The visitor to the plain of Paramythia, where the area is called "airport", will hardly realize that about seven decades ago, the quiet of the small valley was awakened by the hum of engines and that some of the most brilliant pages of the Aviation History of the Second World War in Greece. There was the "secret", temporary, air base, in Epirus. It was an airport, a stone's throw from the Albanian Front, 6 kilometers south of Paramythia. Today it does not exist.
It was a well-hidden airbase, between two mountains and a dirt runway next to a tributary of the Acheron. Because of its position, it maintained its secrecy for a long time, enabling both the Hellenic Royal Air Force and the RAF to operate with fighters and bombers supporting the effort of the Greek army on the Albanian front.
The stories surrounding the "airport" of Paramythia, 14 years ago, piqued the interest of a Physics student at the University of Ioannina, Efthymios Serbis, who started the research and the search for primary material. Efthimios Serbis, had time to talk to living protagonists, went back to the historical archives of Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom and prepared his own book, entitled "Memories in the Valley of Fairy Tales".
Mr. Serbis air traffic controller today, spoke to APE-MBE about his research and quoted important historical facts. "As research highlights, I single out my telephone conversations with James Dunnet, one of the last remaining pilots of 211 Squadron RAF, who is sadly no longer with us.
His recounting of the events, his clear memory and his enthusiasm for meeting us were undoubtedly one of the most touching moments of this trip", he notes and unfolds the unknown to the general public history of the airport, which "although it was a rough, advanced air base, saw particularly intense activity, especially during the second half of the Greco-Italian War".
The history of the airport
The plain of Paramythia was formed into an airplane landing field at the end of 1939 as part of the country's defense preparedness. With the outbreak of war on October 28, 1940, the airport had not been put into operation, as operations were handled by the two airports of Ioannina, the northern one where it is still today and the Katsika airport.
Operational reasons, however, necessitated the use of the Paramythia airport, which began at the beginning of February 1941, with operations of fighter planes of the Hellenic Royal Air Force. A few days later and as the missions were successfully launched from there, the leadership of the British Royal Air Force of the RAF, which was an important helper in the operations of the Greeks, was convinced to start bombing missions of Italian positions in Albania from Paramythia.
The activity over the next 2 months, where the airfield maintained its secrecy, the bombing and support missions of the Greek troops were effective. The activity continued with similar operations, until about the beginning of April 1941, when the hourglass counted backwards for Greece. The curtain fell on the tragic 13 April 1941, when the RAF's 211th Bombardment Squadron, which had been inextricably linked to the airfield, was decimated over Prespes, losing 16 airmen and 6 planes in one mission.
Today, the area consists of arable land, olive groves and pastures, which do not remind anything of the glorious past of the place. We asked Mr. Serbis why the title of the historical work is "Memories in the Valley of Fairy Tales" and he referred us to the war diaries of the protagonists.
"The English, who ventured all the way from there, named the area the 'Valley of Fairey Tales' apparently asking what the word 'Fairy Tale' meant. Of course, the rendering of the name as "fairy tale" does not correspond to reality, but for them to put it this way and to mention the area themselves in their diaries by this name, I considered it a literary title that fits the historical context of the book and is complemented, by the subtitle, "the history of Paramythia airport during World War II".
SOURCE:APE-ME