Paul A. Chapas was born in Spokane city, Washington on February 15, 1915. He was the son of Paul Chapas from Thessaloniki, Greece (15/4/1888) and Cora Virginia Bullock. Paul immigrated to the United States and settled in Washington state. Like many Greeks he engaged in the restaurant business and through hard work he managed to have his own, the well-known Richelieu Café in Seattle. When World War II erupted Paul tried to enter the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), however by January 1942 he was only a month away from being too old to qualify. For that reason, he turned for help to the reporters of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper. The reporters launched a campaign to catch the attention of the military decision-makers. According to....

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 Colonel James A. Gianatsis was born on 9 October 1916. Son of a hard-working Greek hat cleaner and shoemaker, my grandfather, named Athanasios Demetrios Gianatsis immigrated with his wife Garifalia, to New York City on 1 November 1907. Athanasios heritage was from Rizospilia village, in Arcadia, Peloponnese, near the famous Dimitsana however my grandmother's place of birth isn't known. The couple married in Greece and came to the United States with the Reine D’ Italia ship, boarding on Piraeus. The couple raised 3 notable children who also went on to become great Americans. My Dad worked his way through college at the University of New York and George Washington University with a degree in Engineering as part of the Greatest Generation he joined the US Army Air Corps in 1941 and trained as a pilot to fight in World War Two. Upon graduation from flight school in Texas, he was commissioned as a First Lieutenant on June 23, 1942, trained with his bomber group at MacDill AFB, Florida, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, and was sent to Great Britain as part of the 386th Bomb Group - The Crusaders. He was promoted to 1st Lt on November 20, 1942. He served as the pilot of a Martin B-26 Marauder bomber with a crew of 5-7 and sent on dangerous precision low-level daylight bombing runs across Europe. However, he began facing the dangers of combat flying even before reaching England when he...

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During WWII, the Greek community of Rhodesia contributed with its youth to the struggle for freedom. Between them the greatest Greek ace, John Plagis, Panicos Theodosiou, and many more young people. Among the young pilots who were trained in Rhodesia in early 1941, was the 20-year-old Sergeant Paul Markides, a native of Queensdale, Bulawayo. His parents were George Paul Markides from Cyprus and Jane Josephine. Markides and Theodosiou already knew each other very well, as the father of the first and the mother of the latter were brother and sister. After his advanced training in Harvards in July 1941, he was ordered for training in multi-engine airplanes, in No.23 SFTS equipped with Oxfords, flying from Heany Air Station, near Bulawayo. This School was founded at that time under the command of Group Captain French. It is the same School, where the Greek volunteers of the Royal Hellenic Air Force (RHAF) were sent in the summer of 1942, known as the Greek School of Twin-Engine Airplanes. Graduating as a multi-engined airplane pilot in August 1941, Sergeant Markides transferred to...

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Basil’s father was Basilius Petrides who had Greek Ancestry (his relatives originated from the Island of Symi) and was educated at Dulwich College in England, the same school that Basil attended. He was a businessman who worked in Nicosia, Cyprus before retiring to run a small holding in East Sussex, England. Basil Petrides initially joined the RAF as a Sgt and served a tour of duty with No.50 Squadron, at RAF Waddington, as a Wireless Operator – Airplane Gunner (WoAG) in Handley Page HP.52 Hampden twin-engine bombers. He flew his first mission, a mine-dropping mission known as “Gardening” in RAF slang, during the night between 18/19 May 1941, joining P/O Abbot's crew manning the AD.852. He flew his second operational sortie 13 days later, on 2/3 June, targeting Dusseldorf. The bomber reached its target and dropped the bombs from 13,000 ft with poor visibility. The flak was heavy and accurate, and shrapnel destroyed the center panel of the pilot’s windscreen. Petrides and the rest of the crew were lucky this time and headed for their base, landing almost 7 hours after their takeoff. Basil flew 17 more missions till the end of August, flying with various bombers and occasionally with different crews. On 27 August 1941 Basil and his crew were scheduled for a bombing mission, flying the Hampden X.2991 but they crashed on take-off, however without anyone injured. It was a close call considering that the bomber was fully armed with bombs. Meanwhile, the No.50 Squadron had already moved to Swinderby on the 19th of July 1941. September was going to be quite intense for Basil.  The month began with a Gardening mission during the night between 6/7 September 1941 and one day later he flew a bombing sortie against Kassel, attached to P/O Smith's crew. Despite excellent weather conditions with no clouds, good visibility, and a bright moon, the primary target ...

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Ο Σπένδος Δημήτριος-Ζαχαρίας γεννήθηκε στην Αθήνα το 1905. Σε σχέση με την ακριβή ημερομηνία γεννήσεως υπάρχει αναντιστοιχία μεταξύ των επισήμων εγγράφων που έχει στην κατοχή της η οικογένειά του. Σύμφωνα με το Φύλλο Μητρώου της Ελληνικής Βασιλικής Αεροπορίας (ΕΒΑ) ως ημερομηνία αναφέρεται η 1η Ιανουαρίου 1905 ενώ σύμφωνα με το φύλλο κρατουμένου στο στρατόπεδο αιχμαλώτων στο οποίο κρατείτο αναφέρεται η 23η Απριλίου 1905, η οποία μάλλον είναι και η πραγματική. Ο πατέρας του, ο Γεώργιος Σπένδος, ήταν αξιωματικός της Χωροφυλακής. Έφτασε στο βαθμό του Αντισυνταγματάρχη και είχε διατελέσει Διοικητής Χωροφυλακής στα Επτάνησα, με έδρα την Κέρκυρα. Πιθανή καταγωγή του πατέρα ήταν από το Θέρμο Αιτωλοακαρνανίας, όπου υπάρχουν ακόμα οικογένειες με αυτό το όνομα, ενώ μητέρα του, η Ζωή Δελμούζου καταγόταν από την Άμφισσα. Ο Ζαχαρίας είχε δύο αδελφές που απεβίωσαν νωρίς: την Αθανασία (1900-1940), την Ευθυμία (1902-1919) και έναν αδελφό, τον Νικόλαο Σπένδο (1897-1972). Ο αδελφός του είχε εισέλθει στην Σχολή Ευελπίδων το 1915, και μετά από δυόμισι έτη εκπαίδευσης εστάλη ως Ανθυπολοχαγός με το εκστρατευτικό σώμα στην Ουκρανία και μετά στη Μικρά Ασία. Όντας έμπειρος στρατιωτικός, ο Νικόλαος Σπένδος συμμετείχε και στον Β’ Π.Π, ως Διοικητής του 14ου Συντάγματος της 5ης Μεραρχίας Κρητών, στη Μάχη της Τρεμπεσίνας. Το πατρικό τους σπίτι βρισκόταν στην οδό Αλίτσης 6 στην Αθήνα. Ο Ζαχαρίας, τελειώνοντας το σχολείο, επέλεξε να φοιτήσει στη νέα τότε σχολή ασυρματιστών της Πανελληνίου Ενώσεως Ραδιοτηλεγραφητών Ραδιοηλεκτρονικών του Εμπορικού Ναυτικού, που έδρευε επί της Φίλωνος 94 στον Πειραιά. Αποφοίτησε στις 21 Οκτωβρίου 1924 με την ειδικότητα του Ραδιοτηλεγραφητή, όπως καλούνταν τότε οι Ασυρματιστές, και στην ηλικία των 19 χρονών, μπάρκαρε στα πλοία. Στις 5 Οκτωβρίου 1925 κατετάγη στο Πολεμικό Ναυτικό και υπηρέτησε μέχρι τις 5 Φεβρουαρίου 1927 με ειδικότητα Διόπου Tηλεφωνητή. Από την απόλυσή του και μετά, μπάρκαρε με διάφορα πλοία μέχρι την 25η Ιανουαρίου του 1932, οπότε και προσελήφθη ως ημερομίσθιος ραδιοτηλεφωνητής στην Μετεωρολογική Υπηρεσία. Έμεινε σε αυτή τη θέση μέχρι την 1η Μαΐου 1935 και μετά από τρίχρονη απουσία επέστρεψε στην ίδια θέση από τις 9 Μαΐου 1938, έως την 27η Ιανουαρίου 1940. Εξαιτίας του πολέμου, κατετάγη στην ΕΒΑ ως Αρχισμηνίας Ραδιοτηλεφωνητής Εδάφους (με Α.Μ.Α.3603), δεδομένης της πολύχρονης εμπειρίας του στον τομέα αυτό, και παρά το γεγονός ότι ήταν ναυτικός και είχε ήδη υπηρετήσει στο Ελληνικό Βασιλικό Πολεμικό Ναυτικό.

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Charilaos Karvelis was born in Egypt in Cairo on April 6, 1923, and his parents, Nestor and Kallirroe came from Lemnos. He studied at the Frères des écoles Chrétiennes in Cairo. During World War II he joined the Royal Hellenic Air Force (RHAF) which operated in the Middle East under the umbrella of the RAF (Royal Air Force). It was initially presented at the RHAF training center in Gaza on August 13, 1942, which was the gathering point for both airmen fleeing Greece and diaspora Greeks who wanted to join the air force. He remained there until February 10, 1943, and after his basic military training, he was selected for pilot training. The initial reception of cadet pilots took place at Hillside Camp, later called Cranborne, in Southern Rhodesia where the Initial Training Wing (ITW) training course usually lasted 6 weeks. The young Greek Egyptian was presented on February 23, 1943, and remained there until July 9, 1943. The next day he was transferred to Mount Hampden for his initial flight training at No. 28 EFTS (Elementary Flight School) with DH.82 Tiger Moth where it would be decided if he was fit to become a pilot. His first flight took place on July 12, 1943, with instructor F/O Michopoulos (RHAF) on DH.82A 8108.  At this school, the Greek cadets had instructors from both the RHAF and RAF, but Michopoulos had taken over Karvelis' guidance. After thirteen hours and thirty minutes and 22 sorties, Charilaos flew his first solo on August 4 with DH.82A 8108, preceded two days earlier by the pre-solo evaluation by Squadron Leader Flett, with DH.82A 7670. After 84 hours and 20 minutes of flying to his credit, ...

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Richard Stockton Jannopoulo was born to John Constantine Jannopoulo (19/1/1869-14/5/1932) and Berenice Stockton (1872-1948), on October 22, 1896. His father, a Greek, potentially born in Smyrna or Greece (it is also mentioned that the Jannopoulo family was exiled from Russia) and emigrated to St. Louis, under unknown circumstances, was the manager and eventually owner of the Delmar Garden Amusement Park, Imperial Theater, and Suburban Gardens Amusement Park, with guidance, perhaps, from his influential relative, Demetrius Jannopoulo, the Greek Consul in St. Louis. As president of Delmar Garden, J.C. Jannopoulo initiated significant enhancements, acquiring 35 acres in 1909. Operating the park until its closure around 1919, he later filed a plan in 1920 for the subdivision, leading to the rapid development of Delmar Garden with over 85 buildings by 1924. His mother's heritage was also a great one. Her linage goes back to Sir John Stockton who was the Lord Mayor of London in 1740 and through him to Richard Stockton who was knighted on the field by King Edward IV in 1470 and was afterward elected to the high honor of Master of the Mercer’s Company, the oldest and most exclusive association of the kind in London. The American family branch settled in New Jersey and members of it were prominent in the history of the Revolution. But from her maternal side, two of her ancestors were colonial governors of Virginia. At the tender age of three, Richard Jannopoulo garnered public attention by clinching the title of the "Prettiest Boy Baby" at Saratoga in 1899, a notable feat during the family's summer vacation. Intriguingly, it was Richard's nurse, Aunt Nellie, who accompanied him to the competition, a departure from the conventional parental attendance. The event and its outcome remained a noteworthy feature in newspapers for an extended period. Between 1910 and...

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Countless fighter pilots from every Commonwealth and Dominion nation fought with the RAF during the war. Panico Theodosiou was born on 21 November 1919 in Limassol, Cyprus, into a deeply religious Greek Cypriot family. After Cyprus was officially declared a Crown Colony in the mid-1920s and the islanders became British subjects, the Theodosiou family emigrated to Southern Rhodesia. A week before Britain declared war on Germany, units of the Southern Rhodesian Air Unit were the first to answer the call to arms. Panico volunteered for service and received a commission as a signal officer, reporting to headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Later renamed the Southern Rhodesian Air Force, 1 Squadron at Nairobi was re-designated 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron in April 1940 when all SRAF personnel were absorbed into the RAF. Panic° successfully applied to fly and on 26 November 1940, Plt Off Theodosiou began flying training on DH Tiger Moths from the 25 Elementary Flying Training School at Belvedere, on the outskirts of Salisbury. He made his first solo flight after about ten hours of instruction. After completing EFTS, he took another leap - into marriage with his long-time girlfriend Denise. On 20 January 1941, he transferred to the 20 Service Flying Training School at Cranbourne, also near Salisbury, where he flew North American Harvards. There he received his wings on...

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Born to Greek immigrants from Sparta, Lou was the second of four children. Lou was raised in Dayton, Ohio during the Great Depression. Much of his boyhood was spent getting into mischief and having fun with his older brother, Straty, and his many cousins who affectionately called him "Big Louie." Big Louie's strong arm and athleticism made him the obvious choice for quarterback and pitcher in both sandlot and organized games, and his humor, optimism, and relaxed and engaging ways made him a natural leader. When he was not playing sports, he was participating in Boy Scouts or making airplanes from balsa wood. In the 1930's, Dayton was a national aviation center and Lou daydreamed about flying the planes that roared over his neighborhood. In 1943, at 17, Lou volunteered for the Army Air Force. Lou survived 31 missions over Nazi Germany as a tail gunner in a B-17 Flying Fortress and recorded one "kill." During 2009 George Chalkiadopoulos, founding member of the Greeks in Foreign Cockpits team, exchanged emails with Louis Stamatakos who wrote about his story in a few words.

"I was raised in Dayton, Ohio during the Great Depression years by parents who both had immigrated from Krokea, south of Sparta. I had two brothers and a sister. During the war, all males aged 18 and over were eligible to be drafted into the military service. I was crazy about flying and, not surprisingly, enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a cadet (I wanted to be a pilot.  I entered the Air Corps as soon as I turned 18 and had basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi. Having all too many young men in the cadet program, the military sent me to Gunnery School in Las Vegas, Nevada where I learned gunnery with 50 caliber machine guns and aircraft turrets (found on bombers).  Later I was ...

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