No. 335 and 336 (Greek) Squadrons RAF (Tobruk)

[FTC_Woop]

Hello gents,

this is an info thread for TF5 and two squadrons very dear to me which flew around the Tobruk area at the time.

 

Major Xenophon Varvaresos, Commanding Officer of No. 335 (Greek) Squadron, in front of a Hawker Hurricane at Aqir, Palestine

 

In April 1941, the German Wehrmacht overran Greece. The Greek government under King George II fled to Allied-controlled Egypt, where it began to establish expatriate Greek Armed Forces. These were formed out of personnel that had been evacuated from Greece or fled to the Middle East during the Occupation, and were equipped and organised along British lines, coming under British command. They had also been formed from Greeks who migrated to Egypt or were born in Egypt before the War.

 

No. 335 (Greek) Squadron

 

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The 335th Royal Hellenic Pursuit Squadron (335 Βασιλική Ελληνική Μοίρα Διώξεως, 335 Β.Ε.Μ.Δ.), designated within the British Royal Air Force as No. 335 (Greek) Squadron, was formed on 10 October 1941 at Aqir airfield in Palestine. Its first commander was Squadron Leader Xenophon Varvaressos, and the personnel was provided from a core of Greek pilots who were undergoing training in Iraq, augmented by others who had fled from Greece. Initially it was equipped with the Hurricane Mk I, and employed while training in defensive duties until January 1942.

Subsequently, the squadron was transferred to El Daba in Egypt, where it was declared as fully operational on 12 February 1942. The squadron began operations over the Western Desert, where it operated continuously until late 1942, participating in convoy protection, bomber escort and ground attack roles. Between June and September 1942, it was re-equipped with Hurricane IIBs. Under Squadron Leader Ioannis Kellas, the squadron participated in the air operations of the Second Battle of El Alamein; on 28 October 1942, the second anniversary of the Italian invasion of Greece, the squadron organized a strafing attack on the Italian XX Corps headquarters, an operation that was a huge morale booster for the expatriate Greeks.

In the aftermath of the Allied victory, the squadron returned to shipping protection duties, while being outfitted with the newer Spitfire Mk Vb and Vc aircraft from December 1943 onwards. On 15 September, the squadron was moved along with its sister unit (No. 336) to the Italian theatre, from where it carried out operations primarily over occupied Yugoslavia

 

 

COs of No. 335

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10 Oct 1941: Sqn Ldr X J Varvaressos

xx Sep 1942: Sqn Ldr Hellas (??)
xx Jan 1943: Sqn Ldr G Pangalos
xx Dec 1943: Sqn Ldr G Doukas
xx Apr 1945: Sqn Ldr P Boussios
31 Jul 1946: Transferred to Greek control

 

No. 335 (Greek) Squadron was based out of the following fields throughout the war:

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October-December 1941: Aqir

December 1941-January 1942: St. Jean d'Acre
January 1942: Helwan
January-May 1942: El Daba
May-June 1942: Gerawla
June 1942: El Daba
June-August 1942: Idku
August-September 1942: Dekheila
September-October 1942: LG.173
October 1942: LG.85
October-November 1942: LG.37
November 1942: LG.13
November 1942-February 1943: LG.121
February 1943: Mersa Matruh
February 1943-January 1944: Tocra
January-February 1944: Benina
February-March 1944: Tocra
March-September 1944: Bersis

September 1944: Savoia
September-October 1944: Nuova
October-November 1944: Biferno

November-September 1944: Hassani
September 1944-July 1945: Sedes

No. 335 paintschemes:

Quote

 

 

Squadron Code: FG

No.335 RAF

Hurricane MkI Oct 1941- Sep 1942

Hurricane MkIIc Aug 1942 - Oct 1942, Sep 1943 - Jan 1944

Hurricane MkIIb Sep 1942 - Oct 1943

Spitfire MkVb Jan 1944 - Sep 1944

Spitfire MkVc Jan 1944 - Jul 1946

 

 

 

Photographs of No. 335:

Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIb,  335th (Greek) Sq, Squadron Leader X. Varvaressos, South African Lieutenant Colonel D.H Loftus and Squadron Leader J. Kellas. 6  September 1942.

 

 

Members of the squadron celebrating the successful bombing of the Italian XX Corps headquarters, Oct. 28, 1942.

 

 

Supermarine  Spitfire  Mk Vc, 335th Sq. R.H.A.F. Marsa Matruh,  1943. On the left George Plionis and on the right Spiros Depountis with the squadron donkey.

 

Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb / Vc, 335th Sq. R.H.A.F.  somewhere in Greece (N. Assanis  archive) - ( Αρχείο Νίκου Ασσάνη )

 

Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIb,  335th (Greek) Sq, FG-D  "HELENE.

 

Hawker  Hurricane, 335th (Greek) Sq,  219 CW R.A.F, Egypt, 1942(G. Plionis).

 

Hawker  Hurricane  Mk.IIc, 335th  Sq.,  R.H.A.F. A group of pilots of No. 335 (Hellenic) Squadron RAF pose in front of one of their recently-received Hawker Hurricane Mark IICs at Dhekeila, Egypt. (πηγη - source : IWM )

 

LEONI with aircrew of 335.

 

Photograph of FGoH “LEONI” with T. Krikonis and K. Loukopoulos, in the middle and on the right repsectively.

 

No. 336 (Greek) Squadron

 

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The 336th Royal Hellenic Pursuit Squadron (336 Βασιλική Ελληνική Μοίρα Διώξεως, 336 Β.Ε.Μ.Δ.), designated within the British Royal Air Force as No. 336 (Greek) Squadron, was established on 25 February 1943 at LG 219. Equipped with 21 Hurricane Mk IIc aircraft and under the command of Flight Lieutenant Spyridon Diamantopoulos, it counted many veteran pilots from 335 Squadron in its ranks. This allowed the unit to quickly begin operations: its first combat mission was carried out on 1 March, and the unit was declared operational on 11 April. It was subsequently employed in shipping protection and air defence duties along the Libyan coast, as well as fighter sweeps. The squadron received its first six Spitfire Mk Vc aircraft on 12 October, and over the month of November it participated in several Allied raids against Crete. Although successful, these missions involved great danger from the German air defence and the Luftwaffe, and resulted in several losses. By March 1944, the unit had been completely re-equipped with Spitfires, and on 15 September, the squadron was moved along with its sister unit to the Italian theatre, from where it carried out operations primarily over occupied Yugoslavia.

 

COs of No. 336

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25 Feb 1943: Sqn Ldr S Diamontopoulas

xx Dec 1943: Sqn Ldr C Margaritis
xx Oct 1944: Sqn Ldr C Hondos
xx Apr 1945: Sqn Ldr C Coniotokis
xx Jan 1945: Sqn Ldr L Parisis
31 Jul 1946: Transferred to Greek control

 

No. 336 (Greek) Squadron was based out of the following fields on the TF 5.0 Tobruk map:

Quote

February-April 1943: LG.219

April 1943-January 1944: LG.121
January-March 1944: El Adem
March-April 1944: Bu Amud
April-July 1944: Mersa Matruh
July-September 1944: El Adem

September-November 1944: Nuova
November 1944: Grottaglie
November 1944-May 1945: Hassani
May-July 1945: Sedes

 

 

No. 336 paintschemes:

Quote

Squadron Code: KC (???)
No.336 RAF

Hurricane MkIIc Feb 1943 - Jul 1944

Spitfire MkVc Oct 1943 - Jun 1946

Spitfire MkIX May 1944 - Jun 1944

 

Photographs of No. 336:

The Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou (third from right) and the Greek Air Minister, M Fikioris (second from right), accompanied by Air Commodore G W Tuttle, Air Officer Commanding Air Headquarters Greece (seventh from right), and other Allied officers, inspects a line of Supermarine Spitfire Mark Vs and pilots of No. 336 (Hellenic) Squadron RAF during an official ceremony at Kalamaki/Hassani to welcome Greek units serving with the Allied Air Forces back to their homeland. No. 337 Wing RAF, of which Nos. 335 and 336 (Hellenic) Squadrons RAF and No. 13 Squadron, Royal Hellenic Air Force formed part, arrived in Greece on 16 November 1944, and continued operations there until its disbandment on 15 June 1946, after which the Greek squadrons were transferred to Greek control.

 

Hurricane IIc flown by the Greek pilots of Νο. 336

 

 

Hellenic Aircraft Squadrons inspection, from the political leadership in November 1944, at the airport Hasani - Hellinikon. 336th  Sqn.  R.H.A.F. First from the left is Demetris Voutsinas and on the right is Eustathios Athanasopoylos.

 

Hawker  Hurricane  Mk.IIc, 336th (Greek) Sq., Sidi  Barrani, Egypt, June 1943 (Markos Danezis archive).

 

Squadron Leader of No. 336 squadron K. Margaritis congratulates second lieutenant G. Tsotsos and warrant officer D. Soufrilas on their shooting down of a german Ju-88.

 

 

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb. 336th (Greek) Sq., (Markos Danezis  archive).

 

Ηλίας Καρταλαμάκης, Ilias Kartalamakis, Supermarine Spitfire nicknamed 'ΑΘΗΝΑ'.

 

Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vb / Vc, 336th (Greek)  Sq.  R.H.A.F. Aliki Vembo (sister of Greek singer Sofia Vembo) in the cockpit and next her, engineer Michael Stephanopoulos(Mark  Danezis  archive).

 

Hawker  Hurricane  Mk.IIc, 336 (Greek) Sq  Royal  Hellenic Air Force  (R.H.A.F.). Receiving new aircraft previously flown by No. 238 Squadron RAF.

 

Hawker  Hurricane  Mk.IIc, 336th (Greek) Sq., 219 CW  R.A.F., (Psilolignos  C.).

 

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In November the Greek squadrons returned to liberated Greece, where they were engaged in operations against the remaining German garrisons in the Aegean islands and Crete. On 31 July 1945, the squadron was disbanded from the RAF and transferred to Greek control. The motto of the 335 Squadron Αίεν Υψικρατείν ("Always dominate the Heights") is now the official motto of the Hellenic Air Force.

 

 

And here is a test CloD skin I made a while back for the No. 335

 

Other paintschemes. All paintschemes for these squadrons are widely debated as to their accuracy.

 

Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_African_airfields_during_World_War_II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/336th_Bomber_Squadron_(HAF)
http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/336_wwII.html
http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/335_wwII.html
http://www.rafweb.org/Squadrons/COs/OCs_300-361.htm
http://www.rafweb.org/Squadrons/Sqn%20Markings/SqnMark331-360.htm
http://history-color.blogspot.com/search/label/SUPERMARINE%20SPITFIRE%20MkVb%2FMkVc
http://wwwamphiktyon.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post.html

Edited December 5, 2018 by ACG_Woop

[II./JG27_Rich]

Awesome pictures

[Larry69]

Really great stuff, Woop! Thanks!

 

Larry

[Buzzsaw]

Thanks for your post Woop. ?

 

Yes, we will include Greek markings... and certainly the varieties of Hurricane II's which No. 336th Squadron flew will be included.

[Vulpes_Corsac]

 

thank you very much!

[Hoss]

Daedalos, are some of the guys in your group still in touch with 335th Tamil?...........  or Fotis as I'm used to calling him, it's been awhile (long while) since I talked with him.  I know he was a Lt in the Greek Army, and was getting married the last time I talked to him................. I imagine the Mrs.  keeps him on a short leash...

 

If you or any of your mates are in touch with him tell him Mike said hi

 

Cheers

Hoss

[Vulpes_Corsac]

Hi Hoss!

 

Unfortunately Fotis does not fly any more. Probably you are right Mrs do keep him on a short leash ?.

 

Our CO Giorgos @Swaty is the one with the most possibility to reach out to him. I will pass the hello to Giorgos and hopefully he can transfer it to Fotis!

 

 

[FTC_Woop]

On 11/23/2018 at 11:28 PM, Buzzsaw said:

Thanks for your post Woop. ?

 

Yes, we will include Greek markings... and certainly the varieties of Hurricane II's which No. 336th Squadron flew will be included.

 

Will we be getting Hurricane IIc's with 2 out of 4 cannons installed? No. 238 Squadron removed the outside cannons to improve maneuverability.

[Buzzsaw]

9 hours ago, ACG_Woop said:

 

Will we be getting Hurricane IIc's with 2 out of 4 cannons installed? No. 238 Squadron removed the outside cannons to improve maneuverability.

Yes, we will be including the 'Fighter' version of the Hurricane IIC.

[Hoss]

On 11/24/2018 at 2:58 AM, 335th_GRDaedalos said:

Hi Hoss!

 

Unfortunately Fotis does not fly any more. Probably you are right Mrs do keep him on a short leash ?.

 

Our CO Giorgos @Swaty is the one with the most possibility to reach out to him. I will pass the hello to Giorgos and hopefully he can transfer it to Fotis!

 

 

Thank you Daedalos

[FTC_Woop]

12 hours ago, Buzzsaw said:

Yes, we will be including the 'Fighter' version of the Hurricane IIC.

 

Thanks for the reply. Will there be skin templates released?

[Buzzsaw]

We expect to release skin templates for all the new aircraft.

 

We also hope to have a code change which will allow custom skins to be displayed in multiplayer without the issues of stutters, pauses etc.

[FTC_Woop]

On 12/6/2018 at 8:54 PM, Buzzsaw said:

We also hope to have a code change which will allow custom skins to be displayed in multiplayer without the issues of stutters, pauses etc.

 

Will it work as in BoX maybe?

[Buzzsaw]

15 hours ago, ACG_Woop said:

 

Will it work as in BoX maybe?

Not exactly... details will be provided at the time of release.