States:

I am a Major in the Regular Army and I am in charge of “D” Company, 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment stationed at Whittington Camp, Nicosia.
On Wednesday 19th November, 1958, I was engaged in an operation at Kato Dhikomo village. The Security Forces engaged in the operation were my own Company and “D” Company of the 1st Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, and members of the Cyprus Police.

At 0500 hours a cordon was placed on the village and shortly afterwards a house curfew. The object of the operation was to search the village for a wanted E.O.K.A. leader, Kyriakos MATSIS who, on information received, was believed to be hiding in the village.

During the forenoon a number of male villagers were detained and taken to the school for interrogation. Later, it was decided to search a number of houses on the western edge of the village.

At about 1300 hours we started to search these houses, and a few minutes later, with major KNOTT and others, proceeded to a single story house on the left hand side of the track from the village. This house was surrounded by members of my Company.

We entered the front door of the house and I saw a man and woman, the latter having a babe in arms, and a small child. The identity of the householder was checked in my presence and found to be Kyriakos CHRISTODOULOU. He was ordered to leave the house with his family for screening.

A search was then made of the house and I saw that there were four rooms – two each side of a main hall, with an entrance door front and back. I looked in all the rooms and found that the house was unoccupied.

I saw that the room at the right of the house at the rear, had a completely retiled floor. This aroused suspicion and I assisted in the removal of all the furniture from this room into the hall. We then made a close inspection of the floor of this room, which, judging by the furniture, had been used as a sitting room. I was present when the floor was prodded with a bayonet. As the tiles adjacent to the rear window of the room were prodded, I saw a section of four tiles move. A pick head was then used to remove these tiles and underneath I saw a block of concrete. It appeared obvious to me that this spot was the entrance to a hide.

An interpreter then hammered on the floor and spoke in Greek. I heard the name “MATSIS” used several times. After the interpreter had called out several times I heard a muffled voice answer from below the floor. A conversation then took place between the interpreter and the person under the floor. The interpreter then translated the conversation to Major KNOTT and myself. The translation revealed that MATSIS and two other men were in the hide. MATSIS refused to surrender but would send out his two associates unarmed. I gathered from this that arms were in the hide. In view of this, it was decided that everyone should leave the room and we all went out into the garden at the rear of the house, as it was expected there may be a gun battle.

I took up a position about 15 yards from the back door of the house, and directly in line with it. I had a clear view of the hall through the back door.
The house was well covered by troops and I gave orders that they were not to open fire as it was suspected that some men were going to surrender from the hide.

A minute or so after I had taken up my position, I saw two men climb out of the rear window of the house. They had their hands raised and they were detained by Detective Sergeant SMITH and Military personnel as they walked away from the house, and were taken to the trees in the orchard at the rear.

Before we went to this house, tear gas grenades and “36” hand grenades had been brought to the scene in readiness, and when the two men came out of the window I took a tear gas grenade and went into the house with an interpreter. We entered the rear door and I looked through the doorway into the room. I saw that a concrete slab bah now been removed from the point where we had previously removed the tiles, and there was a hole in the floor. The interpreter then called out from the doorway in Greek. A voice replied from the hole in the floor and the interpreter translated the reply to me as “He refuses to surrender”. I then crept forward, removed the pin from the tear gas grenade and dropped it in the hole. I heard the mechanism of the gas grenade operate and we both then left the house and went into the rear garden.

A few seconds later I heard a burst of automatic fire from inside the house. When I heard this fire I did not know whether the man in the hide was going to fight, or whether he was hoaxing in an endeavour to make me believe that he had shot himself in order that he could shoot any member of the Security Forces who attempted to get into the hide. I therefore took a “36” grenade and went into the house again, through the back door.

I again crept over the floor near to the hide, removed the pin from the “36” grenade and dropped it in the hide. I then left the house and herd the grenade explode.

I had gathered from the previous conversation between a person from the hide and the interpreter that there might be explosives in the hide, so I then took another “36” grenade into the house, remove the pin and dropped it in the hole, my object being to neutralize any explosive which may be present. I then left the house and I heard the second grenade detonate.
I then went back to the room with Major KNOTT, and with the aid of a torch and a mirror, looked down into the hide and I saw the body of a man, and an automatic weapon.

Following the finding of the body, members of the Security Forces were permitted to look into the hide but nobody was allowed to enter. Detective Sergeant SMITH took charge of the scene.

After I had thrown the tear gas grenade, I never at any time smelled tear gas, so I can only presume that it failed to operate.
At no time during the above operation were any shots fired by any member of the Security Forces.

I estimate that from the time of the hide first being discovered until the time the body was found, about twenty minutes elapsed,
The only place from which the two men who surrendered could have come, was the hide, as they were not in any of the rooms of the house prior to the finding of the hide, and they climbed out of the window of that room.


(sgd) H.M McRITCHIE. Major.
24th November, 1958.
Statement taken by me at 2050 hours on 24th November, 1958, at Karmi, read over to him and he signed it in my presence.
(sgd) S.E. COX.
Detective Inspector.