Dimitrios Ioannou

Dimitrios Ioannou
Ioannou in 1920
Born	23 October 1861 Livadeia
Died	1926 Athens
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece
Service/branch	Army
Years of service	1881–1920
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	9th Infantry Division, Archipelago Division, Smyrna Army Corps
Battles/wars	Greco-Turkish War of 1897, Balkan Wars, Macedonian Front, Asia Minor Campaign

Dimitrios Ioannou (Greek: Δημήτριος Ιωάννου, 1861–1926) was a senior Greek Army officer who fought in the Macedonian Front during World War I and in the opening stages of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922.

Born on 23 October 1861 at Levadeia, Ioannou entered the Hellenic Army Academy and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Engineers on 25 July 1884. In 1897, as a Captain, he participated in the Greek expeditionary force to Crete under Colonel Timoleon Vassos. By the time the First Balkan War broke out October 1912 he was a Lt. Colonel, and served as chief of staff of the Army of Epirus, under Lt. General Konstantinos Sapountzakis. Later, during the Battle of Bizani, he commanded a detachment of four Evzone battalions, and was distinguished for his drive and determination.

He was named as the commanding officer of the newly raised 9th Infantry Division in 1913, and commanded it until 1916, when he joined the Venizelist Movement of National Defence in Thessaloniki, which, in opposition to the royal government in Athens, entered World War I on the side of the Entente Powers. Ioannou was tasked with the formation of the Archipelago Division, drawn from the inhabitants of the Aegean islands. By May 1917, his division was ready and deployed in the Monastir sector of the Macedonian Front. He led his division to victory at the Battle of Skra-di-Legen in May 1918, and participated with it in the general Allied offensive of September 1918, which broke the German-Bulgarian front. The armistice with Bulgaria found him with his division at Pehčevo.