{{Short description|Greek soldier}} {{Infobox Soldier | honorific_prefix = Lieutenant General | name = Nikolaos Rokas | honorific_suffix = [[Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)|DSM]] | native_name = Νικόλαος Ρόκας | image = Nikolaos Rokas greek andart.jpg | caption = Rokas during the Macedonian Struggle. | birth_date = {{circa}} 1869 | death_date = 1947 | birth_place = [[Mandra]], [[Kingdom of Greece]] | death_place = [[Athens]], [[Kingdom of Greece]] | nickname = Kapetan Kolios (Καπετάν Κολιός) | allegiance = {{flagicon|Greece|royal}} [[Kingdom of Greece]]<br>[[File:Flag of Cretan State.svg|23px]] [[Cretan State]]<br>[[File:Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg|23px]] [[Second Hellenic Republic]] | branch = {{army|Greece}} | service_years = 1887-1922<br>1927-1929<br>1940-1941 | rank = [[File:GR-Army-OF8-1912.svg|15px]] [[Lieutenant General]] | commands = [[16th Infantry Regiment (Greece)|16th Infantry Regiment]]<br>[[1st Infantry Regiment (Greece)|1st Infantry Regiment]]<br>[[31st Infantry Regiment (Greece)|31st Infantry Regiment]]<br>[[31st Infantry Regiment (Greece)|31st Infantry Regiment]]<br>[[5th Airmobile Brigade (Greece)|5th Infantry Division]]<br>[[Alexandroupoli]] Military Command | battles = {{tree list}} *[[Greco-Turkish War (1897)]] *[[Macedonian Struggle]] *[[Balkan Wars]] **[[First Balkan War]] **[[Second Balkan War]] *[[Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus|Northern Epirote Struggle]] *[[World War I]] **[[Macedonian Front]] *[[Russian Civil War]] **[[Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War]] ***[[Southern Front of the Russian Civil War|Southern Front]] ****[[Southern Russia Intervention]] *[[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)]] *[[World War II]] **[[Greco-Italian War]] **[[German invasion of Greece]] {{tree list/end}} | awards = [[File:GRE Order Redeemer 4Class.png|30px]] Gold Cross of the [[Order of the Redeemer]]<br>[[File:GRE Order of the Phoenix - Commander BAR.png|30px]] Commander of the [[Order of the Phoenix (Greece)|Order of the Phoenix]]<br>[[File:GRE Commander's Medal of Valour ribbon.svg|30px]] Gold [[Cross of Valour (Greece)|Cross of Valour]]<br>[[File:GRE War Cross 1940 ribbon.svg|30px]] [[War Cross (Greece)|War Cross]]<br>[[File:UK Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Service Medal]]<br>[[File:Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Legion of Honour]]<br>[[File:Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre]] }}
'''Nikolaos Rokas''' ({{langx|el|Νικόλαος Ρόκας}}) was a [[Greece|Greek]] soldier who participated in almost all Greek conflicts of the first half of the 20th century and ultimately rose to the rank of [[lieutenant general]].
==Career== Nikolaos Rokas was born in [[Mandra]], near [[Elefsis]], in about 1869.<ref name="SMY">{{cite web | url = https://smy.army.gr/news/antgos-nikolaos-rokas | title = Αντγος Νικόλαος Ρόκας | language = Greek | publisher = Hellenic Army Professional NCO Academy | date = 12 October 2015 | accessdate = 30 April 2022 }}</ref> He enlisted in the [[Hellenic Army]] as a volunteer on 9 January 1887,{{Greece Old Style dating}} was named sergeant after studies in the NCO preparatory school, and fought in the [[Greco-Turkish War of 1897]].<ref name="SMY"/> After further studies in the non-commissioned officer academy, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 29 August 1902.<ref name="SMY"/>
In 1905–1907, he went to [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-ruled [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] as a leader of an armed band during the [[Macedonian Struggle]]. He assumed the [[nom de guerre]] of '''Kapetan Kolios''' (Καπετάν Κολιός), and operated in the area of [[Mount Olympus]] and [[Vodena]] and [[Naousa, Imathia|Naousa]].<ref name="SMY"/> After returning to Greece in 1907, he was sent to the autonomous [[Cretan State]] to organize its military forces.<ref name="SMY"/> He participated in the [[Balkan Wars]] of 1912–1913 as a lieutenant and company commander. Promoted to captain, he led a battalion in [[Northern Epirus]].<ref name="SMY"/> He fought in the [[Macedonian front]] of [[World War I]] as commander of the [[16th Infantry Regiment (Greece)|16th Infantry Regiment]] on the [[River Strymon]] sector. He then led the 16th and the [[1st Infantry Regiment (Greece)|1st]] Infantry Regiments in the Greek participation in the [[Southern Russia intervention]].<ref name="SMY"/>
During the subsequent [[Asia Minor Campaign]] he led the [[31st Infantry Regiment (Greece)|31st Infantry Regiment]] in 1921, followed by the [[33rd Infantry Regiment (Greece)|33rd Infantry Regiment]], and finally by the [[5th Infantry Division (Greece)|5th Infantry Division]] at the time of the collapse of the Greek front in August 1922.<ref name="SMY"/> After the Greek defeat, he was dismissed from the army, but was rehabilitated in June 1927, receiving a promotion to major general.<ref name="SMY"/> He was promoted to lieutenant general and retired in 1929.
On the outbreak of the [[Greco-Italian War]] in 1940, he was recalled to active service and appointed head of the [[Alexandroupoli]] Military Command.<ref name="SMY"/>
He died at Athens in 1947.
==Awards== Nikolaos Rokas was awarded the Gold Cross of the [[Order of the Redeemer]] and made Commander of the [[Order of the Phoenix (Greece)|Order of the Phoenix]]. He also received Greece's highest award for gallantry, the Gold [[Cross of Valour (Greece)|Cross of Valour]], several times, along with the [[Greek War Cross]].<ref name="SMY"/> Additionally, he was a recipient of several foreign awards: the British [[Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Service Medal]], the French [[Legion of Honour]] and [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre]], and the Serbian War Cross.<ref name="SMY"/>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Macedonian Struggle}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rokas, Nikolaos}} [[Category:1860s births]] [[Category:1947 deaths]] [[Category:People from Mandra-Eidyllia]] [[Category:Hellenic Army generals]] [[Category:Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897)]] [[Category:Greek military personnel of the Macedonian Struggle]] [[Category:Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars]] [[Category:Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]] [[Category:Greek military personnel of World War I]] [[Category:Greek military personnel of World War II]] [[Category:Recipients of the Legion of Honour]] [[Category:Commanders of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece)]] [[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)]] [[Category:Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Greece)]] [[Category:Recipients of the War Cross (Greece)]] [[Category:People of the Greco-Italian War]]