The 22nd Hellenic Virtual Fighter Squadron was created on 28 January 2007 from the ashes of the 13th Hellenic Virtual Combat Squadron. It is a virtual combat squadron specializing in the World War II era fighter aircraft contained in the IL-2 Sturmovik Series of flight sim gaming. Our members fly with pride in their Hellenic roots and with great respect for those brave airmen that died in the air war so that we might be free. It is our mission to fly Allied aircraft in the online flight community, including virtual online wars. We aim to fight honorably and with respect for our counterparts. Let the hunt begin!

History of the 22nd Hellenic Fighter Squadron

The 22nd Fighter Squadron was one of three squadrons which served Greece's Royal Hellenic Air Force between 1939-1941 flying Polish PZL.P24 aircraft stationed in Thessaloniki. Commanding Officer was Captain Andreas Antoniou. This squadron and its two sister squadrons (the 21st and 23rd) distinguished themselves highly as they fought against superior numbers and machinery. It remains a lasting tribute to the pilots and mechanics of this squadron that they maintained a high level of serviceability despite a lack of replacement parts after the fall of Poland in 1939. The first pilot distinguished in the actual 22nd was F/Lt Marinos Mitraxeles. Historical accounts about the 22nd and its sister squads are available:

Mitralexes was decorated with the Golden Order for Valour and later on with the Flying Cross, War Cross, Golden Cross of St. George's Order with Swords and the Phoenix Order with Swords. Greek Squadrons had flown a total of 1531 hours, mainly: 21 Sq 513h, 23 Sq 455h, 22 Sq 455h, 24 Sq only 158h due to problems with its Bloch MB 151. All those resulted in the confirmed destruction of 64 victories with another 24 probable. Greek losses were 19 aircraft.

A good example of just how skilled the Greeks had become at adaptive maintenance and creative/reverse engineering is an incident witnessed by British airmen at the airbase at Yanina where 21 Mira shared a base with 80 and 112 Sqn. RAF as part of "Advanced Operations Wing West" during February 1941. It seems that the pilot of a PZL returning from a mission at dusk spotted another PZL too late in the dark and collided with it in the middle of the airfield. The British airmen watched their as their Greek colleagues gather around the wrecks, scratched their heads and rubbed their chins as they critically inspected the the wrecks and then began a heated discussion in Greek. After concluding their discussion they dragged the wrecks into a hangar where they spent the night. The next morning the Brits were met on the tarmac by a grinning group of Greek mechanics and pilots standing around a PZL P.24. They had spent the entire night at work and married the usable components of the two P.24 wrecks to produce a new aircraft!!!

With the failure of the Italian air and ground forces to take the Balkans, Adolf Hitler proceeded to drive into Greece and, as a consequence, all but one of the original PZL aircraft were destroyed in that offensive.

References

• The Greek PZLs

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