The politics of forgetting the Cypriot Mule Corps

In summer 1916, the British Salonica Army and the Cypriot colonial government established the Cypriot Mule Corps in order to provide vital logistical support in carrying supplies and wounded at the Macedonian front. Composed of Christian (Eastern Orthodox and smaller numbers of Maronites, Catholics and Armenians) and Muslim Cypriots, after the Armistice service continued in Constantinople. Although sometimes referred to as the ‘Macedonian’ Mule Corps, it was almost exclusively Cypriot in composition, with a staggering enlistment of about 12,000 Cypriots, meaning that about 25 per cent of the male population ages 18–35 served at one time or another. My recently published article explored the push and pull factors that resulted in so many men being enlisted, ¹ while my forthcoming monograph will explore in depth all facets of the story. ² This chapter explores the subsequent absence of the story from Cypriot national consciousness.