Battle of Athens (1941)

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v t e Greek campaign
Greek mainland Metaxas Line Pisoderi Pass Vevi Ptolemaida Kleisoura Pass Siatista Pass Lake Kastoria Servia Olympus Tempe Gorge Athens Thermopylae Corinth Canal Crete Maleme Rethymno Heraklion 42nd Street

The Battle of Athens (also known as the Battle of Piraeus Harbour) on 20 April 1941 is the name given by author Roald Dahl to a dog-fighting air battle over Athens fought for half an hour between the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe towards the end of the Battle of Greece.

Roald Dahl flew a Hawker Hurricane in the battle, which he describes in his second autobiography Going Solo and in the short story 'Katina'.

Led by Squadron Leader Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle, the twelve remaining Hurricanes of the Royal Air Force (RAF)'s 80 Squadron were flying in formation over Athens in order to boost civilian morale.^[1] According to Dahl, the battle began when they were attacked by a large group of German Luftwaffe aircraft, mostly Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Bf 110s along with some Junkers Ju 87s and Junkers Ju 88s. According to the citizens of Athens the Germans had 200 planes; according to Dahl, they had 152 bombers and fighters.

In the resulting battle four RAF pilots were shot down and killed, including the famous Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle and the Irish RAF pilot William "Timber" Woods, and one pilot lost his Hawker Hurricane but was able to escape. Dahl states that Greek observers counted 22 German aircraft shot down, although another source states that the Germans lost eight aircraft.^[2]^[3]^[4] Dahl escaped from Greece with the remnants of his squadron.

References

^ "The Battle of Athens 80 Years On". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
^ O'Connor, Derek (2 April 2018). "Roald Dahl's Wartime Adventures". World History Groupwww. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
^ Dahl, Roald (1986). Going Solo. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 978-0141346717. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
^ Dahl, Roald. The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories.

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