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DTB · 22 July 2009, 08:27 AM

Bonjour à tous,

Well... When I wrote an article on the greco-turkish war, I used the skills of greek friends speaking perfect french.

For them, "escadrille" (squadron) should be transcripted in "Moira", or "Μοίρα" in greek, and Moires for many escadrilles (Squadrons) :"Μοίρες" in Greek. The "moira" is an old greek word for a military formation. It seems that google translator agrees... But as Angiollilo said, the french and english translation of greek language may differ. Maybe a greek forumite could help ?

There is a tendancy to give to Soltan and Davilla a definitive authority in WW1 aviation. Without deny their work, witch is maybe the only book of this size in WW1 french aviation, it is full of mistakes. In hydroplanes, first : the names and the plans are sometime high fantasy. In escadrilles d'orient, also, to speak of the subjects that I know. And those mistakes, great or small, are easily reproduced by generations of authors who think they have a dictionnary on hand... Well, in many cases, this is true, they have a great reference book. But history evolves with the documents you find. The only thing to be sure of, is to check first hand sources in public archives, instead of copying past historical works.

About the greek aviation, having consulted the greek historical service and the french archives, I think I can say I have made a serious research. The greek archives are not complete nor precise, and some of them are second hand sources. But, joining the puzzle together, it appears that :

- Escadrille 531, the 2nd greek escadrille and their only fighter unit, had SPAD on strength in may 1918 (and still many Nieuport). Only one greek pilot flew operationnaly, S/Lt Alexandros Zannas (and an other, S/Lt Psalidas, who made just on flight before the armistice). An incident occured during the formation of greek fighter pilots in a french school, and they were all sent to Dorand AR. I don't know the reason.
- The other greek escadrille, 532, 533, and 534 had Dorand AR and Breguet 14, plus some fighters for escort. For 532 and 533, I found clues of the use of Nieuport ; for 534 I don't know because this unit arrived too late to see action.
- After the war, those escadrilles are given to greek army. Escadrille 531 is dissolved and his SPAD and Nieuport are given to the others units, escadrilles 532, 533 and 534 renamed Moires A, B and C.
- Escadrille 534 is sent by Venizelos to Odessa to please the french. There is a clue that one SPAD was sent there. And that's all I can say.

Some SPAD were surely sent in escadrille 532 and 533 (Moire A and B), but this is a supposition. Moira A, based in Thrace during the greco-turkish war, had the poorest dotation, being on a quite front, and did not use SPAD during the conquest of turkish Thrace in 1920 (Few Breguet, Dorand and one Nieuport). The others units, Moire B and C, fought the main turkish forces in Anatolia and effectively used SPAD (Moira B sent one in Smyrna in 24 june 1920). In june 1921, Moire D is created and haves 3 SPAD on strength. Without spares and little concern in greek high command on aviation matters, the SPAD used by Christophoros Stavropoulos in 1922 may well have been the last greek SPAD in flying condition.

Best regards to all,

DTB

22 July 2009, 08:27 AM	#6 (permalink)
DTB Two-seater Pilot Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: France Posts: 121	Moira, Mira, and other greek SPAD Bonjour à tous, Well... When I wrote an article on the greco-turkish war, I used the skills of greek friends speaking perfect french. For them, "escadrille" (squadron) should be transcripted in "Moira", or "Μοίρα" in greek, and Moires for many escadrilles (Squadrons) :"Μοίρες" in Greek. The "moira" is an old greek word for a military formation. It seems that google translator agrees... But as Angiollilo said, the french and english translation of greek language may differ. Maybe a greek forumite could help ? There is a tendancy to give to Soltan and Davilla a definitive authority in WW1 aviation. Without deny their work, witch is maybe the only book of this size in WW1 french aviation, it is full of mistakes. In hydroplanes, first : the names and the plans are sometime high fantasy. In escadrilles d'orient, also, to speak of the subjects that I know. And those mistakes, great or small, are easily reproduced by generations of authors who think they have a dictionnary on hand... Well, in many cases, this is true, they have a great reference book. But history evolves with the documents you find. The only thing to be sure of, is to check first hand sources in public archives, instead of copying past historical works. About the greek aviation, having consulted the greek historical service and the french archives, I think I can say I have made a serious research. The greek archives are not complete nor precise, and some of them are second hand sources. But, joining the puzzle together, it appears that : - Escadrille 531, the 2nd greek escadrille and their only fighter unit, had SPAD on strength in may 1918 (and still many Nieuport). Only one greek pilot flew operationnaly, S/Lt Alexandros Zannas (and an other, S/Lt Psalidas, who made just on flight before the armistice). An incident occured during the formation of greek fighter pilots in a french school, and they were all sent to Dorand AR. I don't know the reason. - The other greek escadrille, 532, 533, and 534 had Dorand AR and Breguet 14, plus some fighters for escort. For 532 and 533, I found clues of the use of Nieuport ; for 534 I don't know because this unit arrived too late to see action. - After the war, those escadrilles are given to greek army. Escadrille 531 is dissolved and his SPAD and Nieuport are given to the others units, escadrilles 532, 533 and 534 renamed Moires A, B and C. - Escadrille 534 is sent by Venizelos to Odessa to please the french. There is a clue that one SPAD was sent there. And that's all I can say. Some SPAD were surely sent in escadrille 532 and 533 (Moire A and B), but this is a supposition. Moira A, based in Thrace during the greco-turkish war, had the poorest dotation, being on a quite front, and did not use SPAD during the conquest of turkish Thrace in 1920 (Few Breguet, Dorand and one Nieuport). The others units, Moire B and C, fought the main turkish forces in Anatolia and effectively used SPAD (Moira B sent one in Smyrna in 24 june 1920). In june 1921, Moire D is created and haves 3 SPAD on strength. Without spares and little concern in greek high command on aviation matters, the SPAD used by Christophoros Stavropoulos in 1922 may well have been the last greek SPAD in flying condition. Best regards to all, DTB __________________ Faire face !