"Today
we say that Greeks fight like heroes, from now on we will say that heroes
fight like Greeks." …This
is what Winston Churchill once said about the Greeks, since they were the
first to defeat the Axis powers in Europe.
Hello
from Greece again!!! This time it’s about my 1/24 Airfix Hurricane in
Greek / RAF service during WW II.
Many
thanks to my dear friend Alexis Kontiveis for the magnificent artwork!!!
Click on
images below to see larger images
History
of the Hellenic Air Force in RAF during WW II
335
Squadron
The
Hurricane was the first aircraft type to be used by the oldest and most
long-lived Hellenic Squadron, the famous 335 Sqn, which was under the RAF
command after the surrender of Greece in April 1941. The
335 Squadron with callsign "Tiger", is the oldest
squadron of the Hellenic Air Force, as it was established when Greece was
under German occupation, in October 1941 at the Palestinian airport of
Akir, i.e. a few months after Greece’s total occupation by the Germans.
The first squadron pilots were officers of the Hellenic Royal Air Force,
who had been sent to Iraq since 1940 to be trained by British officers, as
well as many pilots who abandoned Greece after the occupation, for
carrying on the liberation fight.The squadron was initially equipped with
the fighter aircraft Hurricane-IIB and thereafter with the Hurricane-IIC
and was subordinated to the RAF 339 Combat Wing. With these aircraft, it
operates until December 1943, when the modern Spitfire VB and VC replaced
them.The RAF allowed
the Greek Squadrons to paint greek roundels on the fuselage and in some
cases under the wings. This honorary treatment by the RAF was the result
of an agreement between the exile Greek government and the British High
Command, because of the way the Greeks had fought against the Germans. In
September 1944, the Squadron redeployed to Italy and thereafter to Greece
in the end of October, at the Hassani airport, today’s Hellenikon
airport. There, the 335 Sqn along with 336 Sqn and 13 Light bomber Sqn,
which were established in the Middle East, were handed over by the British
to the Hellenic Government. During WW II the squadron lost 18 pilots and
had conducted 5555 sorties in 8500 combat flight hours, and additional
12000 flight hours for training purposes.
336
Squadron
The
336 Squadron with callsign "Olympos", was established for
the 1st time, on February 25, 1943 at the "Landing Ground 219"
airport near Cairo, Egypt. Its first name was 336 "Hellenic Royal
Fighter Bomber Squadron". The 336 Sqn was subordinated to the RAF 219
Combat Wing, and it was the second FB Squadron of the Hellenic Royal Air
Force. The squadron was initially equipped with 21 Hurricane-IIC aircraft,
and had a total of 309 men, with 26 pilots. The
336 Squadron during WW II accomplished 3250 missions (day/night),
conducting 12427 flight hours, 5116 of which in combat missions and the
rest in training. The losses were 12 pilots killed and 3 captives.
As
you can also see in the photos, neither all Greek Hurricanes’ roundels
were always painted blue, nor all of them were fitted with the Vokes
tropical filter. I modelled my Hurricane without one, since it depicts the
“FG*Σ” just prior to this modification. You can check my
anniversary F-104Gs “Tiger” and “Olympus” at ARC as well,
commemorating the disbanding of those two famous squadrons using F-104 Gs
and – then – receiving A-7 Es.
My
Hurricane
I
always wanted to build a Hurricane in a desert camouflage scheme in a really big
scale. That’s why I chose the Airfix kit! In my opinion it is their best kit
ever with good overall fit and amazing detail in the cockpit and the engine
area, which is heavily modified in order to represent the real one in the best
possible way. The cockpit was modified as well, mainly by the addition of new
levers and cables. The instrument panel was scratch-built and the instrument
faces were scanned and printed for more realism. Finally, the seat belts were
made of Tamiya masking tape and the buckles of copper wire.
The
engine compartment was detailed according to photos of the real aircraft. I used
copper and solder wire, epoxy putty and plastic card. The wheel wells were also
enhanced by the addition of tubing and cabling, as well as the gun compartment.
As
far as the painting of the model is concerned, it was painted with Humbrol
enamel colours in the RAF desert camouflage scheme. The Greek aircraft were
marked in a combined code, consisting of English and Greek letters. “FG”
stands for “Fighting Greeks”, while “Σ” stands
for the individual aircraft code. In addition, the spinner was painted in a
blue-white-blue pattern, a very common feature of the Greek hurricanes. The
centre of the fuselage roundels was painted blue, while the ones on the upper
and lower parts of the wings were left in RAF colours. The red part of the flag
on the fin was also painted blue. As you can see in the WW II photos some planes
had the “shark-mouth” painted on their nose, while some others have regular
greek roundels painted on the fuselage and not repainted RAF ones.
I
hope you enjoy my Hurricane. After all, it took me about 6 months to build!
More
Greek themes coming soon!!!
Thanos
Click on
images below to see larger images
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