Reliving the past: Operation Marita and the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, through the eyes or reenactors

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos submitted by Kampfgruppe “Süden” Hellenic Reenactment Group, Kampfgruppe ”Bulgarien”, Asociaţia Deutsches Freikorps and used by permission The German invasion of Greece, codenamed “Operation Marita”, was initiated in the early hours of Sunday, April 6, 1941. The German forces attacked “Metaxas Line”, a series of concrete fortifications, located mainly along the border with […]

Bunker Archaeology: Exploring the 150 mm artillery positions in Aegina

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos submitted by Konstantinos Kyrimis and used by permission Mr. Konstantinos Kyrimis an acclaimed researcher and author of the book “Exploring underground Attica: The secret WW2 bomb shelters” (Volumes I and II) shared with www.ww2wrecks.com yet another fascinating story, related to a 150 mm coastal artillery complex, located on the island of Aegina, in […]

Bunker Archaeology: Inside the WW2 German “Atlantikwall” fortifications

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos © germanbunkers.com used by permission, unless stated otherwise Photo credit: wiki commons On 23 March 1942 the Nazi leader of Germany Adolf Hitler issued Führer Directive No. 40, which ordered the creation of the “Atlantikwall”, a series of fortifications spanning from Norway, along the Belgium and French coastline to the French-Spanish border. The purpose of […]

Battlefield Archaeology: The WW2 bunker at the village of “Zorba the Greek”

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos and research by George Tsampas Kokkino Chorio, or “Red Village” in English, is a village situated in the Chania regional unit of Crete, Greece. It has reached worldwide fame, as it was the filming location of the 1964 film Zorba the Greek starring Anthony Quinn, Alan Bates and Irene Papas. The […]

Battlefield Archaeology: Unearthing the WW1 “Pompeii” at Messines Ridge

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos by Simon Verdegem/Höhe 80 – Project Whitesheet 2018 Over 3,2 million men died in the battles fought in the Western Front during World War 1 and more than 8,4 million wounded soldiers lived to tell the tale of the first industrial-scale killing machine, known as the Great War. Today, vast cemeteries are […]

Battlefield Archaeology: The abandoned WW2 German gun emplacements of Kolymbari, Crete

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos: Manolis Spanoudakis Following the Battle of Crete in May 1941, the Germans occupied Crete, with the exception of the eastern part of the island, which was occupied by their Italian allies. The Germans initiated a large fortification project, in order to turn the island of Crete into a “fortress”, due to its […]