Why did Mussolini select October 28 1940, to start the offensive against Greece?
By Pierre Kosmidis The Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas responded “alors c’est la guerre” (“So this means war”, which lived in the annals of History as “NO”) to the ultimatum of the Italian ambassador Emmanuele Grazzi at 3:00 in the morning of October 28, 1940 in one of the most brilliant pages of modern Greek history. […]
January 1941: A Greek soldier sends a letter from the front, using an Italian “cartolina” war booty
By Pierre Kosmidis War is not only the heroic images we see in the movies, the embellished narratives and the sterile depiction of historical reality. Wars are fought by everyday people, with feelings, thoughts, people that leave their peacetime occupation and immerse themselves in the atrocities of the battlefields, an experience from which if they […]
WW2 Greek Army 1940 Reenacting Team – Bringing History to life, 76 years after
By Pierre Kosmidis Text: Pierre Kosmidis Photos: WW2 Greek Army 1940 Reenacting Team & Akis Paraskevopoulos Story in Greek – ΣΤΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΚΑΝΤΕ “ΚΛΙΚ” ΕΔΩ: Λένε “ΟΧΙ” και φωνάζουν “ΑΕΡΑ!” 74 χρόνια μετά – Η Ομάδα Αναβίωσης ΕΣ 1940 The last soldiers who fought in the mountains of Greece and Albania against the fascist […]
“Εχθροί στη ζωή, αδέρφια στο θάνατο” – Η αναστήλωση του μνημείου στο ύψωμα 731
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos by George Krikelas Το ύψωμα 731 αποτέλεσε πεδίο σκληρών μαχών ανάμεσα στους Έλληνες και τους Ιταλούς, το Μάρτιο του 1941, κατά τη διάρκεια της αποτυχημένης εαρινής επίθεσης των Ιταλών, υπό το βλέμμα του Μουσσολίνι. Ο λόφος 731 (ονομάστηκε έτσι από το υψόμετρό του) βρίσκεται περίπου 20 χιλιόμετρα βόρεια της Κλεισούρας και […]
“Greek Prisoners of War holding up their hands in the fascist salute”: Propaganda as a tool of persuasion
By Pierre Kosmidis The Italians initiated their invasion against Greece in the early hours of October 28, 1940. Why did Mussolini select October 28 1940, to start the offensive against Greece? Their plans were met with relative success during the first phases of the operation, but the Greek counter-offensive in mid- November turned the tide. […]
“The miracle of Virgin Mary” on the mountains of Albania in 1941
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos submitted by George Krikelas It is not unusual for soldiers to revert to religion during wartime, as the harshness of the battlefield, the danger of death at any given moment and the need to believe that God is blessing their arms and safeguarding them from death is a recurring theme since antiquity. […]
Mystery solved! The Greek “kamikaze” who rammed an Italian CANT Z.1007 bomber
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 […]
The Greco-Italian war of 1940-41. Harsh winter conditions on the mountains of Albania
Pierre Kosmidis The fascist Italian regime under Benito Mussolini decided to invade Greece on October 28th, 1940. The Italian offensive soon turned into a large-scale fiasco, with the Greeks throwing back the “fratelli” inside Albania. The Italians were routed and soon the Greeks took initiatives that lead the battle well inside occupied Albania’s territory. Christmas […]
Alexandros Alexandrakis: The soldier-painter of 1940
By Pierre Kosmidis Alexandros Alexandrakis (1913-1968) was a Greek painter who fought in the 1940-41 Greco-Italian War, along with his five brothers. He fought on the mountains of Epirus, Greece and in Albania, during the winter of 1940-41 and witnessed first-hand the harshness of war, the cruelty, the sacrifices and death that covered the battlefields, […]
Aviation Archaeology: Solving the mystery of the RAF Halifax bomber, EB140 624 squadron, crashed on Wednesday, December 1st, 1943
By Pierre Kosmidis Christos Tsiolas and Yiannis Yiannoulas: Crash site and recovered Halifax parts photos Karl Kjarsgaard, Director at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada: Documentation and period photos Chris Stone: RAF 624 Squadron photo Additional information on Operation Swifter by Manolis Bardanis and Ken Joyce UPDATE: According to respected researcher Mr. Manolis Bardanis, the Halifax was […]