Major Xenophon Varvaressos, first Commanding Officer of newly-established No. 335 (Hellenic) Squadron RAF, standing in front of a Hawker Hurricane Mark I of the Squadron, embellished with the colors of the Royal Hellenic Air Force, at Aqir, Palestine, end 1941. Victor Sierra

Hellenic Squadron’s Commander

Greek soldiers preparing shells for the artillery

Preparing the artillery

A group of pilots of No. 335 (Hellenic) Squadron RAF pose in front of one of their recently-received Hawker Hurricane Mark IICs at Dhekeila, Egypt. The squadron was formed as the 335th Royal Hellenic Pursuit Squadron (335 Βασιλική Ελληνική Μοίρα Διώξεως), designated within the British Royal Air Force as No 335 (Greek) Squadron, on 10 October 1941 at Aqir airfield in Palestine. Its first commander was Squadron Leader Xenophon Varvaressos and the personnel was provided from a core of Greek pilots who were undergoing training in Iraq, augmented by others who had fled from Greece. Initially it was equipped with Hurricane Mk I aircraft, and employed while training in defensive duties until January 1942. Subsequently the squadron was transferred to El Daba in Egypt, where it was declared as fully operational on 12 February 1942. Later was transferred to the Western Desert and flew fighter patrols over the desert from until June 1942, when it was pulled back to Egypt. It returned to the front in September 1942, and flew a mix of ground attack and escort missions until the Battle of El Alamein. In the autumn of 1944 the No 335 Squadron was converted to the Spitfire and moved to Italy for fly offensive sweeps over Albania and Yugoslavia. In November 1944 the squadron moved onto home soil, and was based at Hassani from then until September 1945. In this time flew fighter sweeps over Crete and the remaining German bases in the Aegean. In September 1945 the No 335 Squadron moved to Salonika where it remained until being disbanded on 31 July 1946. Victor Sierra