The Minister of National Defence Panos Kammenos, accompanied by the Chief of HNDGS Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, the Chief of HAGS Lieutenant General Vasileios Tellidis, the Chief of HNGS Georgios Giakoumakis and the Chief of HAFGS Lieutenant General Christos Vaitsis attended the celebration for the feast of Saint Barbara, patron saint of the Artillery, which was held at the Artillery School, Nea Peramos, Attica.

The Minister of National Defence addressed the following statement:

“Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff,

Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff,

Chiefs of the General Staffs,

Members of Parliament,

Mr. Mayor,

Mr. Deputy Regional Governor,

Madame Ambassador,

Dear Officers, NCOs and Privates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am particularly glad to be at the Artillery School today, so that, together, we will honour the memory of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, patron saint of the Artillery, with religious piety and national pride.

This feast is a day of commemoration and honour to our immortal heroes who sacrificed themselves for our country’s freedom, independence and territorial integrity. It is heroes’ deeds that show us our duty.

Every epic of our country was also an epic of the artillery. In all of our Nation’s combats, the artillery, through its glorious action, took a special place in Greek people’s hearts and conscience. The bangs of the cannons always had a decisive importance for the outcome of a war. Nowadays, we feel even more the need for this weapon to “bang” all over our territory as an express assurance that the cannons are in the hands of dexterous operators. Just like the divine retribution burnt Saint Barbara’s headman-father, the Artillery punishes our country’s enemies on the battle field.

This connection between the glorious past with the present and future of our Artillery is totally obvious, as you, the modern cannoneers, continue their work methodically and worthily. You are the safeguards and successors of the historical tradition of this Arm Thanks to you the artillery remains the main factor of force in our Armed Forces.  

You are the ones whom our country traditionally entrusts with modern weapon systems, which increase our Army’s combat power with their accuracy, their volume of fire and their fire power on modern battle fields. They affect greatly the psychology of a friendly or enemy fighter and finally lead us to victory.

I am speaking mostly about the human factor, because, as our story has proved clearly, the artillery excelled in our Nation’s combats, not because it had the  best or the most modern weapons, but thanks to its Officers, NCOs and privates who were distinguished for the excellent military and scientific knowledge of their duties. Career personnel and conscripts who honoured the epigram “Power through knowledge” on the artillery’s emblem totally.

This is the case today too, under these hard financial circumstances that our country goes through. It is true for our entire Armed Forces and it is the most irrefutable proof that our country remains still standing and proud, since it has a powerful and reliable defence system. It has Armed Forces which are acknowledged and honoured by allies and partners; they are a strong arm of deterrence and they guarantee our land’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty.

I realize that you hold our flag high even at this critical national time. The whole personnel across all ranks and on the most remote borders of the Greek land, from Evros to Kastellorizo, do their best for our country; this is a contribution that all of us respect and acknowledge.

Glorious gunners,

Today is the celebration of our artillery and on this official occasion we reiterate our promise that we will continue our course according to the ancient ideals of freedom and Democracy.

I ask you

To keep enhancing the power of our artillery with responsibility and high morale,

To prove, with your zeal and devotion to traditions and military virtues, that the special qualities of Greek gunners remain the same across time.

To allow me to congratulate you on today’s celebration and to encourage you to continue your work, respecting your historical legacy, the combats and sacrifices of your predecessor gunners.

Happy Saint Barbara’s Day to everybody.

May Saint Barbara always stand by your guns and give you and your families strength and health”.