Award documents of Captain Charalambos Stavropoulos
Charalambos Stavropoulos was born in Peloponnese and served as a Lieutenant in the 40th Infantry Regiment during the Greek-Italian Campaign of 1940-1941. During the Occupation, he joined the far-right, royalist "Organization X" in the summer of 1941, being a member of its Staff, also cooperating with O.A.Γ., the "Organization for the Rebirth of the Nation". According to a certificate issued to him by the said organizaion, he took part in sabotage actions in the airfield of Chassani (Elliniko) and the fuel depot of Markopoulo, as well as in observation and espionage missions in the airfield of Tatoi and the harbours of Salamis and Piraeus.
In the summer of 1944, in the final months of the German Occupation, Organization X became part of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Athens Military Command, under Lt. General Spiliotopoulos. The Command, with its three regiments, consisting of anti-communist organizations of the area of the capital, acted under the orders of the "exiled" Greek Government and the Allied HQ Middle East, aiming at stopping any attempt of EAM to seize the power after the German retreat.
One of the tasks of the Command was the armament of the City Police and Gendarmerie forces of the city of Athens -at that time still under the command of the Collaborationist Government of Ioannis Rallis- with submachine guns and rifles, which would arrive from Cairo, laden on caiques, in the coast of Porto Rafti, at an approximate distance of 30km from the capital. A group of about 70 men of Organization X took part in the operation, which lasted from September 9, till the night of September 24/25 and entailed a skirmish with an attacking ELAS force of 17 men, which ended with their defeat, as well as the transport of 1000 Lee-Enfield rifles and hundreds of Tommy and Sten guns with their ammunition to their final destination.
Stavropoulos was in charge of this transport detachment, consisting of two lorries and two passenger cars, belonging to the infamous Motorized Police Battalion of Nikolaos Mpourantas. Equipped with fake identification documents, provided by Police Chief Angelos Evert, and in agreement with the German forces - later Greek military sources refer to their bribe- the weapons were delivered, stored and later handed over. Stavropoulos was mentioned in the Regimental Daily Order of December 30 and was later awarded the Cross of Valour in Gold for this operation.
He was later severely wounded in the left arm during the Battle of Athens and was thus honourably discharged with the rank of Lt. Colonel. After a visit in the US in 1946, in an attempt to heal his wound, he wrote "The Life of the Greek in America", an essay about the life of the Greek immigrants in the country, trying to change the negative image of the latter in the Greek society of the time.
Stavropoulos was appointed as a Prefect in Chalkidiki fron April 20, 1954 till May 5, 1955. He died in Athens, on October 9, 1990.
In the summer of 1944, in the final months of the German Occupation, Organization X became part of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Athens Military Command, under Lt. General Spiliotopoulos. The Command, with its three regiments, consisting of anti-communist organizations of the area of the capital, acted under the orders of the "exiled" Greek Government and the Allied HQ Middle East, aiming at stopping any attempt of EAM to seize the power after the German retreat.
One of the tasks of the Command was the armament of the City Police and Gendarmerie forces of the city of Athens -at that time still under the command of the Collaborationist Government of Ioannis Rallis- with submachine guns and rifles, which would arrive from Cairo, laden on caiques, in the coast of Porto Rafti, at an approximate distance of 30km from the capital. A group of about 70 men of Organization X took part in the operation, which lasted from September 9, till the night of September 24/25 and entailed a skirmish with an attacking ELAS force of 17 men, which ended with their defeat, as well as the transport of 1000 Lee-Enfield rifles and hundreds of Tommy and Sten guns with their ammunition to their final destination.
Stavropoulos was in charge of this transport detachment, consisting of two lorries and two passenger cars, belonging to the infamous Motorized Police Battalion of Nikolaos Mpourantas. Equipped with fake identification documents, provided by Police Chief Angelos Evert, and in agreement with the German forces - later Greek military sources refer to their bribe- the weapons were delivered, stored and later handed over. Stavropoulos was mentioned in the Regimental Daily Order of December 30 and was later awarded the Cross of Valour in Gold for this operation.
He was later severely wounded in the left arm during the Battle of Athens and was thus honourably discharged with the rank of Lt. Colonel. After a visit in the US in 1946, in an attempt to heal his wound, he wrote "The Life of the Greek in America", an essay about the life of the Greek immigrants in the country, trying to change the negative image of the latter in the Greek society of the time.
Stavropoulos was appointed as a Prefect in Chalkidiki fron April 20, 1954 till May 5, 1955. He died in Athens, on October 9, 1990.
1947 award certificate for the Medal of Outstanding Acts for the 1940-1941 operations.
1947 award certificate of the Cross of Valour in Gold for the operations during the timeframe between August and December 1944.
1948 award certificate for the Medal of Military Merit 4th Class
Early postwar photo of Stavropoulos with the rank of Captain.