| Greek Sacred Company troops disembark from a fishing boat in the Aegean, 1944. Cap comforters were popular and practical field headgear. After the German invasion of Greece in April-May 1941, the “free” Greek government fled to Egypt and began to reconstruct the military units there. A Hierchos Lochos (“Sacred Company”), is traditionally raised when Greece is in mortal danger; it was 1st formed in 379 BCE against Sparta, then in 1821 against Turkey. The modern Hierchos Lochos was established on September 6, 1942, by the charismatic and outspoken Colonel Christodoulos Tsigantes (January 30, 1897 – October 11, 1970) from a 140 officers in Kfar Hyna, Palestine. Hierchos Lochos’s special feature was that it consisted for the most part of officers who were involved in Mediterranean smuggling and could not be used in the Ellinikés Énoples Dynámeis Mésis Anatolís (ΑΒΕΣΜΑ – “Greek Army of the Middle East”). The unit was, according to the 1st thoughts, to be called the “Elected Immortal Company” and be a machine gun unit. Colonel Tsigantes took in many officers who were dissatisfied with the political infighting within ΑΒΕΣΜΑ. They had escaped Greece to fight the Nazi Germans, not to continue the intra-political battling among the Greek Army. Thus, the power of the Sacred Company from initially 143 men gradually increased, and with the successive integration of new volunteers at the end of the war, it reached 1,100 men. On November 25, 1942, it joined the British 1st Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment at Kabrit Camp near Cairo. Having rich military action in his assets, Tsigantes wanted to give the unit a special character and, by obtaining in time the new tactics and developments, followed the route of the Special Forces. At the same time, the name “Sacred Company” was established in commemoration of the traditional Greek military bodies from antiquity to the 20th century, such as the Sacred Band of Thebes (4th Century BCE), or the Sacred Band of Demetrios Ypsilantis (1793 – August 16, 1832). In this way the Sacred Company became the 1st Special Forces unit of the Greek Army. As a special emblem, an ancient Greek sword surrounded by laurels with the Spartan distinctive bronze breast badge with the traditional Greek warning to a departing warrior – “Come back carrying your shield, or [carried dead] upon it,” was also introduced, with the beige beret of the SAS. The training was varied including mountain struggle, parachuting training, martial arts, and weapons. The Sacred Company was organized in 3 strike platoons moving on jeep-armed machine guns, while there was also a support section with machine guns. Starting January 24, 1943, Hierchos Lochos carried out commando raids along the North African coast, supporting the United Kingdom 8th Army, attacking German forces in Tunisia through April. On February 7, 1943, Hierchos Lochos was placed under the command of French General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (November 22, 1902 – November 28, 1947) of the Deuxième Division Blindée (“French Second Armored Division”) at Colonel Tsigantes’ request for jeep raids and carrying out patrol action. The 1st serious clash took place at the Battle of Ksar Ghilane (February 23 – March 10, 1943) when Hierchos Lochos and Deuxième Division Blindée came under Axis attack which they eventually repelled. Hierchos Lochos joined the New Zealand 2nd Infantry Division and fought through Wadi Acarit, Sfax, Sussie, until they broached the Axis’s last defensive line in Efidaville. There on April 17, 1943, the Sacred Company returned to Egypt in order to prepare for the planned operations in the Aegean. In the Aegean Sea, the Germans consolidated their occupation after they neutralized the English attempts to infiltrate the region after the Italian capitulation of September 8. In these operations Hierchos Lochos actively participated in special operations. On October 30, 1943, the unit made the only parachute drop in Greek history in Samos, while another part of it arrived by sea on the island. The Axis forced Hierchos Lochos to leave Samos on November 14 and through Turkey to return to the Middle East. Absorbed into Raiding Forces Middle East Hierchos Lochos expanded, by accepting non-commissioned officer enlistments, into a 246-man battalion (with 1st through 3rd Commando Units, each divided into 5-man combat teams). From September 1943 to May 1945, German and Allied forces fought to occupy Italian-controlled Greek Aegean islands. Since the attempt to occupy the Aegean islands failed, the British Middle East Headquarters commissioned the British Commando forces, to which Hierchos Lochos was also subjected to take action in order to weaken and maintain insecurity the German garrisons of the Aegean. The intervention of Hierchos Lochos in the Aegean, with a force of 446 men now, began in March 1944. A total of 207 patrols were carried out until the end of the war and 33 small, medium- and large-scale operations were carried out. Reorganized as a 931-man Commando Regiment, Hierchos Lochos – the traditional title was never changed – carried out 14 seaborne raids from March to October 1944. Either in cooperation with the British units Long Range desert group (LRDG) and Special Boat Squadron (SBS), or independently, Hierchos Lochos caused significant losses to the enemy in both animate and inanimate material. When the German withdrawal from Greece began in September 1944, Hierchos Lochos liberated a series of Greek islands, then isolated the garrisons that remained until the end of the war in the Aegean. Alongside the war work itself, Hierchos Lochos actively contributed to the catering and medical care of the struggling inhabitants of the islands. From October 14 – December 13 it sustained high casualties in Athens against Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós (ELAS – “Greek People’s Liberation Army”), then undertook 5 more Aegean operations, culminating in the occupation of Rhodes in May 1945. The final recognition of the war of the unit came at the signing of the surrender of the German-Italian guards of the Dodecanese on May 8, 1945, when the British Brigadier General James Moffatt (October 24, 1896 – 1977) received the pistol of Generalmajor Otto Wagener (April 29, 1888 – August 9, 1971) handed it over to Colonel Tsigantes, saying: “This trophy belongs to you and to Hierchos Lochos, liberator.” The company left British service on July 31, returning to Greece to retrain as Mountain Raider Companies, the forerunners of the Greek Commando Forces. Greek servicemen also accompanied Special Operations Executive (SOE) missions to the various Greek resistance organizations. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0685.jpg |
| Image Size | 414.01 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1847 x 1000 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 1, 1944 |
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| Country | Aegean Sea |
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| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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