STORMO! Forums

Hi to all,

this is my first post here, and I would like to say hello to all. I thougt that this was the right place to open this topic once the one dedicated to Greece is for the 1940-41 period. So Here we go, I would like to find out more information about the units that were stationed in Prevesa (or Preveza) in the west of Greece. There are very few pieces of information about the hydroplanes and land planes stationed there during the war. while the only pictures I know of, are those or Roy Nesbit's book 'The Armed Rovers', that depict Beaufighters firing upon some Z.501 at the hydroplane base, whose exact location is unknown to me.
The land planes were stationed at the nearby Aktion AFB, that currently has NATO AWACS and nearby at Pantokratoras hill was one of the Italian acoustic devices and later a Freya German radar.
What I am asking is if there are any more information and photographs concerning the units and infrastructure of the area and if anyone knows the exact whereabouts of the hidroplane base.

Cheers
Panagiotis

The following information was taken from Chris Dunnings "Courage Alone" book, which is OOP.

82 Gruppo RM; Squadriglie 139, 184; Stormo Auto

Arrival: Aug 42
Zone: AGRE (Aeronautica della Grecia)
Base: Prevesa
Country: Greece
Aircraft: 11 Z.501's, 7 Z.506B's, reduced to 3 501's and 5 506B's by Sept 43.
Duties: CE (convoy escort), AR (armed reconnaissance).

Rest of the information does not reveal much more, although it does mention a Beaufighter crew taken prisoner who then took command of a 506B enroute to a POW camp in Italy!

Yeah Chris thank you for your reply. Fortunately I have Courage Alone but as you said already it does not have any more info about Prevesa. In the Greek book 'Fenaki kai Svastika' -i.e Hoax and Swastika- published in 1996 by Costas Ioannou in p.301-302 has a mention on a raid in March 1944 by patizans. It says in capture of a German ship in the harbour ...The crew of 45 men consisted of Germans, Rumanians, Italians, Ethiopeans and 2 Greek. It contained (i.e the ship) 5 dismantled seaplanes in wooden crates (from the Italian warehouses of the airfield)...

Hello,
Here is a web site called REGIA AERONAUTICA EGEO.
There are many pictures and the history of the RA bases in Greece, during WW2.

http://www.dodecaneso.org/regiainegeo.htm

Even though it is in Italian, its quite easy to navigate through.
Go through the photo albums and you will find pictures of crews, planes, hangars, bases, etc. The site also lists Order of Battle, Stucture of the Wings, Groups, Squadrons and more.
Hope this helps,
Vincent.