In 1885, the forced annexation of Eastern Rumelia by Bulgaria marked the orchestrated attempt to eradicate the Hellenic element in Macedonia. Artillery Second Lieutenant Pavlos Melas (1870 – 1904), an active member of the Ethniki Eteria (National Society), was one of the first officers who were officially deployed to Macedonia by Greece, in order to organise revolutionary groups. In cooperation with the Deputy Consul of Monastir, Ionas Dragoumis (November 1902), they created a defence mechanism and formed the Macedonian Committee in Athens, with Dimitris Kalapothakis as its president. In July 1904, Melas departed for Macedonia, where he met local fighters. One month later, under the pseudonym Mikis Zesas, he was appointed chief of the rebel groups of Western Macedonia by the Macedonian Committee of Athens, and crossed the Greco-Turkish borders, in order to confront Bulgarian armed activity. In October of the same year, Pavlos Melas was surrounded by a Turkish detachment in Siatista village (later Melas village), where he was mortally wounded. His sacrifice became a symbol of the struggle for the liberation of Macedonia.

#ΕλληνικόςΣτρατός, #HellenicArmy