By Pierre Kosmidis

Photos © Andreas Galanos, exclusively submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission.

Strategically located on the southern side of Milos island in the Cyclades, Greece, overlooking the sea towards Crete, a gigantic FuMG 65 Würzburg-Riese radar installation was constructed by the German occupation forces in 1942.

The beautiful island, known as “Festung Milos” (Fortress Milos) was of strategic importance to the Germans, as  it was mid way from Athens to Crete and was heavily fortified with long range naval and anti aircraft guns, bunkers and had an airfield and other auxiliary facilities.

The radar was destroyed by the Germans, who remained on the island until June 1945, over a month after Germany capitulated in May 1945. This was due to the fact that many island garrisons in the Aegean Sea and the Greek islands had no means to be evacuated in the mainland during the Germans’ hasty withdrawal from Greece in October 1944.

Today, the only existing Würzburg radar is located at the Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr – Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow 

Mr. Andreas Galanos, who has been researching for decades the WW2 history of Milos island, visited the area again in September 2022.

While the remains of the radar installation, the bunkers, command posts and fortified gun emplacements remained virtually as they were left in 1945, it now appears that the area is under development and therefore questions are looming about the future of this historic WW2 monument.

 

A video (in Greek) explaining the current (September 2022) situation in the area.

 

 

All the following photos are from September 2022: