By Pierre Kosmidis Nuggets of WW2 history lay hidden for decades in the Greek seas. GREEK VERSION HERE ΔΙΑΒΑΣΤΕ ΣΤΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΕΔΩ Many secrets are revealed thanks to the salvagers of the Hellenic Air Force, the specially trained scuba divers, who salvage World War II aircraft from the depths. Diving under almost any weather […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Source: 211 Squadron RAF Photos: As credited On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, 13 April 1941, six of the Squadron’s seven remaining serviceable Blenheims took off from Paramythia for an unescorted daylight attack on German forces some some 120 miles away to the NNE, advancing South via the Monastir Gap through Florina […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos, documents and additional information by Lt. Col. (ret.) Hans Peter Eisenbach, used by kind permission. Click the links below for additional reading: A personal account of a Luftwaffe pilot in Greece: Friedrich “Fritz” Eisenbach in Kefalonia, Rodos, Leros – The Ju 87 “Stuka” dive bomber operations in Greece, 1943 Dogfight over […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos © www.ww2wrecks.com unless otherwise stated Further reading: It is considered a time capsule, as personal items, belonging to the crew and soldiers on board when the aircraft was shot down and ditched at sea, were found in the fuselage. A Ju52 was shot down in Leros island on November 13, 1943, during […]
By Pierre Kosmidis A frontpage of the “Daily Mirror” newspaper, dated November 4, 1940, features the story of Greek fighter pilot “Captain Demetriou, who, when his ammunition was exhausted, rammed a huge three-engined Italian plane in mid-air yesterday”. This “kamikaze” attack was not the first during WW2 and certainly not the last. The first ramming […]
On 23 March 2007, a trawler dragged a WW2 aircraft along the sea floor off Larissa Bay at a depth of 120 metres. The fishing boat’s captain attempted to raise the wreck with a crane but the aircraft disintegrated. As a result, only the tail eventually was raised, leaving the rest of the aircraft wreck at the bottom. […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos: Yannis Mylonas & Pierre Kosmidis/www.ww2wrecks.com Additional resources: 1/ Hellenic Air Force Museum – The wings of history (click to read the story) 2/ The rare warbirds of the Hellenic Air Force Museum (click to read the story) Aviation enthusiasts all over the world are thrilled every time they see an aircraft from a bygone era […]
By Pierre Kosmidis A very interesting presentation of Hellenic Royal Air Force and Hellenic Air Force uniforms, from the collection of Stefanos Moraitis, ranging from the 1930s to the 1980s, is currently exhibited at the Hellenic Air Force Museum
By Vincenzo Giacomo Toccafondi I recently acquired in my collection a nice picture of the destroyer Francesco Crispi. The ship took part in some successful war actions .. I will try to tell her story. The Sella class, of which Crispi was a part, was the first group of destroyers designed after the First World War […]
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com by Kostas Tsipas and used by permission Main photo by George Theriakis, used by permission A legendary aircraft, one of the most iconic WW2 fighters, a Spitfire, is currently under extensive restoration, with the aim to bring it back into the skies, possibly in 2020. Spitfire LF Mk IXc MJ755 was built at […]