November 5, 2009 | The conscious sacrifice of Lieutenant Charalambous to save his soldiers – VIDEO

Defence Redefined

05/11/2020

A conscious sacrifice of a 29-year-old Lieutenant of the National Guard, rarely shown on the media which at that time were preoccupied with the announcements of the authorities regarding “what caused” the accident and with investigations to determine the circumstances of the latter.

The result of the whole incident, however, is that Lieutenant Charalambos Charalambous sacrificed his life to save his soldiers. Performing his duties, the Lieutenant, along with three soldiers, counted the ammunition of the outpost in which he served after a change of command of the battalion.

The fatal incident took place at 10:15, on November 5, 2009, when a problematic grenade was found in the hands of Lieutenant Charalambous. According to the cadet lieutenant George Christodoulou, who was at the scene, a strange “click” was heard inside the grenade, as if the detonator was armed and then he saw the lieutenant take the grenade near his chest and hide it with his hands and body. 

According to him, the Lieutenant understood that the explosion would follow the next moment and wanted to save the others. He wanted to save the other three children who were with him in the narrow and secluded ammunition area. The explosion followed and the cadet with the two soldiers were found outside the area covered in soot and debris. He turned around a few seconds later and found his captain dismembered in a pool of blood, lying face down. He then went outside and called the hospital and the GEEF with his mobile phone. The danger of another explosion was real and the police firefighters who had arrived in the meantime blocked the area to investigate the scene.

According to testimonies of the time, if other explosions followed, then the whole square would explode and collapse with many casualties. This did not happen because Lieutenant Charalambos Charalambous covered the grenade with his body, absorbing the explosion. 

The outpost of Charalambos was located on Nicosia frontline, just opposite the invaders and the Rokas bastion near the Paphos Gate. It is the outpost located near the former CYTA building.

After the tragic event, the National Guard demolished 60,000 grenades. 

The unfortunate Lieutenant Pampos Charalambous was the son of Michalis Charalambous from Menoiko and Dimitra Patsalosavvi from the occupied Karavas. He has a sister, Andri, and he was married. 

The act of bravery of Charalambos and his self-sacrifice prove that our place still gives birth to heroes. The news of his death caused great mourning and sadness to the National Guard and the Cypriot Hellenism as well as many questions about the security conditions of the ammunition in the camps. 

With information from: Kypriakos Xronografos / Mixani tou Xronou

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