The Historic and Great NO of October 28, 1940
The Historic and Great NO of October 28, 1940
83 years have passed since the Historic and Great NO of the 28thth October 1940.
On the occasion of this National Day of ours, I will refer to the evening of October 28, 1940, and specifically to an undeniable and important event, when Ioannis Metaxas, Prime Minister of our Homeland at the time, firmly refused to obey the ultimatum delivered to him that evening by the Italian Ambassador Grazi.
This undeniable and important fact consists in the fact that the Service Officer and Security Supervisor in the 8th Division on the evening of October 28, 1940 was my Father's brother Eleftherios Moulias, an Officer of the School of Prospects Class 1938, with the then rank of Second Lieutenant Infantry.
This Officer was the one who picked up the phone at 3:30 that evening, when Ioannis Metaxas, Prime Minister of our Homeland, called him and asked him to connect him with the Commander of the 8th Division, Major General Charalambos Katsimitros. This Officer then connected Ioannis Metaxas with his Commander by phone and listened to the conversation between the two men. Ioannis Metaxas, in the few minutes of telephone communication he had with Charalambos Katsimitros, announced the answer and the Big NO, when he firmly refused to obey the ultimatum for the free entry of the Italian Troops into Greece, which was delivered to him by the Italian Ambassador Grazi, who had visited him a few minutes earlier that evening at his home in Kifissia. Subsequently, and after this phone call from Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas, the 8th Division, which was already very well prepared and organized under the leadership of the experienced General Charalambos Katsimitros, was now ready to face the Italian invader from 5:30 in the morning and thus began the victorious War of 1940.
The aforementioned Infantry Second Lieutenant Eleftherios Moulias, subsequently and from the very first moment, found himself on the front line of the Albanian Front and reached Gjirokastra, where despite being wounded, he continued to fight and inspire his soldiers in the difficult and harsh conditions of that war.
The Historical and Great NO of Ioannis Metaxas, the very well prepared and organized 8η A division under the leadership of the experienced General Katsimitros, as well as the unity of the Greek People who preferred sacrifice to enslavement, are what contributed to the victorious victories of the Greek Army on the Albanian Front, so that our Homeland is free today.
Spyridon P. Moulias
Senior Officer
Honorary President of SEKPY
Diploma M-H Engineering NTUA