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Thread: Greek Aviators and Aces of WWI

  1. #1

    Post Greek Aviators and Aces of WWI

    I am opening this thread to showcase the Greek aviators and Aces of WWI, along with the planes they flew. I am no history buff so I just started scraping the surface. Please add in your collective knowledge, research, photos, videos and the like.


    Starting here with a link from Wikipedia mentioning the Aces of the two wars, 1 Ace from WWI and 6 Aces from WWII:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flying_aces_from_Greece


    Following link is about the Hellenic Naval Air Service during WWI:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenic_Naval_Air_Service#World_War_I


    And lastly for this post is the link for the Hellenic Air Force highlighting the historical development of air flight combat containing some interesting pictures and plane profiles as relating to the Greek history of flight:

    http://www.haf.gr/en/history/history/


    Hope to follow up with more posts and details. Your contributions are welcome!

  2. #2

    Default WWI Greek Aviator

    Dimitrios Kamberos

    First Lieutenant Artillery, Dimitrios Kamperos (or Kamberos) and who was known as Trelo Kamperos (meaning Crazy Kamperos) was the first Greek military pilot.
    On May 13, 1912 First lieutenant Dimitrios Kamberos flew the first military Henry Farman aircraft, and later participated in Army manoeuvres. In June of the same year while the establishment of a Naval Air Service was being examined, Kamperos, having converted the first Henry Farman «Daedalus» into a hydroplane flew at an average speed of 110Km per hour thus achieving a new world record. At the same time another pioneer, Alexandros Karamanlakis, conducting a flight from Phaleron to Patras with a 50-hp Bleriot aircraft performed an unsuccessful ditching in the Gulf of Corinth and met his death, thus opening the pantheon of the sacrifices of the Hellenic epopee in the skies.

    In late September 1912, the «Aviators Company» consisting of four officers pilots, was set up in Larissa. The first combat air unit was a reality. The pilots were: Dimitrios Kamperos, First Lieutenant Artillery; Mihail Moutousis, First Lieutenant Corp of Engineers; Panoutsos Notaras, Second Lieutenant Cavalry; Mihail Adamidis, Second Lieutenant Cavalry.

    Dimitrios Kamperos not only was the first Greek military pilot, he survived the Balkan Wars and the First World War. He was chief instructor for many years in the Greek military flying school and eventually died of cold and hunger, during the German occupation of 1941-44.

    Source:
    http://wiki.phantis.com/index.php/Dimitrios_Kamperos

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    Last edited by alkis21; 09-25-2012 at 05:19. Reason: added painting of Kamberos (top) and Notaras and his plane (bottom)

  3. #3

    Default WWI Greek Aviator

    Mihail Moutousis

    First Lieutenant Corp of Engineers Mihail Moutousis (or Moutoussis, or Montoussis) was one of the first pilots to fly for the Hellenic Air Force.

    The Air Force received their first aircraft, 4 Henri Farman's, on May 27, 1912. The aircraft were named Dedalos, Aetos, Gyps, and Ierax by Eleftherios Venizelos. The arrival of the aircraft allowed the formation of the first Air Force Company. Pilots in the company were the officers: Dimitrios Kamperos, First Lieutenant Artillery; Mihail Moutousis, First Lieutenant Corp of Engineers; Panoutsos Notaras, Second Lieutenant Cavalry; Mihail Adamidis, Second Lieutenant Cavalry.

    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 Mihail 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 January 21, 1913 with Moutousis and Ensign Aristidis Moraitinis flying all the way to the island of Tenedos. The first operational flight took place on January 24, 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 Moudros, 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!

    Source:
    http://wiki.phantis.com/index.php/Michail_Moutousis

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  4. #4

    Default WWI Greek Ace

    Aristidis Moraitinis (9 kills)

    Aristidis Moraitinis was a pioneer Greek aviator of the early part of the 20th century.

    Moraitinis was born in 1891. He entered the Greek Naval Academy and graduated in 1910, joining the Hellenic Navy with the rank of ensign. During the First Balkan War (1912 - 1913), Moraitinis volunteered to join the newly-established Greek Air Force which was formed at Moudros, Lemnos.

    On January 24, 1913, he participated with Michail Moutousis in the first ever wartime naval aviation mission, flying a Maurice Farman hydroplane over the Nagara point where they spotted the Turkish fleet. During their sortie, the two men accurately drew a diagram of the positions of the retreating fleet, against which they successfully managed to drop four bombs. Moutoussis and Moraitinis travelled over 180km and took 2 hours 20 minutes to complete their mission, which was extensively reported in both the Greek and International Press.

    After the Balkan Wars, Moraitinis entered the newly-formed Aviation Academy formed near Eleusis, Attica. He soon became an instructor of the academy. However, financial difficulties and an epidemic nearly wiped out the Aviation Academy which was re-formed in part thanks to the arrival of four Henry Farman F22s.

    At the end of 1916, this squadron was moved to the island of Thassos and was attached to the British Naval Airforce, flying a number of missions against the Ottoman Navy. Greece officially joined the First World War in 1917 and received better-quality aircraft from the British. Moraitinis led many missions against the Turks and Germans and, by the end of WW I, had nine confirmed kills to his credit. He was decorated by the Greek and British governments.

    On December 22, 1918, during a flight from Thessaloniki to Athens, Moraitinis was caught up in a violent storm. His body was found, several days later, amid the wreckage of his plane near the summit of Mt Olympus.

    Source:
    http://wiki.phantis.com/index.php/Aristides_Moraitinis_%28aviator%29


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    Last edited by alkis21; 09-25-2012 at 05:16. Reason: spelling

  5. #5

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    Moraitinis photo and plane diagrams:





    Bristol Scout D


    Airco DH9

    Source:
    http://aces.safarikovi.org/victories/greece-ww1.html

  6. #6

    Thumbs up

    Thank you Alkis for all that facinating historical info.
    I did know about Moraiteinis but not the other Greek pilots.
    I think one of the great things about the WoG game is learning about all the pilots & their exploits.

  7. #7

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    Wow I am really impressed! Now I am fired up to do a squadron of these guys! Just where to start . . . thanks for all your efforts!
    Clipper planning an Odyssey

  8. #8

    Default Aviator Certificates for Greek Pilots

    In the PDF file attached, there is mention of awarding aviation certificates to three Greek pilots from the Royal Aero Club of the UK on September 22 -29, 1914.

    These pilots were:

    Alexandros Meletopoulos (Sopwith Hydro-biplane)
    Aristidis Moraitinis (Sopwith Hydro-biplane)
    Constantinos Panagiotou (Sopwith Hydro-biplane)

    Source:
    http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1915/1915%20-%200144.html
    Attached Files

  9. #9

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    Great stuff this, Alkis!
    Some really outstanding work!

    /Niclas

  10. #10

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    Here is a colorized picture for Aristidis Moraitinis made by Nikos Panos:


    Source:
    http://www.behance.net/gallery/Aviator-Aristedes-Moraitines-DSO/4353345
    Last edited by alkis21; 09-03-2012 at 07:46.

  11. #11

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    Nice info Alkis! Really interesting thread.

    Attilio

  12. #12

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    Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!! Just pulled off the info on the Farman 22 and can sneak out into the shop to get some supplies! This on will be great for the mini blind wings and lottsa wire! Should be a fast build! I know the HP V1500 is still in line, but this one is going to be Greek, and Greek is cool! Clipper lecturing the elves on what is fair, fair is in the fall . . .

  13. #13

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    Alkis look at this link: http://www.wwiaviation.com/gallery-greece.html (perhaps I knowalready it). There's a Sopwith Pup livery. A good idea for repaint a miniature.

    Attachment 59182

  14. #14

  15. #15

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    Alkis,

    I don't see the images but a great number of letter, letters and special characters...

  16. #16

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    I think some thing got missed in the translation.
    Linz

  17. #17

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    The following is a translation (by my wife and me) of a Greek Article on Moraitinis:


    Aristides Moraitinis: The Greek “Ace” pilot and the first “naval cooperation” mission worldwide

    The term “Flying Ace” is a semi-formal recognition title for a military pilot who has shot down at least five enemy aircrafts.

    It is semi-formal because despite the fact that almost all the Air Forces of the world recognize their “Aces” the pilots do not usually get any tangible benefit for this feat.

    In addition, some Air Forces have recognized pilots as “Aces” for carrying out a “special achievement”, without being necessary to have successfully shot down 5 aircrafts.

    In the rich and glorious military history of Greece, there is a Greek Air Force pilot who was active during the First World War and has received the title of “Ace”.

    This pilot was Aristides Moraitinis (photo), belonging to HAF (Hellenic Air Force), who had 9 confirmed kills. He was also a member of the first “naval cooperation” mission worldwide (Air Force and Navy) against the Turkish Navy.

    Aristides Moraitinis was born in 1891 in Aegina Island and entered the “Naval Academy” in 1906 at 15 years of age, where he graduated with the rank of “Ensign” in 1910.

    During the turbulent period of the early twentieth century, the heavy clouds of a global conflict approached Greece as well.

    In this difficult times the Greek army is the first worldwide to create “Naval Aviation”, i.e. warplanes acting in cooperation with the Navy, accomplishing several air-naval missions.

    It was at that time that the Greek Air Force purchased some French reconnaissance Farman MF.7 biplanes, which would help in military observation missions. These aircrafts had two pilots for a crew; they weight 885 kg., could reach speeds of 95 km/h and could fly at an altitude of 4000 meters. They were powered by an air-cooled 70 hp Renault engine and had 3.5 hours of flight autonomy. These French biplanes were one of the first types of fighter aircraft which joined the Greek Air Force.

    At that time Aristides Moraitinis was one of the first Greek pilots during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) who joined voluntarily the newly formed “Naval Aviation” created in Moudro of Lemnos Island.

    Shortly afterwards, this man would create history.

    The first “naval cooperation” mission worldwide

    The Balkan Wars were two wars that occurred in the Balkans in 1912-1913. Initially, the Balkan Alliance (Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria) attacked the Ottoman Empire, won the war and as a consequance captured the region of Macedonia and the largest part of Thrace.

    Despite the victory of the Alliance, however, a lot of controversy among the winners regarding the final sharing of territories was generated, leading to the outbreak of the “2nd Balkan War”, this time with the participation of Romania. From this war Bulgaria emerged defeated, losing the majority of land originally acquired.

    The Balkan wars were a “triumphant epic” for Greece, which was the only country that not only managed to triple its lands, but arrived very close to successfully accomplish the “Big Idea” which was the liberation of Greek population that lived for many centuries in Asia Minor.

    It was in these Balkan wars that Aristides Moraitinis would show his talent and courage.

    More specifically, in December 1913, at the beginning of the 1st Balkan War, the Ottoman fleet made the “mistake” to exit from the Straits of the Dardanelles (or Hellespont).

    Naturally, the Greek fleet rushed to prevent the exit of the Ottoman Navy, resulting in the “Battle of Elli” (3-16 December 1912) and the defeat of the Ottomans.

    After the retreat of the Ottoman fleet back into the Dardanelles, the Greek Navy closely monitored all activity.

    On January 24th 1913 (5th February with the new calendar), approximately one month after the triumph of the “Battle of Elli”, Aristides Moraitinis was located at the Greek naval aviation base of Moudros at Lemnos Island.

    Just then he was ordered to undertake a daring and pioneering mission.

    With a Maurice Farman MF.7 seaplane, Moraitinis as the observer and Lt. Michael Moutoussis as the pilot sortied on a reconnaissance mission of the Turkish fleet, which as mentioned was positioned in the Dardanelles where it had retired after the defeat in the “Battle of Elli”.

    Indeed, Moraitinis and Moutoussis took off and after a perilous flight path they located the Turkish fleet which had resorted to the naval base “Nagara” in the Dardanelles.

    The two bold Greek pilots did not remain with their hands crossed.

    After locating the Turkish Navy they carried out an attack throwing against the fleet and the land facilities four bombs, which however did not cause any major damages to the Turks.

    After the end of their mission and while returning, the two Greek pilots experienced mechanical trouble and sea-landed on the Aegean Sea, where later on they got picked up by the destroyer ship “Velos” (which means Arrow in Greek), a legendary warship of the Greek Navy.

    This historical event is considered to be the first air to navy bombardment mission in history and had a wide resonance in the Greek and international press at the time.

    In 1914, Moraitinis along with the aviator Dimitrios Kamberos took the initiative to create the Greek school of “Naval Aviation”.

    The “Ace”

    Military action, however, would not stop here for the legendary Moraitinis. He would embark on more heroic activities during the First World War, and particularly in 1917.

    When Greece entered the war officially, on the side of the Entente (Allies), Moraitinis was placed in the “Northern Aegean” section, flying Sopwith Camel warplanes, under British administration. These British single-seat fighter biplanes were considered the most successful aircraft of World War I and were credited with shooting down 1294 enemy aircraft. In this role, Moraitinis commanded the Greek squadron of the “Naval Air Force”.

    On January 20th 1918, Moraitinis sortied escorting two British bombers on a bombing mission for the destruction of the German battleship “Goeben”, which at the time belonged to the Ottoman Empire under the name “Yavuz Sultan Selim”. Suddenly, the bombing party was attacked by ten enemy fighters. Moraitinis then executed dangerous maneuvers and succeeded in evicting the attacking flock while he shot down three aircraft, something which was later confirmed.

    For this success, the government of Great Britain honored him with the Medal of Distinguished Service Order.

    Until the end of World War I, Moraitinis would have accumulated a total of 9 shot down enemy aircraft (9 kills), making him the only Greek service Ace in the Greek Air Force.

    Inglorious death

    On December 22nd 1918 and while he was flying from Salonika to Athens, Moraitinis’ plane crushed on Mount Olympus due to extreme weather condition in the area. This marked the end of a legend for the Greek Air Force. He was a man who contributed greatly to the war effort for his homeland.

    Video 1
    See a Sopwith Camel biplane with one of which Moraitinis became an “Ace”.

    Source:
    http://www.troktikaras.com/2012/07/aristidis-moraitidis-ellinas-asos-pilotos.html (page 1)
    http://www.troktikaras.com/2008/07/blog-post_8821.html (page 2)
    Last edited by alkis21; 09-19-2012 at 05:29.

  18. #18

    Default Another English Article on the Greek Ace

    Aristedes
    Moraetenes


    Aristedes Moraetenes
    (Αριστείδης Μωραϊτίνης)
    Aristedes Moraetenes occupies a prominent position in the Greek Aviation. He was one of the first who attempted an air attack against a naval target , the first Greek pilot with 9 conformed victories and the first to receive the British DSO (Distinguished Order Cross) – an event not to be often repeated with later generations
    Born in 1891 he has graduated the Naval Academy in 1910 as an Ensign. During the Balkan wars , in 1912 , he is the commander of a torpedo boat ; his eyes however look forward to a new weapon , the plane. In England the first aviators belong to the Navy and the reason is that to them this is a fast moving machine to cover long range reconnaissance beyond the battleship horizon , notify early the home fleet while at the same time is able to throw some light bombs against enemy shipping far away from the typical naval guns range. Additionally most of them were hydroplanes a very important feature for Greece as they needed no special airfield construction to approach the many islands of the country.
    The base of the first two Greek hydroplanes was in Moudros, Lesvos island , opposite to the Dardanelles entry. It was then when Moraetenes volunteered as observer together with the pilot Michael Moutouses to operate for a mapping of the enemy ships stationed deeply into the Dardanelles . Then he is called to Elefsis , the naval base west of Athens where he is trained by the English Commander Pizey as pilot and he then continues training the rest of his group. At this time a severe epidemic fever strikes the area of Attica and many operations have to cease but after some months the first hydroplanes bought from France arrive , they are four Henry Farman F22 and he becomes the squadron's CO with the grade of the Captain
    Near the end of 1916 this squadron moves to Thsasos island and becomes part of the 2nd British RNAS operating against Turkish and Germans cruisers – it is now the WW1. There they will get their first British planes , the Bristol Scout D , some fine reconnaissance planes that gained significant reputation .
    The operations over the Dardanelles are many and the enemy ships do not dare a sortie into the Aegean as their moves are monitored day and night. But the entry of the British and Greek scout planes are no longer unimpeded : many flak batteries are installed on the surrounding hills ; luckily the gunners are not that experienced , though. In June 1917 , Greece becomes officially the Ally of the British and French forces against Turkey . Moraetenes receives officially more planes that are integrated to the Greek Squadron : Sopwith Pups and Camels , the Airco DH4 and Sopwith Baby and Short 184 hydroplanes. There are enough planes to form four squadrons , which are named H1,H2,H3 and H4 .

    Bristol Scout D with Greek insignia (1916)
    This plane proved to be stable and maneuverable ; together with the Avro 504 have shared most of the reconnaissance roles in WW1 on all fronts. Initially considered as possible bombers, have been equipped , however, with an external machine gun only. Occasionally the pilot or observer could through some hand grenades. After WW1 served for a long time as trainer planes
    In January 1918 a serious air attack is developed to bomb the German-Turkish fleet in the Dardanelles consisted mainly of the Geben and Breslau cruisers. This time however flak is better organized and some Turkish planes , manned by German pilots, arrive on the scene. The fight ends with two Greek planes lost but three Turkish downed , all by Moraetenes. Similar fights will continue until the end of the war ; at its end Moraetenes carries the grade of Commander , he has participated in 40 reconnaissance flights , 80 bombing missions , 19 intercepting missions and has been credited with 9 air victories , thus awarded the DSO . The British will make a useful present to him in recognition : a DH9 with the following phrase painted on it : « To the Commander A. Moraetenes, D.S.O. ».

    DH9 : « To the Commander A. Morai*tinis, D.S.O. ».

    DSO ( Distinguished Order Cross )
    His career will end with his early death on the 22nd of December of the same year (1918) ; as many of the experienced pilots he did ignore the importance of severe weather developing fast in front of him. While flying from Thessaloniki to Athens, the wreckage of his plane will be found on the Mount Olympos




    Source:

    http://imansolas.freeservers.com/Aces/Mwraetenes_english.html

  19. #19

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    Now it's perfect Thx to you and your wife for the translation!

  20. #20

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    I don't see the images but a great number of letter, letters and special characters...
    It was a problem with pasting the photos, so I left them out. You can see them in the original links.

    Alkis

  21. #21

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    More splendid info and nice plane profiles. Great contribution, Alkis!

    /Niclas

  22. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by alkis21 View Post
    It was a problem with pasting the photos, so I left them out. You can see them in the original links.

    Alkis
    Don't worry Alkis.

    Info in national languages (perhaps you read some post of mine in this section of the forum about italian pilots and planes) are often really interesting and some pics or drawings are not well-known. So I was sorry I coudn't deepen a topic of interest like WWI Greek aviator. You and your wife did a great job!

  23. #23

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    Added pictures of Kamberos, Moutoussis and Notaras in respective posts above.

  24. #24

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    With all this information you are collecting, I reckon you will be ready to publish a book on it soon Alkis.
    Rob.

  25. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte View Post
    With all this information you are collecting, I reckon you will be ready to publish a book on it soon Alkis. Rob.



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