For some, Winston Churchill’s visit to a civil-war-torn Athens in 1944 was a “Christmas gift”; for others, it was an opportunity for a final, devastating blow.
By late December 1944, the “Battle of Athens” (Dekemvriana) was effectively lost for EAM-ELAS. Facing the overwhelming superiority of 60,000 British and government troops, the resistance forces were on the verge of retreating from the capital.
Yet, the fighters in the streets were sustained by the belief that reinforcements would arrive from the countryside or that international pressure would force the British to withdraw.
The plot to destroy the Grande Bretagne
Amidst this stalemate, a desperate and unprecedented plan was hatched: the destruction of the Hotel Grande Bretagne at Syntagma Square.
The hotel served as the nerve center for the British military under General Ronald Scobie and the seat of Georgios Papandreou’s government. It also housed the international press, Allied missions (including Soviet and American representatives), and high-ranking military families.
On Christmas Day 1944, the “Father of Victory,” Winston Churchill, arrived in Athens to preside over a conference aimed at resolving the conflict. While many in the government saw his arrival as a salvation, ELAS had already prepared a “warm” welcome.
Entering the sewers
Since December 22, ELAS fighters had been smuggling sacks of explosives into the hotel’s foundations. Manolis Glezos, famous for tearing down the Swastika from the Acropolis in 1941, was one of the men in the tunnels. In a 2014 interview with The Observer, he recalled the harrowing mission:
“We wanted to blow up the Grande Bretagne because it was Scobie’s headquarters. I was the one holding the fuse wire. We crawled through filth and water, placing enough dynamite to level the building. We were 30 men, terrified of being heard, working in the dark.”
Nikos Kyriakidis, another participant, remembered the conditions:
“It wasn’t a sewage pipe, but a rainwater drain. The air was thick with mold. In some places, the water reached our waists, and the rats were enormous.”
The order to abort
The explosives were set, and the detonator was ready. Then, a frantic order came from the EAM leadership: “Stop! Do not detonate!”
The leadership had learned that Churchill, Eden, and General Alexander were in the building. As Glezos explained, “We wanted to destroy the British command, but we didn’t want to be responsible for the assassination of one of the ‘Big Three.'”
There was also a practical concern: the Soviet mission, led by Grigori Popov, was also inside. Killing a Soviet representative while trying to secure Stalin’s support would have been a political catastrophe for the Greek Left.
The aftermath
Churchill eventually learned of the plot. The following day, he telegraphed his wife, Clementine:
“You will have read about the plot to blow up our headquarters… I don’t think it was for my benefit. Nevertheless, a ton of dynamite was placed in the sewers by very expert hands.”
The explosives were discovered by British engineers on December 26. The subsequent conference failed to bring immediate peace, famously ending with General Nikolaos Plastiras shouting at EAM representative Georgios Siantos to “Sit down, you beast!”.
The civil war would continue to bleed Greece for years, but on that Christmas in 1944, the history of the 20th century almost changed forever in the sewers of Athens.
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