Difference between revisions of "Costas Georgiou"

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[[Costas Georgiou]] was a British paratrooper and mercenary.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.</ref>
 
[[Costas Georgiou]] was a British paratrooper and mercenary.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.</ref>
  
Georgiou served in [[1 Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] until he and a colleague [[Michael Wainhouse]] were convicted of robbing a Belfast Post Office, using army weapons. They were sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.</ref>
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==Northern Ireland==
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Georgiou served in [[1 Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] in Northern Ireland.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.</ref>
  
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Georgiou was one of four soldiers charged with bank robbery in January 1972. The ''Irish News'' reported:
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::Four British soldiers serving in Northern Ireland appeared at a special court at Bangor yesterday, charged with stealing £93 from Clandeboye Post Office last Tuesday:
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::The soldiers, members of the [[Parachute Regiment]] stationed at Palace Barracks, are also charged with putting the Post Master, Mr. Oswald Walsh, in fear of being subjected to force.
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::They are Privates [[Cyril Verbeck]] (21), [[Stephen Peter Kirby]] (21), [[Michael Wainhouse]] (22) and [[Costas Georgiou]] (21). They were remanded on their own bail of £20 into military custody to appear at Bangor Magistrate's Court on February 2.<ref>British soldiers on post office theft charge, Irish News, 21 January 1972.</ref>
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According to Tony Geraghty, Georgiou and Wainhouse were convicted and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.</ref>
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==Mercenary==
 
Following their release Georgiou and Wainhouse linked up with two other former paratroopers, Georgiou's cousin [[Charles Christodolou]] and [[Nicholas Mervyn Hall]]. In 1975, Hall advertised his services as a freelance soldier in the press, and the other three were among those who responded.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.</ref>
 
Following their release Georgiou and Wainhouse linked up with two other former paratroopers, Georgiou's cousin [[Charles Christodolou]] and [[Nicholas Mervyn Hall]]. In 1975, Hall advertised his services as a freelance soldier in the press, and the other three were among those who responded.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.</ref>
  
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===Maquela===
 
===Maquela===
At Maquela, on 2 February 1976, Callan shot dead 22-year-old ex-soldier [[Phil Davies]] for firing a rocket at a mercenary vehicle by mistake. He then presided over the slaughter of between 11 and 14 men from the second wave of mercenaries, who were taken to a valley and told to start running at which point Georgiou's colleague's picked them off.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.71.</ref>
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At Maquela, on 2 February 1976, Callan shot dead 22-year-old ex-soldier [[Phil Davies]] for firing a rocket at a mercenary vehicle by mistake. He then presided over the slaughter of between 11 and 14 men from the second wave of mercenaries, who were taken to a valley and told to start running at which point Georgiou's colleagues picked them off.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.71.</ref>
  
 
===Luanda Trial===
 
===Luanda Trial===

Revision as of 20:45, 21 August 2010

Costas Georgiou was a British paratrooper and mercenary.[1]

Northern Ireland

Georgiou served in 1 Battalion, Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland.[2]

Georgiou was one of four soldiers charged with bank robbery in January 1972. The Irish News reported:

Four British soldiers serving in Northern Ireland appeared at a special court at Bangor yesterday, charged with stealing £93 from Clandeboye Post Office last Tuesday:
The soldiers, members of the Parachute Regiment stationed at Palace Barracks, are also charged with putting the Post Master, Mr. Oswald Walsh, in fear of being subjected to force.
They are Privates Cyril Verbeck (21), Stephen Peter Kirby (21), Michael Wainhouse (22) and Costas Georgiou (21). They were remanded on their own bail of £20 into military custody to appear at Bangor Magistrate's Court on February 2.[3]

According to Tony Geraghty, Georgiou and Wainhouse were convicted and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.[4]

Mercenary

Following their release Georgiou and Wainhouse linked up with two other former paratroopers, Georgiou's cousin Charles Christodolou and Nicholas Mervyn Hall. In 1975, Hall advertised his services as a freelance soldier in the press, and the other three were among those who responded.[5]

The group made contact with the FNLA, and was given a mission in central London as a loyalty test. Hall refused this, but Georgiou complied and set fire to the offices of the Mozambique and Guinea Information Centre on 12 Little Newport Street on 6 November 1975.[6]

Angola

The four arrived in Angola in December 1975, where Georgiou renamed himself "Colonel Callan" after a television character of the time.[7]

Tony Geraghty records that Callan, "his fellow assassin Sammy Copeland and their inner ring of ex-para psychopaths - the mercenary advance guard - killed people as a mundane, daily process".[8]

Maquela

At Maquela, on 2 February 1976, Callan shot dead 22-year-old ex-soldier Phil Davies for firing a rocket at a mercenary vehicle by mistake. He then presided over the slaughter of between 11 and 14 men from the second wave of mercenaries, who were taken to a valley and told to start running at which point Georgiou's colleagues picked them off.[9]

Luanda Trial

Georgiou was eventually captured by Angolan government forces, and was one of thirteen mercenaries put on trial in June 1976. He was one of four who were sentenced to death and executed by firing squad on 14 June 1976.[10]

External Resources

Notes

  1. Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.
  2. Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.
  3. British soldiers on post office theft charge, Irish News, 21 January 1972.
  4. Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.
  5. Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.60.
  6. Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.61.
  7. Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.62.
  8. Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.69.
  9. Tony Geraghty, Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008. p.71.
  10. 1976: Death sentence for mercenaries, On This Day - 28 June, BBC News, accessed 29 June 2010.