greece Photos of German occupation troops on the Greek island of Kithira, and a request for more information.

[Charadras]

Good morning, and best wishes for the new year. I am researching the wartime history of the Greek island of Kithira (a.k.a. Cerigo or Kythera), southernmost of the Ionian islands, lying between the mainland and Crete. The island was occupied by German and Italian forces. The Germans  interest was exclusively on Kithira as an observation post for scanning the waters towards Crete and the coast of Africa, so that administration of the island was left largely in the hands of the Italians (intriguingly, in 1944 the Germans installed a 'mysterious' scanning device, by some accounts a kind of sound amplifier, on the southern end of the island; the device was dismantled and taken away when they withdrew in September 1944, though the signs of concrete anchoring points for a large tripedal structure can still be seen).

 

During the German occupation, a young 17-year old photographer, son of the island's deceased studio photographer, was asked by the members of the garrison to take portrait photographs of them. I have recovered some thirty large and medium-format glass negative plates of these images, which apart from formal portraits include some scenes of activities such as an NCOs' Christmas party and amateur dramatics. I am far from expert in German uniforms and insignia, but the men and NCOs photographed appear to me to be members of a Luftwaffe Field Regiment. I would be most grateful if this could be confirmed by readers, and of course any information at all concerning the identity of the unit would be a wonderful bonus.

 

This material will be used in a public exhibition and a paper delivered to the Conference on the History of Greek Photography, to be held in Chania, Crete in early April. My thanks in advance!

[hucks216]

It is almost impossible to say with any certainty what trades those men were in due to the B&W nature of the photos. If the collar tabs are red then they are flak. Have you tried to contact Byron Tesapsides who has authored books on the Germans in Greece, including the detailed Die Deutsche Luftwaffe in Griechenland (ISBN: 9606307409)?

[Charadras]

11 hours ago, hucks216 said:

It is almost impossible to say with any certainty what trades those men were in due to the B&W nature of the photos. If the collar tabs are red then they are flak. Have you tried to contact Byron Tesapsides who has authored books on the Germans in Greece, including the detailed Die Deutsche Luftwaffe in Griechenland (ISBN: 9606307409)?

Many thanks for this lead. I am attempting to contact Mr Tesapsides by way of his facebook account. The lack of colour information in the tabs is indeed frustrating; based on the unit's mission, which was almost exclusively that of visual oversight of the southern Mediterranean, my guess would be that they were a signals unit.

[v.Perlet]

Hello Charadras,

 

(last photo) - The Korporal on the right hand-side wears a sleeve patch which seems to be that worn by Flugmeldepersonal (aircraft spotter)

 

Since none of them wears a flak badge, they were probably an aircraft observation unit. Since primarily these islands were used to report on naval and air movements.

 

On 15 September 1944, Foxforce (built around 9 Commando) arrived at Avlemon, on the eastern end of the island of Kithera, in Greece. By all accounts, they received a very warm welcome form the local residents. Some days earlier, Paul had again been dropped by parachute, along with an SBS patrol, this time onto the island, where they destroyed a radar station. In fact, the raiding force discovered that the island had been evacuated.

 

Regards

v.Perlet

Edited January 19, 2022 by v.Perlet

[Charadras]

58 minutes ago, v.Perlet said:

Hello Charadras,

 

(last photo) - The Korporal on the right hand-side wears a sleeve patch which seems to be that worn by Flugmeldepersonal (aircraft spotter)

 

Since none of them wears a flak badge, they were probably an aircraft observation unit. Since primarily these islands were used to report on naval and air movements.

 

On 15 September 1944, Foxforce (built around 9 Commando) arrived at Avlemon, on the eastern end of the island of Kithera, in Greece. By all accounts, they received a very warm welcome form the local residents. Some days earlier, Paul had again been dropped by parachute, along with an SBS patrol, this time onto the island, where they destroyed a radar station. In fact, the raiding force discovered that the island had been evacuated.

 

Regards

v.Perlet

 

Hello, Perlet.

 

Many thanks for the valuable information regarding the Korporal's sleeve patch. This was really good news, as it confirms the nature of the unit and their mission. Were "aircraft observation units" a separate unit type with it's own identity? And would it have come under regular Luftwaffe command, or would it have been part of a Luftwaffe Field Regiment?

 

Could I also beg for the source of the Foxforce information? We know from local accounts that on the night of 11-12/09/44, eight British parachutists including two officers were dropped south-east of Drymonas village, on the western side of the island. They were indeed welcomed enthusiastically, including a special Te Deum in the local church.Their mission was apparently to investigate the German presence on the island. They were evacuated from Kapsali harbour by a British vessel on the night of the 12th to the 13th, mission accomplished. On the 15th, eight vessels arrived at Avlemonas and disembarked "some 600 regular troops". Presumably that would be the unit mentioned in the text you posted above as "Foxforce", which is also valuable information. But it would be good to know more about both the SBS and the Foxforce operations, as would any reference to published sources!

 

Withe best wishes,

Charadras

--

[v.Perlet]

Hello Charadras,

 

Sorry but I am very poor in regards to Wehrmacht 1933-45 issues, but I am sure there are a lot of knowledgeable folks on this site.

 

As for the sources:

https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/01/02/lrdg-in-the-balkans/#:~:text=On 15 September Foxforce occupied the island of,naval base on the south of the island.

 

https://www.whobegatwhom.co.uk/ind71.html

 

Happy reading and good luck for your research

 

Regards

v.Perlet

[Charadras]

Thank you!

[Bayern]

The Leutnant in the first photo wears surprisingly a NCO mutze . the colour of the collar patchs and piping could be the Golden Brown of the Nachrichten truppen ,the Badge on his left breast is the Deutsches Reichssportabzeichen .

[Charadras]

Byron Tesapsides has very kindly informed me that the unit in question was a Luftwaffe Funkmesstrupp unit, specifically Trupp 135 which was assigned to Kithira and Antikithera. "Funkmesstrupp" translates as "radio measurement unit", which I assume includes radio goniometry, but Tesapsides also includes the information that the unit was equipped with a Freya radar device.

[v.Perlet]

Hello Charadras,

 

i had almost forgotten about your interesting research.

To my little understanding a Funkmesstrupp is only a small (4-8 people) unit whose primary task is to detect radio signals and if necessary to locate and to jam them. They are part of a Flugmelde-Funk Kompanie/Abteilung which in turn is part of a Luftwaffe Nachrichten Regiment.

 

Due to the size of the installation on Kythera the unit was of Kompanie size and termed Flugmelde-Funk Kompanie 19.

The code-name for the installation (Funkmeßstellung) was 135. It seemed to have been comprised of 1 x FuSE 65 Würzburg-Riese and 1 x FuMG 80 Freya A/N.

If your research covers more then just Kythera then the following link might be helpful to you.

(I would say, some people put a lot of work into this research)

 

http://www.atlantikwall.info/radar/greek/rgr.htm

 

Regards

v.Perlet