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On Spartan Wings - The Royal Hellenic Air Force in World War Two (Paperback)
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On Spartan Wings - The Royal Hellenic Air Force in World War Two (Paperback)
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List price R448
Loot Price R365
Discovery Miles 3 650
You Save R83 (19%)
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Total price: R385
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Rarely has an air force gone into combat as poorly prepared and
outgunned as the Royal Hellenic Air Force had to when Mussolini's
Italy dragged Greece into war on 28 October 1940. Without warning,
as Italian forces poured over the frontier from Albania, the RHAF's
paltry effective lineup of 128 battleworthy aircraft, most of them
obsolete, were pitted against the 463 fielded by the Regia
Aeronautica, whose pilots had honed their skills in the Spanish
Civil War. On the Greek side, though, aces such as Marinos
Mitralexis, with his audacious ramming of an Italian bomber on the
fifth day of the war, ensured that morale in the RHAF remained
high. Though the RAF pitched in with whatever help it could provide
in machines and manpower, the aerial war was unequal from the
first. By the end of 1940 the RHAF was seriously depleted, though
individual pilots and crews continued to fight valiantly. The end
came in April 1941 when Hitler sped to the rescue of the Duce. The
Luftwaffe blasted out of the sky what remained of the RHAF and
whatever RAF units remained to help out its last stand. A single
mira (squadron), with just 5 Avro Ansons escaped intact to Egypt,
where British forces were bracing for Rommel's onslaught. Out of
this small squadron grew three full mirai, whose pilots, now
equipped with modern aircraft, played a decisive part in the Allied
victory at El Alamein. Until Greece was liberated in October 1944
the RHAF units in the Allied air forces ranged over targets in the
Aegean Sea, Italy and Yugoslavia. The RHAF was little affected by a
communist-inspired mutiny in the Greek forces in Egypt that briefly
threatened to neutralize the Greek contribution. After the end of
World War II the RHAF was called upon to confront the threat of an
attempted communist takeover of Greece and played a major part in
overcoming the rebellion and saving the country for the West.
Meticulous research interwoven with first-hand accounts makes this
a fitting tribute to the skill and heroism of the Greek airmen and
a valuable account of a neglected aspect of WWII air warfare.
General
Imprint: |
Pen & Sword Aviation
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
May 2022 |
Authors: |
John Carr
|
Dimensions: |
234 x 156 x 19mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
192 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-399-01975-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
1-399-01975-9 |
Barcode: |
9781399019750 |
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