The Dekemvriana through the Eyes of the British Soldiers

British soldiers who served in Greece after the country’s liberation in 1944 perceived the political crisis that led to the military confrontation of the Dekemvriana (December 1944-January 1945) in various ways, although their attitude was largely dictated by the official policy of their government. Their personal testimonies (personal and public letters, diaries, and reminiscences) reveal their own role and their experiences in the Battle of Athens. Furthermore, they provide us with interesting information concerning: the soldiers’ views of the two opposing camps (left-wing EAM and the provisional government’s anticommunist forces) and of the Greek people in general; their response to the British policy in Greece and to the reactions on the Home Front; and their own personal concerns about the dangers that they faced, the emotional or moral pressures that they felt, their impressions of foreign places and people, as well as their weariness with their wartime service.