October 21, 1912 - The Greek Army Liberates Preveza from the Ottomans

On October 21, 1912, the Greek army liberated the city of Preveza in southwestern Epirus during the First Balkan War.

The city was liberated after the Battle of Nicopolis, by the Greek forces under Colonel Panagiotis Spiliadis.

A garrison of the 8th Infantry Division was stationed in the city by December.

Later on in the same war, on 8 February 1913, the inhabitants of Preveza were involved in the first instance in world history of a pilot being shot down in combat.

The Russian pilot N. de Sackoff, flying for the Greeks, had his biplane hit by ground fire following a bomb run on the walls of Fort Bizani near Ioannina.

He came down near Preveza, and with the help of local townspeople repaired his plane and resumed his flight back to base.

Preveza along with the rest of southern Epirus formally became part of Greece via the Treaty of London in 1913.

After the Balkan Wars the harbor of Preveza became a significant regional commercial center in western Greece. Moreover, local labor unions were created during the Interwar period.

READ MORE: October 20, 1912 – Greek Army liberates Giannitsa from Ottoman forces.