Victor Flintham

Following the Italian invasion of Greece in October 1940, the RAF reluctantly deployed three squadrons of Bristol Blenheim light bombers and one squadron of Gloster Gladiators, an obsolescent biplane fighter, to assist the Greek defenders. The fear among the Allies was that with Greece in Axis hands, enemy supply lines to North Africa would be significantly shortened, threatening the Allied position there and in the Middle East. By the time Germany joined the invasion in April 1941, both the RAF and FAA had committed more squadrons and been joined by army units, but they were soon overwhelmed, retreating to Crete, from where they were evicted in May 1941 after a massive German paratroop operation. For the next three years the RAF and FAA attacked Axis forces on Crete, mainland Greece and in the Aegean with mixed success. In addition, Allied air arms, including USAAF units, dropped weapons and supplies to the Greek partisan groups. In late 1944, as the Germans were forced to withdraw from Greece, RAF units once again flew into Greek airfields, yet they were soon drawn into the bitter civil war, fighting alongside Greek government forces against Communist insurgents. After the final withdrawal of operational units in 1946, the RAF retained an air delegation in Athens until 1952, when Greece joined NATO. Richly illustrated with detailed maps and rare and previously unpublished photographs, Air War Over Greece 1940–1950: British, Dominions and United States Air Arms examines in unique detail a neglected corner of military aviation history.

From the inception of the RAF in 1918 the new service developed traditions fast. In particular, its squadrons assumed a combination of heraldic devices and colourful markings with which to identify machines and inspire men. With the potential onset if war in 1938, the very public and well-known unit markings were replaced by two-letter codes, designed to confuse the enemy. Through the uneasy period leading to the formal declaration of war, these codes became well-known locally and there was a second set for application with the onset of war. As the war progressed the unit codes expanded to incorporate numerals and the system expanded to the USAFF and the Commonwealth and the Allied units. To preserve secrecy the codes were only ever listed in a series of top-secret documents and the previous set destroyed. The authors have painstaking researched the codes and building on from earlier works have produced the definitive work on the subject.