Ask me anything about the Greek Presidential Guard

[KTravlos]

To celebrate my proxy Evzone, I am opening up a thread for you guys to ask me questions on the Greek Presidential Guard. I did part of my military service in its command company (trained for the Evzone company but failed, getting heavily sick) so i can ask some questions.

[fsn]

Is it right that the Evzone kilt has 200 pleats for 200 years of subjugation by the Ottoman?

If so, how on earth is that ironed? 

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

How on earth do they do the ceremonial walk?

[KTravlos]

It is supposed to actually simulate the prancing of the older mounted guard (Otto;s time)

Essentially lots of training. When you are assigned or volunteer for the guard , during your conscript service, you spend 20 days simply training for that. This includes standing still under the sun for 20/30/40/50 minutes, getting used to people touching, making fun of you, spitting on you etc while not showing any emotion or movement, and being able to keep your gun from being taken without any movement. You also learn the walk. Depending on height and ability you are assigned to either Syntagma Square, the Presidential Palace, or the Guard Camp. The first two are pairs and you spent those 20 days coordinating with your partner and learning the walks. The last one is single and it is the easiest, thus usually given to the worse Evzones (I learned the walk for that one quite easily). So by the time they go out they have spent 15 days practicing. Even then usually for the first month of service they are given the night shifts, with the older cohort doing the day shifts. So by the time you as a tourist see the walk in broad daylight, those pairs have spent upwards to 50 days practicing.

[KTravlos]

Is it right that the Evzone kilt has 200 pleats for 200 years of subjugation by the Ottoman?

If so, how on earth is that ironed? 

Yes it is right. The ironing is done by a dedicated professional steam cleaner in the guard camp (A cushy civil service job if you can get it). That said the white uniform with the pleats is only used rarely. Sunday Changing of the Guard (At 11 in the morning, whole company out) and national and religious major holidays. The rest of the year they were the dulamas which has no pleats.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Thank you

[nikharwood]

Great to have an insider to help us learn more - it's appreciated

I've got a couple questions:

- why the pompoms on footwear?
- what is the rifle used?
- I can see *multiple* uniform variations...is this according to location too?

[d_Guy]

Having worn a kilt as a member of a pipeband for many years there were times when a pair of tights under would have been a welcome addition.  Given that the evzone is cut rather higher, I assume they have always worn tights as part of the uniform? Do they have summer weight and winter weight?

An interesting thread KT. The Evzone are probably one of the most unique and recognized military units in the world, understandable pride on your part!

[Leman]

I think Leon may be feeling the pressure for some Evzone figures now.

[KTravlos]

Great to have an insider to help us learn more - it's appreciated

I've got a couple questions:

- why the pompoms on footwear?
- what is the rifle used?
- I can see *multiple* uniform variations...is this according to location too?

Don't quote me on this, but I believe the pompoms main role was to protect the tsarouhia from dust and durt. I.e they act as a dust and dirt trap. I have read that in battle they would be removed.

The rifle used for ceremonial duties is the M1 Garand, demilitarized. Us useless people in the command company provided security details armed with the Greek standard G3A3

The only local connotation uniforms are the Islanders uniform, which is a mix-match of elements from the traditional wear of various Greek islands, and the Pontic Greek uniform which is associated with the Greeks of the Black Sea Region (and is very similar to the Muslim Laz dress, but do not tell it to either groups since they hate each other)



Island uniform-winter dulamas (inspired by the Macedonian Struggle Makedonomach uniforms, but IMHO really the 1897 campaign dress)-white uniform (inspired by revolutionary war dress, de-facto the 1897 ceremonial dress)-Summer dulamas (inspired by the 1912-1922 khaki uniform)-Pontic Greek uniform.

[KTravlos]

Having worn a kilt as a member of a pipeband for many years there were times when a pair of tights under would have been a welcome addition.  Given that the evzone is cut rather higher, I assume they have always worn tights as part of the uniform? Do they have summer weight and winter weight?

An interesting thread KT. The Evzone are probably one of the most unique and recognized military units in the world, understandable pride on your part!

Yes it is always worn with the tights. To save time in dressing up evzones on duty would sleep with the tights on. The tights are indeed summer and winter versions. Summer versions are linen, or cotton I believe (but might be wrong), winter are a very snug wool. The summer dulamas is definitely lighter material.

In heavy winter conditions a hard wool cape is also added. This is brown color and inspired by the capes worn by sheep herders in the Morea. Evones have told me that the whole getup is quite warm. Its is hellish during April when it can get warm in Athens but is before the May date for the change from winter to summer kit.

[fsn]

I remember in a book "Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars" a British regiment from Crete(?) that looked like proto-Evzones.

I will now show my ignorance of things Greek.

Is the Evzones uniform a hangover from the past, like the Beefeaters harken back to the days of Henry VIII, and the Swiss Guards are a reminder when style was worse than the 1970's? Have the Evzones always been distinctive or have there been times when more Greek troops dressed similarly?

[KTravlos]

I remember in a book "Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars" a British regiment from Crete(?) that looked like proto-Evzones.

I will now show my ignorance of things Greek.

Is the Evzones uniform a hangover from the past, like the Beefeaters harken back to the days of Henry VIII, and the Swiss Guards are a reminder when style was worse than the 1970's? Have the Evzones always been distinctive or have there been times when more Greek troops dressed similarly?

Hey FSN. The unit you refer to is the I believe the 1st  Regiment of  Greek Light Infantry, a unit raised in the Seven Islands (the Ionian Islands of Korfu, Ceffalonia, Ithaka, Zakynthos (Zante) , Leukada, Kythira and Anti-Kythira) from Greeks and Albanians. One of the Greek leaders in the Revolution, Kolokotronis served in it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Regiment_Greek_Light_Infantry

It is indeed a hangover from the past. During the Greek revolution most of the Morean and Rumeli Greeks and Christian Ablanian (Aranuats) fighters would be dressed like this with the exception of the regular armies the rebels tried to create at various points, and the islanders.

After independence the Greek Regular army up to the 1840s had light infantry regiments dressed in the fustanela. The rest of the army wore european dress. Between the 1840s and 1860s the fustanela was totally abolished for all units of the army. With the Glyksburg dynasty it was restored and a number of  Evzone Battalions, later regiments, were raised as the equivalent of the Jaegers of other armies. I believe by 1920 there where 5 regiments of Evzones. The uniform and also the whole elite character made them good fighters, though there were instances of regiments breaking, especially in 1922. The units were used up to 1941.

Politically they tend to be seen as strongly royalist (for example I am not aware of any Evzone regiments in the Army of National Defense set up by Venizelos in Thessalonika in 1916-1917), though one of the most ardent Venizelist officers,Nikolaos Plastiras, was the commander of the 5/42 Evzone Regiment (double umber indicates that this is the 42nd Regiment of the Greek Army and the 5th Evzone Regiment).


After the Axis occupation, because of the association of the uniform with Collaborationist units (the security battalions), the uniform was abolished from the regular army, but kept for the Royal, and later Presidential, guard. 

[Orcs]

HI KT

This is a really interesting thread.

[sunjester]

Fascinating, I've got a unit of Evzones in my 1912/13 Greek Army.

I work on the basis that if they've got the balls to go into battle wearing a skirt, they must be hard men! It's the same as my WSS Bavarian infantry, "Sky blue jackets with pink facings, they must be tough!".