Georgios Stanotas

Georgios Stanotas (Greek: Γεώργιος Στανωτάς, January 1, 1888 – 1965) was a Greek cavalry officer who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.

He was born in the village of Kastanitsa, in the prefecture of Arcadia in the Peloponnese. He left his village early and went to Athens, where, in 1909, he joined the Hellenic Army as a simple cavalry trooper. He was an excellent rider, intelligent and bold, and soon he was promoted to non-commissioned officer. As such he participated in the First and Second Balkan Wars in 1912-1913, where he went up the ranks quickly due to his bravery.

In 1914, he entered and graduated from the NCO Academy and was promoted to Second Lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1917 he was promoted to Captain, but as an avowed royalist, so in 1917, after the ousting of King Constantine I during the National Schism, he was suspended from the Army for 6 months.

In the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922, he demonstrated courage and extremely brave actions and initiative, so he received medals and decorations and became well known. He was promoted to Major in 1923. Although in the military, in 1924 he enrolled into Athens University in the Pharmaceutics department. In 1927 he was promoted to Lieut. Colonel and was appointed as Cavalry School Commander, while in 1929 he took command of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment in Larissa. In the following year, he was promoted to Colonel and in 1933 he took command of the Cavalry Brigade. He was promoted to Major General in 1938 and was appointed as CO of the Cavalry Division in Thessaloniki in 1939.

In the Greco-Italian War of 1940, the Cavalry Division achieved the first great victory in the Battle of Pindus, being instrumental in the defeat of the elite Italian Julia Alpine Division. In the spring of 1941, Stanotas with the Cavalry Division fought against the invading Germans in West Macedonia, next to the rest of the Allied Forces. His combat achievements gave him a great reputation among his colleagues.

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