Operation Lucky Alphonse was a failed British Armed Forces operation that occurred during the EOKA insurgency in Cyprus.[3] The British military sustained more than 30 casualties. Albeit almost all casualties were sustained from an accidental forest fire.[4]
Background
Operation Lucky Alphonse was launched in the area of the Troodos Mountains in order to destroy bases in the area and also to find and capture or even eliminate the EOKA leader Georgios Grivas.[5][6] It was the continuation of the previous "Operation pepperpot" which had led the British Armed Forces to capturing a few weapons and weakening three cells.[7] Grivas, alongside EOKAs second in command, Grigoris Afxentiou, had previously escaped capture by the British in the Battle of Spilia, which took place in December 1955, making the British forces get entangled in a friendly fire incident which Britain took heavy casualties.[8]
Operation
The operation entailed multiple units of the armed forces in the Troodos mountains and at some point, Grivas was spotted, however, in the ensuing gunfight, Grivas managed to escape.[9][10] A fire starting shortly after leaving more than 30 casualties, however having minor success in the seizure of some ammunition, documents and the arrest of two individuals.[11][12]
^Drohan, Brian (2016). RIGHTS AT WAR: BRITISH COUNTERINSURGENCY IN CYPRUS, ADEN, AND NORTHERN IRELAND. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. p. 46. In June, the army nearly captured EOKA leader George Grivas. Operation Pepperpot resulted in the capture of several weapons caches, the annihilation of two EOKA operational cells, and had inflicted heavy casualties on a third.
^Jordan Lim, Preston (5 July 2018). THE EVOLUTION OF BRITISH COUNTERINSURGENCY DURING THE CYPRUS REVOLT, 1955–1959 (1 ed.). Beijing, China: Palgrave Pivot Cham. p. 29. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91620-0. ISBN978-3-319-91619-4. LCCN2018944943. In June 1956, for example, the army mounted Operation Lucky Alphonse in the Troodos Mountains in an effort to capture Grivas; as Grivas himself recollected, an army patrol came within several feet of capturing the rebel leader.
^Newsinger, John (2015). "EOKA offensive". British Counterinsurgency (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 102. doi:10.1057/9781137316868. ISBN978-0-230-29824-8. Once again, Grivas only narrowly escaped his pursuers. He was nearly taken by a paratroop patrol, escaping under fire and leaving
