National Experiences - British Commission for Military History

138 ai r p o w e r in 20 t H Ce n t u ry do C t r i n e s a n d em p l o y m e n t - nat i o n a l ex p e r i e n C e s
No. 336 Hellenic Fighter Squadron started to operate at Almasa (LG 219) on
February 25, 1943. Due to the intended expansion of the theatre of operations to
include Southern Europe, the Allied Command decided to raise a second Hellenic
Fighter Squadron 24 . Its personnel were mainly drawn from No.335 serving pilots. The
Squadron was soon operational and the first sortie was realized on March 1, 1943.
The Squadron was strengthened with the newly graduated Warrant Officers of the
Air Force Academy, who immediately began training on the Hawker Hurricane Mk
IIc, which was used by the Squadron. On April 3, the Squadron was placed under
No.219 Group, RAF. Moving to Sidi Barrani, No. 336 began to fly convoy patrols
along the coast from Alexandria (Figure 12).
No. 336 was one of No.219 Group’s Squadrons, which took the offensive with a
ground-attack sweep on Crete on July 23, 1943. The aim of the mission was to destroy
vital enemy positions and installations on the island including coastal ones, in
order to facilitate the Allied naval operations and their disembarkation all across the
Aegean. The operation was considered to be of the highest risk due to the distance
between Crete and Egypt and the heavy anti-aircraft protection of the island (almost
a quarter of the participating aircraft were lost) 25 .
No. 336 continued its assigned missions from African bases all through 1943
mostly continuing to fly sweeps. To increase its strength 6 Spitfire Vcs were delivered
to the Squadron on October 12, 1943. During the same month, No. 336 broke
its monthly record of sorties reaching 545 in total.
November included new attacks against enemy positions in Crete 26 . The Squadron
moved from Sidi Barrani to El Adem on January 31 st . In March 1944, No.336 was restationed
at Bu Amud. During this month the conversion from Hurricanes to Spitfires
was completed. In April 1944, the Squadron was again ordered to move to Mersa
Matruh.
During summer it was announced that No. 336 would soon be ordered to move to
European soil. On September 15, 1944, the Squadron moved to Canne, Italy.
Operations in Italy and back home
The RHAF, called from the Middle East in order to aid in the offensive in Italy,
joined the action at pivotal point. By that time, due to the increased needs in the
Western Front, the Allied Air Forces in Italy had been reduced by 70 per cent, thus,
making the presence of the Hellenic Squadrons even more important.
On May 19, 1944, the movement of No.13 Light Bombing Squadron to Italy
was completed. Its new base was at Biferno, operating under No.3 Group, SAAF.
24 Protocol No.3145/25-2-1943/ Air Ministry /Order on the composition of 336 Squadron, Cairo.
25 History of the Hellenic Air Force (1941-1944), Vol. IV, Ibid, pp. 251-253.
26 Ibid, pp. 257-258.