sure, as the memoirs of Grivas may be misleading in order to gather public sympathy).

At his trial Pallikarides did not deny possession of the weapon. He said he did what he had to do as a Greek Cypriot seeking his freedom. He was sentenced to death by hanging for firearms possession on February 27, 1957. Pallikarides was hanged on March 14, 1957, at the age of 19. A propaganda leaflet was published after the hanging with a fabricated description of how he had murdered a traitor. The lawfulness of his execution has been subsequently questioned in light of the fact that the weapon held by Pallikarides at the time was not functional. A. W. B. Simpson in his book Human Rights and the End of Empire, claims that the real reason for his execution was that the authorities believed, but were unable to prove, that he had earlier murdered an elderly individual who was a suspected collaborator with the British authorities.

He was buried at the Imprisoned Graves in the Central Jail of Nicosia.

Matsis was born on January 23, 1926, in the village of Palaiochori, Lefkosia province, one of 3 children of Christofis Matsis. He studied in the University of Thessaloniki, received his degree in 1952 and returned to Cyprus. Matsis was active in labor union matters for both farmers and laborers. When EOKA was formed, he was one of the first to join.

On January 9, 1956, Matsis was arrested by the British. As he was an important EOKA member, he was questioned, among others, by Cyprus Governor Sir John Harding himself. At one point Harding offered Matsis £500,000, a new identity and relocation if he would reveal the whereabouts of EOKA leader Georgios Grivas - Digenis. Matsis replied: "Ου περί χρημάτων τον αγώνα ποιούμεθα, αλλά περί αρετής" ("This struggle is for virtue not for money").

While imprisoned, Matsis organized his fellow prisoners and, through his leadership, kept their morale high. He managed to escape from Kokkinotrimithia Prison, with six fellow inmates, on September 13, 1956 and rejoined the struggle as area leader of Kyrenia. The British placed a £5,000 price on his head.

Finally, on November 19, 1958, Matsis and two companions - Kostaris Christodoulou and Andreas Sofiopoulos - were surrounded at their hideaway in Kato Dikomo, Kyrenia province. Matsis ordered his comrades to surrender but refused to do so himself. When the British commanded him to come out, he answered: "I'll come out shooting!". At this, the British firebombed the hideaway. When the smoke cleared, they removed the dismembered body of Kyriakos Matsis. He was buried in the Imprisoned Tombs in Nicosia.