Cull Brian - Air war for Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete, 1940-41

Published by

Grub Street

Golden House

2831 Great Pulteney St

London W1

Copyright 1987 Grub Street, London

Text copyright 1987 Christopher Shores, Brian Cull, Nicola Malizia

Maps by Graham Andrews

Shores, Christopher

Air war for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete:

194041.

1. World War, 19391945Aerial operations

2. World War, 19391945Campaigns

Yugoslavia 3. World War, 19391945

CampaignsGreece 4. World War, 19391945

CampaignsGreeceCrete

I. Title II. Cull, Brian III. Malizia,

Nicola

940.5421 D792.Y8

ISBN 0-948817-07-0

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

Photoset and printed in Malta by Interprint Limited

The authors wish to express their grateful thanks to a large number of persons who have assisted with their research, and without whose contribution this book would not have been possible. They also wish to acknowledge permission to quote from Wings Over Olympus by T H Wisdom (Allen & Unwin) and Operation Mercury by M G Comeau (William Kimber).

Contributors (Royal Air Force)

Wg Cdr E A Howell, OBE, DFC (33 Sqn); Wg Cdr V C Woodward, DFC (33 Sqn); Flt Lt D S F Bill Winsland, DFC (33 Sqn) for use of much original material; Air Vice Marshal E G Jones, DSO, DFC (80 Sqn); Gen Paul Jacquier (274 Sqn); Flt Lt R I Laing, DFC (73 Sqn); Air Comm D F Rixson, OBE, DFC, AFC (113 Sqn); Eric Bevington-Smith (211 Sqn); Tom Henderson (211 Sqn); Albert Marteau (attd 24(SAAF)Sqn; S W Lee (113 Sqn).

Next of kin

Mrs Kay Vale (widow of Sqn Ldr W Vale, DFC, 80 Sqn) including photocopied pages of logbook; Mrs Angela Acworth (widow of Sqn Ldr R A Acworth, DFC, 112 Sqn); Mrs Katharine Noel-Johnson (widow) and Mr Clive Noel-Johnson (son) of Flt Lt G D Noel-Johnson, 33 Sqn; Mrs Joan Hubbold (widow of Flg Off A F Butterick, 33 Sqn); Mr Geoffrey Hill (brother) and Mr Clifford Davis (cousin) of Sgt Vernon Hill, 33 Sqn.

Contributors (Fleet Air Arm)

Capt A F Black, DSC (805 Sqn); Maj L A Harris, DSC (805 Sqn); Lt Cdr J A Shuttleworth (805 Sqn); Lt Cdr D H Coates (805 Sqn); Lt Cdr R W M Walsh (805 Sqn); Lt R V Hinton (805 Sqn); W J Newman (805 Sqn); Vice Adm Sir Donald Gibson, KCB, DSC, JP (803 Sqn); Cdr D J Godden (803 Sqn); Lt Cdr F J L de Frias, DSM (803 Sqn); F P Dooley (803 Sqn); T S Melling (803 Sqn); Capt D Vincent-Jones, DSC (806 Sqn);Lt Cdr R MacDonald-Hall (806 Sqn); Cdr R S Henley, OBE, DSC (806 Sqn); Lt Cdr H Phillips (806 Sqn); Capt F M A Torrens-Spence, DSO, DSC, AFC (815 Sqn); Lt Cdr P N Beagley (815 Sqn); Lt K Sims, DSM (815 Sqn) (including kind permission to use extracts from unpublished m/s); N Hollis (HMS Glasgow).

Other Contributors

Andrew Stamatopoulos of Corfu, Greece (contributor of material re EVA and in checking m/s for spellings of Greek locations); Hellenic Air Force Historical Section, Athens; Zoran Jerin of Ljubljana, Yugoslavia (contributor of material re JKRV); Winfried Bock, Mnchen, Germany (contributor of material re Luftwaffe); Staff of Public Record Office, Kew, London; Staff of RAF Museum Archives, Hendon, London; Staff of Imperial War Museum, London; Air Cdr H Probert and Staff of Air Historical Branch (RAF 5), Ministry of Defence; Fleet Air Arm Officers Association, London; TAG Association (via Ken Sims); Royal Marines Museum, Southsea, Hants; WASt, Berlin; Amicale Des Forces Aeriennes Francaises Libres (the late G E Durand).

Bruce Lander of Oldham (and Eddie Pearson) for much appreciated assistance and encouragement; Paul Sortehaug of Dunedin, New Zealand and Ian Primmer of Thornton, NSW, Australia for varied contributions; FAA historians David Brown and Ray Sturtivant; Chris Ehrengardt re Free French aircrew. Our Maltese friends Philip Vella and Louis Tortell offered much help, the latter in reproducing many of the photographs used in the book.

Nicola Malizia offers personal thanks to Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore Aeronautica, Ufficio Propaganda e Fotografico dello SMAM, Ufficio Storico Marina Militare Italiana, Ambasciata di Grecia in Italia. Prof Nicola Pignato, Carlo Lucchini, Giorgio Di Giorgio.

Brian Cull offers personal thanks to his good friend and neighbour Dick Rees, and to Mr Jack Lee (in the beginning !). And to staff of Bury St. Edmunds Library for obtaining many hard-to-find relevant books.

Christopher Shores, Hendon

Brian Cull, Bury St. Edmunds

Nicola Malizia, San Arcangelo di Romagna

March 1987

The PZL P.24 formed the backbone of the Greek fighter force in 1940. A newly-built example is seen here shortly after delivery to the Elleniki Vassiliki Aeroporia (EVA). (