Told by their lawyers that their appeals had been rejected by the Privy Council in London, three terrorists of EOKA, the group campaigning for independence for Cyprus, said almost in unison: We are happy to die for our cause and we dont hate Britain.
The three men, Stelios Mavromatis, 23, sentenced to death for shooting at two RAF men; Miltiades Koutsoftas, 22, and Andreas Panaghides, 22, sentenced for the murder of an RAF corporal, were hanged in the middle of the night of Friday, September 21st, 1956, at Nicosia Prison.
As they stood on the gallows the prison echoed with the frenzied wails and yells of other prisoners.
More than 500 people were killed during the Cyprus conflict, which lasted from 1955 until the granting of independence in 1960.