Second Week

In Greece the civil war raged on. For the second successive week men fought and died in the streets of Athens. The outcome was inconclusive--ELAS had not enough arms, the British not enough troops to win the city. Life went on as it had under German occupation.

In the "Papandreou State" (the four square miles in the heart of Athens controlled by the Government, with British help), civilians were allowed out only for two hours a day to fetch food and water. Snipers' bullets and bursting shells made it hazardous to venture outdoors. U.S. Ambassador Lincoln MacVeagh and his staff evacuated the perilously placed Embassy in Queen Sophia Boulevard, moved into the American School of Classical Studies on the much safer slopes of Lycabettus. Food was scarce, even in ELAS areas where merchants' stocks were commandeered and distributed.

At night Athens was awesome. The darkness which engulfed the city was periodically pierced by flares parachuted by the R.A.F. to reveal ELAS troop movements. The floating flares also revealed the Parthenon in a new, glowing beauty. The Acropolis was again a fortress. Under cover of night British paratroopers descended on the historic (and once more strategic) eminence, found it unoccupied. All round them was ELAS-land, but the skytroopers were confident they could hold the precipitous heights against any assault. The only troops which had ever taken the Acropolis by storm were the Persians (in 480 B.C.).

Amnesty, Regency? Meanwhile negotiations began between the belligerents. The Hotel Grande Bretagne, which houses the British high command and the Greek Government, buzzed with rumor. An EAM emissary, hefty, handsome Miltiades Porphyrogenis, made his way across the urban battle lines to the headquarters of British Lieut. General Ronald Mackenzie Scobie received from him the British terms for an armistice: ELAS troops in Athens and Piraeus must yield their arms, evacuate the area. Two days later, EAM countered with a three-point demand for an amnesty, an all-party Government, a regency.

The gap between the demands was wide, but since both sides were anxious to cease fire, the consultations continued. Harold Macmillan, Britain's troubleshooting Resident Minister at Allied Mediterranean Headquarters, conferred busily with Premier Papandreou and other leaders. ELAS must lay down its arms, but the regency was not a stumbling block. Most likely choice was 54-year-old Archbishop Damaskinos (born Demetrios Papandreou--see RELIGION), whose impartiality and anti-fascist record made him acceptable to both sides. Premier George Papandreou preferred a three-man regency. The Archbishop replied that he would act alone, or not at all. ELAS retired to consider surrendering its arms, the Government to persuade absent King George II to agree to a regency. Meanwhile the fighting continued.

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