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The 13th
”Hellenic Squadron”
A brief History
Colour side views of the aircraft used
by the 13th Hellenic Sq.
13th Hellenic Sq. Bristol Blenheim serial Nos
13th Hellenic Sq. Martin Baltimore serial Nos
13th Hellenic Sq.
Vickers Wellington serial Nos
One of
the historic units of the Hellenic Air Force was the "13th
Light Bombing Squadron" as it was
named on its establishment in Dekheila,
Egypt
in June
1941.
This was the first Squadron of the Royal Hellenic Air Force to be
established
outside Greece,
after
the
German
invasion and the occupation of the
country.
The Squadron came under British command, as did the
two other R.H.A.F squadrons (the 335th and the 336th
Fighter sqns) that were established later.
Initially it was incorporated in 201 Group, R.A.F.
First equipment of the Squadron were 5 Avro Ansons Mk I, formerly
belonging
to the 13th Naval co-operation Squadron.These had being flown to Egypt
after
the collapse of resistance in Greece, in April 1941.
One
of
the
5 Avro Ansons that escaped to the Middle East
The
aircraft identities were:
N51,
N52, N55, N56 and
N61.
Later they will acquire British serials as follows:
ΑΧ750 (Ν51)
ΑΧ751(Ν52)
ΑΧ749 (Ν55)
ΑΧ748 (Ν56)
ΑΧ761 (Ν61)
A great
number of former RHAF personnel of all ranks, had managed to escape
occupied
Greece and made their way to Egypt.They were to provide the nucleus of
the
Greek Air Force in exile.
The
newly established 13th Light Bombing Squadron, was in a
way the
re-incarnation of the 13th Naval co-operation Sqn. and
the 32nd Bomber Sqn., since all
its aircraft came from
the former unit, and its personnel from both dissolved squadrons.
Immediately
after
its
establishment, a great effort
was made to organize it into a proper combat squadron, because in the
beginning, the small number of personnel
and
aircraft in charge, made it a flight, rather than a
squadron.
The
training was intensive and continuous, despite the
great difficulties due to the obsolete aircraft, their unsuitable
armament, the
harsh living conditions in the desert and the shortage of personnel.
The
first combat mission of the Squadron took place in
July 14, 1941 and was an anti-submarine patrol.
This was flown in Anson N56 with the crew of: Sqn.Ldr
S.Dakopoulos, F.Sgt
S.Papadopoulos and Sgt P.Makris.
Training
and anti-submarine patrols continued until
November of 1941, when the Squadron was ordered to move to Mariyut near
Alexandria,
where
in
December
of the same year received its first Blenheim IV aircraft.
These
came from 108 MU and were the following:
Τ2049
Ζ9793 and
Ζ8529
These
aircraft were in poor
condition, they demanded long maintenance and were not what the
airmen of
13th had expected. But, they had to make do. R.A.F
Command had
nothing else to spare.
After initial training with the ”new” aircraft, the
Squadron started patrols
and convoy escort duties in the Eastern
Mediterranean.
On
January 1942 the Squadron moved again, this time
to LG 86 where it stayed until January the next year. More Blenheims
kept
arriving and gradually the Ansons, which until then had soldiered on,
were
phased out because of the lack of spares and insurmountable maintenance
problems.
Convoy
escort and anti-submarine patrols were
the main missions of the Squadron for the whole of 1942 and these were
accomplished in the best possible way. In many occasions, enemy
submarines were
spotted and duly attacked by the Blenheims of the Squadron.
King
George
of Greece visits the 13th Squadron in LG 86.In the background Blenheim
IV V6149.
On July
28 Blenheim IV Z9550, crew: Plt Off I.Papoutsis,
Lt Papadiamantopoulos and Sgt F.Saridis, while on convoy escort duty,
hit a
large enemy submarine forcing it to crash-dive North of Port Said.
Similar incidents were to be repeated in numerous
other missions.
In July
the Squadron moved to Gaza,
after
a
brief
stay in LG 227 (Gianaklis). At the same time, a flight of 6-8
aircraft was detached to Saint Jean in Palestine,
continuing its
convoy escort duties.
The contribution of the 13th Light Bombing
Squadron to the Allied effort was significant, helping in the
protection of
convoys, so vital for the operations in the North African front.
In August, another 13th Sq.
Blenheim, this time with crew: W.O Galanakos, Plt Off Karayannis, and F.Sgt Gounelakis, spotted an enemy
submarine near
the convoy which they were protecting. They immediately
attacked
with depth charges.
In October, again Plt Off Papoutsis,Captain Stavreas and F.Sgt Makris, in Blenheim
IV Z6446
surprised an enemy sub, hitting it with
four depth charges from a height of 10 ft!
During the same month, it was the turn of W.O
Galanakos, Plt Off Patsis
and F.Sgt Gounelakis, in Blenheim IV V6257. They successfully bombed an
enemy
sub, observing a large oil spot in the position where the sub had dived.
Records show that in
August 1942, the axis submarines
in the Mediterranean suffered their
greatest
losses since 1940.
One
of
the
Squadron's Bisleys prepares for a mission.
To this end the 13th
"Hellenic Squadron" ,
as it was called in the R.A.F, helped with all
its resources.
Soon, the first Blenheim Vs, or Bisleys were received and the Squadron started
training on the type.
This version of the Blenheim had better
performance and better bombing capabilities.
Operational flying continued until November 1942, when
the Squadron left Gaza
and St.Jean and moved back to LG 227.
New movement in the beginning of 1943, this time
to LG 07 between Marsa Matruh and Sidi Barrani.
During this time because of the shortage
of personnel of certain qualifications, it was decided to
establish two
training schools.
These were the Training
Center
for Air
Radio-Operators , and the Air Navigators
Training Center.
The performance during the operations and the
training of the Squadron was appreciated by the R.A.F
Command which promised to send more
aircraft.
This promise was fulfilled on April of ’43, with
7 more Bisleys. The arrival of newer aircraft contributed to the
increase
of missions flown, reduced the accident rate and gave a boost
to
the morale of the personnel.
The 13th Hellenic Squadron was among
the 3 squadrons of 201 Group with the less accidents, the other two
being 252 Sqn.
and 459 Sqn.
Again on the road in August, this time for Gambut
(Derna) in Libya.
The
operations
and
the training of personnel, continued
all
summer.
In September, the time came for the Squadron to
acquire an aircraft worth of the expectations and certainly the
abilities
of its airmen. After many requests of the RHAF leadership to the R.A.F
for a
more potent aircraft, the latter decided to replace the Bisleys
of the
13th Hellenic Squadron with Martin A30 Baltimores.
These aircraft were ordered by the R.A.F from the U.S., under the Lend-Lease agreement
and were
used almost exclusively in the North African and Mediterranean
theatres.
Baltimores
covered
for
protection against the desert sun in the flightline of the
13th Hellenic Squadron in Gambut.
There could be no real comparison between the Baltimore
and
whatever aircraft type the Squadron had flown until then.
It was much faster, heavily armed and carried a much
heavier weapons load. It had a top speed of 300 mph, armament
of no
less than 10-12 guns and could carry almost a ton of bombs and other
ordnance.
Many of the aircraft received were brand new, and did
not come from other R.A.F
squadrons, as was the norm until then.
The first aircraft to arrive were 4 Mk IVs:
FA 439”W”
FA 483”B”
FA
607”Z” and
FA 608”C”
Three more followed the next day:
FA 490”S”
FA
463”Y” and
FA 654”X”
Intensive training started on the new type both in
various OTUs and on the newly received aircraft.
At the same time a number of British Warrant
Officers
and Flight Sergeants were attached to the Squadron, as air gunners and
wireless
operators.
Immediately the qualities of the new aircraft were put
to the test.For the first time, along with the anti-submarine
patrols and
convoy escorts, offensive reconnaissance and even attacks on the
occupied Greek
islands and other targets were undertaken.
In one of these attacks on November 12, Baltimores of 13th Hellenic Squadron
attacked
the German positions in the heavily defended port
of Souda, in Crete.
These were:
FA 512
”F”
Crew : Plt Off Assanakis, Fg Off Hionidis, Plt Off Maniatis
and Sgt Hayball.
FA 632
”E”
Crew: Plt Off Fragoyannis, Plt Off Sarantis
, Sgt Delentas and Sgt Baines.
FA 584”H”
Crew: Plt Off Kondos, Plt Off Katsaros, Sgt Logan and Sgt Sutherns.
FA 585
”V”
Crew: Fg Off Sotiriou, Plt Off Marmaras, W.O Stratidakis, and Sgt Sherwood.
Under intensive A/A fire they successfully bombed
their targets, when they were attacked by three Arado Ar 196
floatplanes! The
gunner of Baltimore “E” Sgt Baines, shot one of the attackers from a
distance
of 400 yards
and observed thick smoke coming out of its engine. The German
aircraft
although dangerous under certain circumstances were no match for
the Baltimore.
All
the
Squadron’s
aircraft using their greater speed made it back to base safely.
By the end of 1943, the 13th Hellenic
Squadron had logged 1302 combat missions and 4550 flying hours. Certainly not a bad record.
In the spring of 1944 the Squadron received the order
to move to a new theatre of operations.
Destination this time : Italy.
First, the personnel and vehicles of the Squadron were
moved by sea, and then the aircraft followed, after a thorough
inspection in
107 MU in Ismailia.
The new base was Biferno, near the town of Termoli.
Here, the 13th came under the 3rd
South African Wing.
From Biferno the Squadron started to fly for the first
time
exclusively in bombing missions. Targets were military facilities,
harbours, bridges,
factories and railway junctions in German occupied Italian
territory. There were many successful missions in Pedaso, Fabriano,
Civittanova, Porto Recanate, etc.
"Bull's
eye"
on
the istallations of Ancona harbour, June 21, 1944.
Railway
station
in
Luga , Jugoslavia gets the treatment
from
the
Squadron's Baltimores.
In
June, the area of operations was expanded to include the whole of Yugoslavia.
In the
same month the Squadron had to move again, this time to Pescara
airfield, without any interruption in
operations. Here the 13th Hellenic Squadron came under 254
Wing
R.A.F, as part of the “Balkan Air Force”.
The missions over Yugoslavia were far more
dangerous
for the aircraft and crews, due to the heavily defended German
positions.
This became evident on July 28 1944, when six Baltimores
of the Squadron took off to bomb Sarajevo.
Over the target, one of the aircraft : FW452”D” with
crew Flt Lt Angelidis,
W.O Molyvadas, Plt Off Anastasiou
and F.Sgt W.Aldridge, got hit by flak and caught fire.
By coincidence this was a stand-by aircraft, replacing
another Baltimore
which had a malfunction and had to abort the mission. All crew bailed
out and
landed safely. Flt Lt Angelidis and F.Sgt Aldridge escaped capture and with
the help of the Yugoslav
partisans, managed to return to their unit in October.
W.O
Molyvadas and Plt Off Anastasiou
were caught by the Germans and spent the rest of the war in
Stalag Luft
III.
Entry from the O.R.B of 13th Sq.
recording the fateful Sarajevo mission.
Τhe
missions continued
daily with ”maximum effort” and no break, until the end of
October.
In
November 1944, the long awaited
return to the liberated Homeland became a reality after more than three
years
of absence.
On the 14th
of that month, 16 Baltimores
landed in Hasani (today’s Ellinikon)
airfield, near Athens.
The
return to Greece
did not mean the end of
combat for the Squadron. Although mainland Greece
was liberated, Crete and other
islands were
still under German occupation. So, alongside the Spitfires of the other
two
fighter Squadrons the 335th and 336th
which
had also arrived in Greece,
the
Baltimores
of the 13th Squadron started bombing the German positions.
This
continued until the German withdrawal, in April of 1945. Along its
combat missions
the Squadron undertook leaflet and supply drops and search and rescue
duties.
Operationally,
all
three
Greek Squadrons were under
337 Wing R.A.F based in Hasani airfield.
13th
Sq.
crews
in front of their "Balts" after their arrival in
Greece.Aircraft "F" is FW453
with 72 missions marked on its nose, and in the backround
FW555 "G".
The
political situation in Greece
during this time went from bad to worse, and soon civil war broke out.
It was
obvious that the Hellenic Air Force, which started to take its first
post-war
steps, was going to need all the aircraft in its inventory,
especially the Baltimores
of
the 13th Squadron.
But,
contrary to all reason, the Squadron was ordered
to hand over these aircraft and exchange them with….Vickers Wellingtons!!
This
change which was opposed by the Command of the
Air Force and most vigorously by the leadership of the Squadron,
was
imposed by the British government, from which the aircraft were
acquired in the
first place and was their legal owner. The consequences of his
decision, will hamper the Air Force’s war
effort in the
following years. The Baltimore
will be sorely missed, especially in the
late stages of the civil war.
Then, lacking a dedicated ground attack aircraft,
the task to
dislodge the communist forces from their fortified positions in
the
mountains of Greece,
fell solely
on
the
Spitfires, the only combat aircraft of the Hellenic Air
Force at the time and only towards the end of hostilities on the
hastily
acquired Curtiss Helldivers.
So,
the Baltimores
started to be handed over to the R.A.F in August of 1945,
with the
last three aircraft leaving Greece
after an impressive flypast over Athens,
on September 18. All aircraft were flown to Kasfareet in Egypt,
where from they were either
sent to other
units, or scrapped.
The Wellingtons,
apart from the fact that their usefulness to the Air Force was
doubtful, were
also in bad condition, having come from long open storage in the
desert. Great
effort was demanded from the
mechanics,
to
keep them flying.
Sadly,
their introduction to the 13th Squadron’s
inventory
was
accompanied
by two fatal accidents, and some other minor incidents,
that did
nothing to dispel the dislike the crews
had developed for the aircraft.
The Wellingtons
were used mostly in the transport role and in training. Their service
with the
Squadron was short and unremarkable, and from 1947 they were
replaced by C-47 “Dakotas.
Finally,
the glorious history of the 13th
Hellenic Squadron came to an end. It was unceremoniously
transformed from
a bombing squadron, to a transport one. Along with its role, it changed
its
name: from now on it will be called ”355 Transport Squadron”. Surely, an unfitting end for one of the most
combat-hardened
units of the Hellenic Air Force.
No
convincing reason has been given for the transformation
of the 13th Squadron, especially at a time when it had a lot to
offer (in
its original role and with suitable equipment).
The
Squadron’s ”nature” and its past experience, will
soon come to the fore when in the civil war, as 355 Transport
Squadron ,
some of its Dakotas will be hastily modified to …drop bombs
out of
the cargo door!!
Over the
years, the Hellenic Air Force reorganised,
re-equipped, grew in size and today is one of the biggest and more
modern in Europe.
New combat units were established and others were de-activated or
disbanded,
according to the operational needs.
It would
be appropriate for the History
and
traditions of this Service, if a new unit takes the
honourable name
of the ”13th Squadron”.
*At this period, a problem
arose by the fact that there were two squadrons in the
R.A.F bearing the
number 13, the first being the No 13 Squadron which
was
the ”original” and the other , the Greek 13th .In all official
references
the second unit was called ”Hellenic” and the letter "H"
was
appropriately placed after the Squadron’s number.This did not
prevent
many misunderstandings and the confusing of the two units.Things
did
not improve when at one point both squadrons operated in the
Mediterranean, both flying Baltimores!
Many years later,
researchers and historians still confuse the two squadrons. Back
Bristol Blenheims of 13th
Hellenic Squadron
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BLENHEIM IVs
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BLENHEIM Vs (BISLEY)
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N 6147
R 3845
R 3901
T 2049
V 5640
V 5951
V 6149
V 6257
Z 4966
Z 6446
Z 6454
Z 7880
Z 7966
Z 8529
Z 9493
Z 9550
Z 9666
Z 9740
Z 9793
5512?
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BA 106 R
BA 164 C
BA 165 A
BA 167 C
BA 228 F
BA 249
BA 290 K
BA 294 V
BA 304
BA 319 D(EH?)
BA 323 S
BA 324 K
BA 328 R
BA 336 L
BA 381 D
BA 384 L
BA 395 S
BA 399 E
BA 454 0
BA 487 A
BA 544 X
BA 580 P
BA 585 T
BA 593
BA 847 F
BA 850 E
BA 934 H
BA 948 M
BA 949 B
EH 316 M
EH 408 N
BA 429
882?
BA 403N?
937S?
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Martin
Baltimores of 13th Hellenic Squadron
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Mk III
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Mk IIIA
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Mk IV
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Mk V
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AG 902"S"
AG 939"D"
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FA 219"E"
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FA 385"H"
FA 386"S"
FA 400"V"
FA 405"Z"
FA 423
FA 432"A"
FA 439"W"
FA 443"F"
FA 471"A","W"
FA 482
FA 483"B"
FA 486
FA 490"D","S"
FA 491"C"
FA 512"F"
FA 514"E"
FA 518
FA 529
FA 534
FA 542"E"
FA 548
FA 551"B"
FA 552"G","H"
FA 559
FA 560"T"
FA 565
FA 584"H"
FA 585"V"
FA 588"U"
FA 589
FA 600"G"
FA 603
FA 607"Z"
FA 608"C"
FA 624
FA 629"F"
FA 631"W"
FA 632"E"
FA 633"I"
FA 640
FA 642"Y"
FA 643
FA 654"X","F","I"
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FW 294"R"
FW 296"G"
FW 316"Z"
FW 333"B"
FW 357"A"
FW 388"I","P"
FW 401"Y"*
FW 411"R" *
FW
418"A" *
FW 421"T"*
FW 429"E"*
FW 449"C"*
FW 451"T"
FW 452"D"
FW 453"F"
FW 461"R"
FW 464"U"
FW 493"W"
FW 516"H"*
FW 538"B"
FW 546"V"*
FW 555"G"*
FW 559"W"*
FW 563"D"*
FW 578"S"*
FW 766"I"*
FW 774"P"
FW 788"F"
FW 800"A"
FW 803"U"*
FW 805"K"
FW 808"P"*
FW 814"C"
FW 844"B"*
FW 852"Y"
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*These aircraft were the first to
arrive in Greece on the 14th of November 1944.
Vickers Wellington
XIII of 13th Hellenic Squadron
MF 206"Y"
ME 907
NC 418"D","X"
JA 392"W"
NC 433"U"
MF 188"P"
907"Z"
305"L"
466"T"
582"N"
643"S"
183"R"
254"U"
181"P"
981"V"
190"L"
890"R"
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Copyright M.Solanakis 2002
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