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.
According to Dahl, the battle began when the twelve remaining Hurricanes of the Royal Air Force (RAF)'s 80 Squadron, flying in formation over Athens (to boost civilian morale) were attacked by a large group of German Luftwaffe aircraft, mostly MesserschmittBf 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.[1][2][3] Dahl escaped from Greece with the remnants of his squadron.
References
^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. ISBN978-0141346717. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
^Dahl, Roald. The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories.
March 28, 2023
battle, athens, 1941, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, battle, athens, 1941, news, newspapers, books,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Battle of Athens 1941 news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 According to Dahl the battle began when the twelve remaining Hurricanes of the Royal Air Force RAF s 80 Squadron flying in formation over Athens to boost civilian morale 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 1 2 3 Dahl escaped from Greece with the remnants of his squadron References Edit 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 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Battle of Athens 1941 amp oldid 1116791384, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
