In the weeks between the departure of the Germans and the events of December 1944 (the Dekemvriana), X played an active part in the campaign of provocation of Athenians orchestrated by the British, according to ELAS' members.[11] This commenced in Athens on 12 October, the day that Athens was celebrating liberation, when a mixed gang of EDES and Chites killed the ELAS member Theodoros Tsilikas.[12] In late October the X of Thiseio, reinforced by Security Battalionists, made an incursion into Petralona and killed 20 locals, including a number of Petralona gypsies.[13]