Hellenic Air Force - Wartime Experience
The beginning of the First Balkan War coincided with the establishment of the "Air Band" in Larissa, in September 1912, which was subject directly to the Commander-through of the General Staff. The first operation took place on 05 October 1912 by Dimitrio Kampero, who flew over enemy lines in a reconnaisance mission. Many other operations took place in which the Hellenic pilots didn't hesitate to drop special bombs on Turkish positions.
Operational requirements by the Hellenic Navy led to the creation of the Naval Aviation (Naval Cooperation Air Force). Naval Aviation acquired her first hydroplane in November 1912. First pilot for this new naval weapon was First Lieutenant Moutousis who was recalled from the Epirot front. On November 17 1912 the aircraft was officially presented to the Navy, and named Nautilos.
First training flight took place on 21 January 1913 with Moutousi and Ensign Moraiti flying all the way to the island of Tenedos. The first operational flight took place on 24 January 1913 with the same crew. On that day, the two crew members not only bombarded the Turkish Navy in the Bay of Nagara, they also reported the location of Turkish ships to the commander of the Hellenic Navy located in Moudrou, Limnos. The mission took 2 hours 20 minutes, and the distance traveled totaled some 180 kilometers. This was the first ever combat mission involving naval forces or naval aviation in the world!
A Greek Squadron served also in the Anglo-French expedition against the Bolsheviks in 1919.
In 1930 the naval and military air branches were unified and the Hellenic Air Force was officially made the third branch of the Hellenic Armed Forces under the supervision of the Air Ministry. After that the Meteorological Service and the Air Force Academy were instituted with British help and advisors[40]. The new Service showed itself to the world with an airplane that toured the Balkan capitals in 1934. The following year the Hellenic Air Force was involved in the “Coup of 35”. Remaining loyal to the government, it carried out missions against the militants of the opposition.
On 28 October 1940 Italy attacked Greece, despite the Greek policy of appeasement and non-provocation. The Italians had more than 300 available aircraft that could attack from Italy, Albania and the occupied Dodecanese and supported by that country’s industrial base. The Royal Hellenic Air Force had fewer than 80 serviceable aircraft that most of them could not compare with Italian opponent. On 06 April 1942 Hitler came to the rescue of his unsuccessful ally.
The Greek government in exile put the Royal Hellenic Air Force personnel under the command of the RAF and Britain took over to supply equipment and infrastructure so that the Greeks could continue the war against the Axis. Greek pilots studying in Habanyia (Iraq) assisted the British to subdue the coup d’etat of Rashid Ali. After that the Greeks were sent to RAF schools in Rhodesia to continue with their training in more advanced equipment and tactics.
The Greek units served in a variety of roles assisting the allied war effort in the Mediterranean operational theater. In November 1944 they flew from Italy to Greece that the Germans had evacuated. Seventy more Greek airmen had paid the ultimate price for the liberation of their homeland. During their exile in the Middle East the Greek armed forces developed for the first time special commando forces that were also parachute qualified and worked together with British commandos for operations in the Axis occupied Aegean Islands. This was how additional uses of air power in addition to airplane operations were introduced for the first time in the Hellenic military.
The small Royal Hellenic Air Force played an important role in operations against the guerrillas in the Greek Civil War. By 1948 three Spitfire-equipped fighter squadrons and a reconnaissance squadron of A.T-6's comprised the main force. The role of the Greek Air Force was to perform reconnaissance and offensive missions against targets in close support of the army and against guerrilla rear-area installations. Supply drops from C-47 aircraft were made as required, and air evacuation of wounded was accomplished from the fields available. During the Grammos operations alone the Greek Air Force flew more than 2,400 offensive sorties, 750 reconnaissance flights, and 180 supply missions.
A fighter squadron and· a reconnaisance flight were assigned to each of the permanent bases at Salonika, Larissa and Elevsis, from which they provided complete air coverage for Greece. In addition there were three major installations operated under the direct control of the Chief of Air Staff. The State Aircraft Factory in Athens was a fairly well equipped depot. The Royal Hellenic Air Force School at Tatoi conducted technical courses for air force personnel and operatee the Greek flying school. The recruit camp at Araxos was responsible for the basic training of all air force conscripts.
The end of the civil war did not bring immediate rest for the Greek Air force. A transport squadron was sent to assist the UN Forces in Korea. It was a way to pay back the Marshall Plan, cynics could argue, as the impoverished state could not afford the luxury of overseas operations. The infrastructure for the introduction of jet planes in Greece started in 1951 as the country with US aid was modernizing its armed forces with view to join NATO (joined 1952).
Aircraft and supporting equipment to complete the build-up of the air force were programmed in the MDAPFY 1953 budget. This force was not considered sufficient adequately to defend Greece from the air, nor was it large enough to furnish sufficient tactical air support to exploit the potential of the large Greek National Army. However, it was the maximum force to which the Royal Hellenic Air Force was considered capable of expanding by December 1953.
In order to show its entrance into modern air power period, the Hellenic Air Force created an acrobatic air team for the first time in its history. In 1960 anti aircraft missiles were introduced for the defense of Greek airspace. It is little known that Greek jet planes flew secret missions over the neighboring Warsaw Pact countries (Albania, Bulgaria) for the benefit of NATO from 1955 to 1960 and went to war readiness during the Cuba-Missiles Crisis in 1962. The flights were stopped as spy satellites could do it with less exposure to the communist air defences.
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