Spiros Kayales or KayaledakisSpiros (Spyros) Kayales was born in 1872. His father Dimitris was from Gramvousa and had moved early on to Lakon Street in Chalepa. His mother Maria, née Orneraki, was from Sfakia.
Spiros Kayales served at Akrotiri from the beginning of the 1897 Revolution, along with his brothers Yorgos, Manolis, Antonis and Sifis. Spiros Kayales or Kayaledakis died at Chalepa on 5 September 1929.On 9 February 1987, Vice Admiral Canevaro, the Italian senior admiral of the united fleet, ordered the bombardment of the revolutionary camp. The shells were aimed not only at the Cretan fighters but also at the Greek flag flying over Akrotiri. Twice the flag fell, struck by the shots of the Great Powers, and the revolutionary Spiros Kayaledakis or Kayales, risked his life to raise it. When a third shell shredded the flag halyard, Kayales made his own body a flagpole and raised it aloft. When the admirals saw through their telescopes the Greek flag flying proudly with a man holding it, they ordered the bombardment to end, speechless at Cretan bravery.
