Subject: Violations of the Greco-Yugoslav
Border.
The Department will observe that the incidents related are of a
more serious character than those reported in my despatch No.
1282 of July 42 both by their nature and since they
are apparently directed from a base established in or near
Monastir for the express purpose of organizing forays into
Greece with the object of stirring up trouble and disseminating
Communist propaganda. Already on Greek soil one British soldier
has been killed, one wounded, and a third taken prisoner by one
of these bands. The Yugoslavs have also adopted an attitude of
studied rudeness towards senior British officers desiring to
parley about these incidents.
While all reports reaching this Embassy from the Department and
other Missions seem to agree that the present Soviet war of nerves is directed more
against Turkey than Greece, these violations of the Greek border
and the persistent press campaign against Greece would appear to
indicate a desire to keep the pot boiling in this area as well.
If the Russians decide to risk military action against Turkey,
the possibility, discussed in my despatch No. 1331 of July
17,3 of a preliminary or
simultaneous drive by Yugoslav, Bulgar, and even ELASite puppet
forces across the relatively undefended plains of Northern
Greece to the Aegean should perhaps not be excluded.
[Enclosure]
secret
No. R 132–45
[Undated.]
Greco-Yugoslav Border
Incidents:
1. During the first two weeks of July 1945, the Yugoslavs
have seemingly tried to foment trouble in Greek Macedonia
and along the frontier. Several small bands of armed men
have crossed the border into Greece, where they have spread
Communist propaganda among the villagers, killed a small
number of civilians and one British soldier, and exchanged
occasional rifle shots with Greek and British patrols.
Furthermore, on 12 July, a Yugoslav frontier guard
detachment trespassed onto Greek soil, attacked the Greek
frontier post opposite them, and took a National Guardsman
prisoner. These events would appear to indicate that
Yugoslav policy is in accord with Tito’s unfriendly
references to the Greek Government in his speech of 8
July.4
2. Approximately thirty separate reports of the presence of
armed bands have been received by British HQ in Salonika.
Reports are thickest from the mountain areas immediately
around Fiorina, with a secondary center in the mountains
north of Edessa. It is certain that these bands are in
communication with Yugoslavia, for couriers have been
intercepted bringing propaganda leaflets from across the
border to them. They are probably operating loosely under
the control of a central headquarters in or near Bitolj
(Monastir). According to a Yugoslav political commissar in
Bitolj, a special “raiding force”, organized into two
brigades, each 2,500 strong, has been set up for operations
in Greek Macedonia; but British authorities suspect that
this story is a plant, and believe that the bands actually
operating in the area are far weaker than the Commissar
said, totalling perhaps not more than 500 men. Sweeping
operations in the mountains by both British and Greek troops
have resulted in only a few brushes with small groups of
men, during which no prisoners were taken and no casualties
occurred.
3. A frontier incident, involving the Yugoslav and Greek
guard detachments on the road just south of Zhivojna (about
15 miles WNW of Fiorina), reflects a similarly aggressive
attitude on the part of the Yugoslavs. The sequence of
events is as follows: On 11 July a soldier from the Yugoslav
frontier guard detachment deserted to the Greeks. Next day,
the Yugoslavs accused the Greeks of having kidnapped the
deserter and demanded his return. The demand was refused,
and that night the Yugoslavs surrounded the Greek frontier
post, and a brisk exchange of fire began. The Yugoslavs
captured [Page 1070] one of
the Greek soldiers, and then withdrew to their own side of
the frontier.
4. The next day, 13 July, Brigadier Saunders-Jacobs, commander of 5
Brigade, 4 Indian Division, came with the Yugoslav Consul
from Salonika to investigate the incident, and, if possible,
to effect an exchange of the prisoners. The Yugoslav Consul
verified the Greek report that the Yugoslav soldier was a
deserter and had not been kidnapped; but the brigadier could
not find any Yugoslav officer with enough authority to order
the prisoners exchanged. The officer who commanded the
Yugoslav frontier detachment apparently behaved with
calculated rudeness, spitting on the ground by Brigadier
Saunders-Jacobs’ feet, and cracking a whip in the
interpreter’s face.
5. The affair was further complicated by the fact that on the
night 13–14 July a Greek soldier deserted from the frontier
detachment, thus giving the Yugoslavs two bodies for one. A
second meeting between British and Yugoslav officers,
arranged for 15 July, failed to take place when the
Yugoslavs did not show up at the appointed time. Thereupon
the British decided to take no further initiative, and so
the matter rests as of 18 July.
Attempts to
Propagandize:
6. Apparently the principal activity of these bands has been
dissemination of propaganda. They have circulated in both
Greek and Slavophone villages, saying that the Communists
will soon be back, with the Russians behind them. In
addition, about a dozen civilians have been murdered, though
the motives for the killing are not always discernible. Near
Fiorina, a number of KKE
pamphlets were captured on 15 July, which proclaimed the
initiation of a more active, aggressive policy, including
the hold-up of British trucks and the arrangement of
jail-breaks. The following day, a British truck was ambushed
on the road between Edessa and Fiorina, and one British
soldier was killed, one wounded, and a third taken prisoner.
(The prisoner was released, stark naked, a few hours later.)
Another British truck encountered an undefended block across
the same road on the night 15–16 July.
7. The relation of these bands to the “Autonomous Macedonia
Movement” is not clear. The personnel of the bands seems to
be Greek rather than Slavo-Macedonian, comprising former
ELASites who fled
across the Yugoslav border in the early part of this year.
So far as is known, autonomy for Macedonia has not figured
in their propaganda.
Comment:
8. It seems likely that the Yugoslav Government is
deliberately seeking to create disorder in Greece for ends
of its own. If the Slav [Page 1071] minority in Greek Macedonia can be made
into a world problem, the Yugoslav Government will thus
acquire one more claim with which to bargain when it comes
to the readjustment of frontiers at the Peace Conference.
Furthermore, until the question of world relations between
Russia and England has been amicably settled, the
possibility of Yugoslav invasion of Greek Macedonia cannot
be totally discounted. In such an eventuality, it would
salve world opinion if there were “oppressed Slav brethren”
to rescue from “reactionary terrorism”; and the best way to
provoke such terrorism, is, of course, to send former ELAS bands across the
border.
William H. McNeill
,
Asst. Military Attaché,
Captain, C. A.
C.
Approved and forwarded:
Sterling L. Larrabee
,
Lt Colonel, G. S. C., Military
Attaché.
