The Greek War Relief Association – Greek-Americans help their occupied Motherland
By Pierre Kosmidis The winter of 1941-42, the first under the triple Axis occupation of Greece, became known as “The Great Famine”, a period of mass starvation, during which the local population suffered greatly, while the Axis Powers initiated a policy of large-scale plunder. Requisitions, together with the Allied blockade of Greece, the ruined state of […]
When the Greek Army almost paraded in Rome, 1944
By Pierre Kosmidis Photo from the library of www.ww2wrecks.com depicting men of the 3rd Mountain Brigade seen marching in Athens It would take less than three years for Greece to pay back Italy for the hybris of the unprovoked attack on October 28 1940. Despite the fact that Mussolini had to deal with the fiasco of his […]
Battlefield Archaeology: The forgotten bunkers of 1943
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos & Research by Andreas Galanos Archive photos by Tony Rogers, submitted via Andreas Galanos The Eastern Aegean was the setting for a series of German air-sea landings, something not normally associated with the Wehrmacht. Leros Island, 1943: German infantry carried out beach assaults and, unusually, Fallschirmjäger were deployed in their intended role […]
The attack of the Royal Marines against the German radar in Topakas, Milos island, on November 13th, 1944
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos © Andreas Galanos, exclusively submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission. Milos island in the Aegean Sea, Greece was an important German base during WW2. Heavily fortified, Milos island served as a naval hub, with an airfield, radar facilities, bunker complexes and other military installations. The World War 2 “FuMG 65 Würzburg-Riese” German radar […]
Battlefield Archaeology: The rare relics of Leros, 1943
By Pierre Kosmidis Research and photos: Andreas Galanos & Markos Spanos FURTHER READING ON THE BATTTLE OF LEROS (CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO READ THE STORIS AND SEE THE PHOTOS): The Battles for Kos and Leros, 1943 – the new edition of “Churchill’s Folly” Autumn 1943: Operation “Taifun”, the Battle for Leros, the […]
Only a handful escaped: The LRDG disaster in Levitha, 23-24 October 1943
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos and research: Andreas Galanos Additional reading (click the links below in red): Autumn 1943: Operation “Taifun”, the Battle for Leros, the tragic end of the LRDG and the defeat of the British The Battles for Kos and Leros, 1943 – the new edition of “Churchill’s Folly” Leros Island, 1943: […]
The 155mm naval gun battery of Trahilas and the Greek Sacred Squadron special operations in Milos island
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 […]
The story of the Greek PZL P24 fighter aircraft, 1940-41
By Pierre Kosmidis The Royal Hellenic Air Force (EVA) is the only air force during WW2 to operate the PZL.24 as its main fighter type. Two subtypes, thirty P.24F and six P.24G, were ordered and delivered in 1937-38. They were split between three Mirae Dioxeos (Fighter Squadrons): the 21st at Trikala, 22nd at Thessaloniki and […]
27 May 1941, when the hospital ship “Gradisca” almost sunk in Piraeus, by Vincenzo Giacomo Toccafondi
By Vincenzo Giacomo Toccafondi While writing the book “Le Navi Ospedale Italiane dopo l’Armistizio” I bought a certain number of photographs on ebay Germany. One of these portrayed the hospital ship Gradisca, the torpedo boat Lupo and what I believed to be the destroyer Carducci photographed from the stern, showing the two letters CD on the […]
“Poulos Verband”: Georgios Poulos and the notorious German collaborators in Greece, through rare photographs
By Pierre Kosmidis You can see more previously unpublished or rare photos, in the magazine LIGNE DE FRONT N°101 Greece found itself in the midst of war, on October 28, 1940, when it was attacked by Italy. Soon the Italian offensive turned into a fiasco and the Greek army found itself chasing the Italians deep into […]