By Pierre Kosmidis Photos © Andreas Galanos, exclusively submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission. The Greek Sacred Squadron was a special operations unit, which was formed in September 1942 in the Middle East, by volunteer officers, who had escaped from Axis occupied Greece. Its aim was to fight the Axis troops and contribute to the liberation of Greece. Following the […]
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 […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos © Giannis Liontis, submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission Few are aware of the Sacred Band, the Greek Elite Special Forces commando raids in the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea, in close cooperation with similar units of the Allies. One such raiding operation, on September 7-8, 1944, at Thymiano on Kefalos, during […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos by Panagiotis Brokos CLICK ON THE RED LINKS BELOW FOR FURTHER READING The Greek Dodecanese Islands were under Italian occupation from 1912 to 1943, when fascist Italy capitulated and swiftly changed sides, abandoning their nazi masters and taking sides with the Allies. The Germans then moved on to neutralise the Italian […]
By Pierre Kosmidis SWASTIKA OVER THE AEGEAN is a limited edition book by acclaimed author Antony Rogers, a photographic record of events that occurred in and around the Dodecanese in the autumn of 1943. Those events resulted in the last decisive German victory of the Second World War. Text by Anthony Rodgers British and Dominion […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos: Panagiotis Brokos The war in Europe was almost over in Europe in late April, early May 1945. The Russians had conquered Berlin, the nazi leader Hitler had committed suicide and the western Allies were moving swiftly in the heartland of the 3rd Reich. It was just a matter of days, before […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Research by Kostas Koukovinis and Thanos Antonelos Mykonos island is considered one of the top destinations worldwide. The Greek island combines sandy beaches with buzzing nightlife, attracting tourists from all over the world. Located in the center of the Aegean Sea, Mykonos is also close to Delos island, the sacred island of the […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos and video: Stelios Demertzis – Alexandros Malagaris A unique find, a nearly intact Martin Baltimore that was ditched at sea close to Ikaria island, was photographed by Greek scuba diver Stelios Demertzis, whose uncle was a member of the aircrew of this specific WW2 bomber when it was lost at sea, while […]
By Pierre Kosmidis SOURCES AND FURTHER READING: HERE, HERE, HERE Japanese war crimes occurred in many Asian and Pacific countries during the period of Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. These incidents have also been described as an Asian Holocaust and Japanese war atrocities. R. J. Rummel, a professor […]