Search Results for: Pierre Kosmidis

Exhibits at the 44th Athens Models and Miniatures Show – October 2025

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos by www.ww2wrecks.com The 44th annual exhibition of the International Plastic Modellers Society – Hellas (IPMS Hellas), at the Technopolis City of Athens, on 24-25 and 26 October 2025, featured some fascinating scale models, including tributes to the Mediterranean theatre of operations during WW2. Exhibits at the 42nd Annual International Plastic Modellers […]

The Odyssey of Paul Fries, on land and at sea, in Greece, 1941-44.

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos © Jochen Fries, submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission. Personal stories of individuals, who found themselves in the maelstrom of war, are always interesting, as they offer us a glimpse of daily life, as well as the country they found themselves in. One such case is German soldier Paul Fries, […]

Hellenic Air Force Museum update: The exhibits on September 21st, 2025

By Pierre Kosmidis All photos © www.ww2wrecks.com The Hellenic Air Force Museum has undergone major changes, focusing mostly on the jet era, rather than the World War 2 wrecks, that made it a unique museum worldwide in the past. Nevertheless, the aviation enthusiast will still find some interesting exhibits in the hangar and the yard […]

The ghosts of the Greek Civil War: The remains of a fallen soldier found in the mountains of Florina, 80 years later.

All photos © by Panagiotis Kostidis, submitted exclusively to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission Text by Pierre Kosmidis Florina town, in northwestern Greece, has witnessed fierce fighting during the initial stages of Operation “Marita”, the German invasion of Greece in 1941, as well as during the Greek Civil War, in 1949. During the Greek Civil War, it is estimated […]

The iron harvest of Greece: Unexploded relics of the Greek Civil War, 1946-49, by Greek Army EOD Specialist Panagiotis Kostidis

All photos © by Panagiotis Kostidis, submitted exclusively to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission Text by Pierre Kosmidis Florina, with approximately 17,000 inhabitants, is one of the most beautiful towns in northwestern Greece. Today, visitors from all over Greece, as well as neighbouring countries, are visiting Florina for its wonderful climate, the nice architecture and […]

Centaur tanks in Greek service, 1946-1957

By Pierre Kosmidis Greece received its first tanks after WW2 as part of the British military aid in May 1946, 52 Centaurs (along with Carriers, Marmon Herrington Mk. IVs and Otter Is) , which were set in action the very next year, during the Greek civil war, against the communist forces in Macedonia and Epirus. […]

A WW2 German MP40 submachine gun, from the collection of S.A. Petroni

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos by S.A. Petroni, submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission Mr. S.A. Petroni, a specialist in arms law and a collector/resrarcher from Malta, has an impressive collection of WW2-related items, making him one of the leading collectors in Europe. Mr. Petroni shared with www.ww2wrecks.com detailed photographs of an iconic WW2 weapon, […]

Regia Aeronautica aircraft at Maritsa airfield, Rodos island, by Massimo Mometti

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com by Massimo Mometti and used by permission Mr. Massimo Mometti, from Italy, has a series of photos of his father, who served with the Regia Aeronautica, the Italian Royal Air Force, in Rodos island, during World War 2. Mr. Mometti’s father was based at the Maritsa airfield. Maritsa airfield is […]

The Greek Sacred Band sees action in Tunisia, 1943

By Pierre Kosmidis On 7 February 1943, following Colonel Tsigantes’ suggestion, the Commander of the British 8th Army, General Bernard Montgomery, put the Greek company under the command of General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque of the “Force L”, later known as Free French 2nd Armoured Division, with the duties of Light Mechanized Cavalry. On March […]