Grigorios Spandidakis [SEP] date of death
Grigorios Spandidakis
Grigorios Spandidakis (, 1909–1996) was a Greek Army officer who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and the post of Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff in 1965–1967. From this position, he was instrumental in the military preparations that resulted in the coup d'état of 21 April 1967 and the establishment of the Regime of the Colonels. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Defence in the first government of the new regime, but was dismissed after supporting the failed counter-coup attempt launched by
tanks in strategic positions in Athens, effectively gaining complete control of the city.
At the same time, a large number of small mobile units were dispatched to arrest leading politicians, authority figures, and ordinary citizens suspected of left-wing sympathies, according to lists prepared in advance. One of the first to be arrested was Lieutenant General Grigorios Spandidakis, Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Army. The colonels persuaded Spandidakis to join them, having him activate a previously-drafted action plan to move the coup forward