From the 1910s to the 1950s, Greek Cypriots became increasingly dissatisfied with British rule and supportive of Enosis, the concept of political unification between Cyprus and Greece.

[18][19][20] In 1954, Britain announced its intention to transfer its Suez military headquarters (the office of the Commander-in-Chief, Middle East) to Cyprus.

[22] Following the example of Malaya, Harding tried to co-ordinate the activities of the civil, military and police authorities, with the specific aim of collecting and processing intelligence.

The British encountered great difficulty obtaining effective intelligence on EOKA, as it was supported by the majority of the Greek Cypriot population.

[26] Some of the attacks went awry, most notably the bombing of a restaurant by EOKA on 16 June, which led to the death of William P. Boteler, a CIA officer working under diplomatic cover.

[39] Although there were some minor successes, 7 British soldiers were killed in action, with another 21 burned to death by accident during a fire in the Paphos Forest, the operation furthermore failing to capture George Grivas.

[45] The end of the Suez crisis, although it had resulted in the departure of many of the military from the island, had not reduced the number of active internal security operations as much as EOKA had expected, with the British able to hold their own and reassert control.

[46] After Suez campaign had finished, the British military strength was increased to 20,000 and Foote managed to direct a new offensive.

By the Spring of 1957, the British operations took their toll on EOKA; the security forces arrested around thirty members of the Nicosia town groups and the area commander.

[43] In November of 1957, EOKA engaged in one of its most significant operations against the British, when an EOKA member employed at RAF Akrotiri smuggled and placed bombs in the engine compartments of two English Electric Canberras, both of which were destroyed along with two other Canberras and a De Havilland Venom that were destroyed by the subsequent fire that consumed the hangar (Sabotage at RAF Akrotiri).

Grivas was also concerned with increasing communist activity against AKEL, ordering a number of actions against them, which threatened to start a civil war within the Greek Cypriot community.

On 1 September 1958 in the village of Liopetri which was held by the Royal Ulster Rifles were attacked by an EOKA team of four who were all subsequently killed in the ensuing fire fight.

[61] Darling's first success was the destruction of a major EOKA arms smuggling ring centred on the post office at Paphos.

Following this Darling sought to destroy the surviving EOKA groups; one such area was the Western and central region in the Kyrenia Mountains and so Operation Filtertip began on 3 November.

[62] The operation, which lasted a month, was a success, and saw the discovery of an arms cache, the arrest of ninety EOKA members, as well as the death of the Kyernia area leader Kyriakos Matsis on 19 November.

Notebook which took place in the Paphos area on 18 November, led to the seizure of firearms and bombs, but importantly more arrests; including several village group commanders.

This paid dividends which led to further leads and enabled Operations Dovetail and Box Office – which concluded with more success – arrests and the recovery of more arms and ammunition.

On 5 December, the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey acknowledged the situation and a series of meetings were arranged that resulted in the London-Zürich Agreements.

[72] Following the London and Zürich Agreements, Cyprus became an independent republic and as far as liberation being concerned, the EOKA campaign was successful however enosis and taksim were ruled out by the treaties signed.

[76] Britain was allowed to retain control of some 254km2 (98 square miles) which consisted of two Sovereign Base Areas at Akrotiri and Dhekelia also known as British Forces Cyprus including some other facilities on the island which do not form part of the SBAs.

[79] At least 14 Cypriots (including a minor) arrested on suspicion of being EOKA members, were tortured then killed by UK forces during detention.

They included a woman, aged 16 at the time, who said that she had been detained and repeatedly raped by soldiers, and a man who had lost a kidney as a result of his interrogation.