Greek Sacred Sqn wings

[sapper533]

This just appeared on a Greek forum, I thought the wings looked unusual, thought of all you guys that specialise in these things.
Cheers
Sean

[Mike B]

Very nice looking display - any further details appreciated. Is this group attributed to a veteran or a named display?
Thanks for posting
Mike

[sapper533]

Only a name I'm afraid. Lt Col D.G. Gkikiza
Sean

[Mike B]

Sean
Thanks - not a name I am familiar with but worthy of further research. I believe Col Tsigantes commanded GSS in WW2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Band_(World_War_II)

lovely grouping and very nice wings
Mike

[sapper533]

Te reference says Lt Col but that no doubt would have been his rank at the conclusion of his career.

[Mike B]

Sean - yes I would agree with you
Also apologise from me as my Wiki link above does not appear to be working.
Mike

[Mike B]

Just seeing if this works: This is content of the Wiki Link ...

The Sacred Band or Sacred Squadron (Greek: Ιερός Λόχος) was a Greek special forces unit formed in 1942 in the Middle East, composed entirely of Greek officers and officer cadets under the command of Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes. It fought alongside the SAS in the Western Desert and the Aegean, as well as with General Leclerc's Free French Forces in Tunisia. It was disbanded in August 1945 but is the precursor of the modern Greek Special Forces.

Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Establishment
1.2 SAS Squadron
1.3 First actions in Tunisia
1.4 Commando actions in the Aegean
1.5 The Dekemvriana, end of war and disbandment of the unit
1.6 British connections
History[edit]
Establishment[edit]
Further information: Military history of Greece during World War II
Immediately after the German occupation of Greece in April–May 1941, the Greek government fled to Egypt and started to form military units in exile. The plethora of officers in relation to the number of ordinary soldiers, led Air Force Lt. Colonel G. Alexandris to suggest the creation of an Army unit, formed by officers, with soldier's duties. This suggestion was approved by the Commander of the II Greek Brigade, Infantry Colonel Alkiviadis Bourdaras. Some volunteers that fled firstly to Turkey were told that they would not be accepted if identified as soldiers. Therefore, according to reports they claimed to be Greek officers and later joined the original group of officers. Firemen were also reported in that group. Thus, in August 1942 the Company of Chosen Immortals (Greek: Λόχος Επιλέκτων Αθανάτων) was formed under Cavalry Major Antonios Stefanakis in Palestine, with 200 men. Initially, the unit was organized as a Machine Gun Company and intended to be attached to the II Greek Brigade, then under formation.

However, on September 15, 1942, the unit's new commander, Colonel Tsigantes, renamed the unit to "Sacred Band" after the Sacred Band of Thebes and the Sacred Band of the Greek Revolution, and successfully applied for its conversion into a special forces unit.

SAS Squadron[edit]
In close cooperation with the commander of the British SAS Regiment, Lt. Colonel David Stirling, and with the approval of the Greek HQ, the company moved to the SAS base at Qabrit in Egypt to begin its training in its new role. However, following the Second Battle of El Alamein, the speed of the Allied advance across Libya brought an end to the era of jeep-borne raiding.

Nevertheless, this period provided a useful introduction to the SAS Regiment in general, and Major Jellicoe's squadron in particular. This squadron was being built upon the amphibious skills of the famous Commando unit, the Special Boat Section (SBS) and would become the Special Boat Squadron (SBS). With the end of the war in Africa, in May, the SAS split into two branches. The Special Raiding Squadron would serve in the central Mediterranean, before returning home to develop an airborne role, whilst the SBS would serve in the Aegean, operating alongside the Greek Sacred Squadron for the rest of the War. Both were later expanded to Regimental status.

Meanwhile, the Greeks were keen to put their new jeep-borne role into practice.

First actions in Tunisia[edit]
On 7 February 1943, following Colonel Tsigantes' suggestion, the Commander of the British 8th Army, General Bernard Montgomery, put the Greek company under the command of General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque of the Free French 2nd Armoured Division, with the duties of Light Mechanized Cavalry. On March 10, 1943, in the area of Ksar-Rillan in Tunisia, the Sacred Band gave its first battle against a German mechanized detachment, while covering the advance of the X British Army Corps that tried to by-pass the Mareth defence line from the South.

Immediately after the Allied forces captured the Tunisian city of Gabès, the Sacred Company was detailed to the 2nd New Zealand Division (March 29) and on April 6, a mixed Greek-New Zealand detachment fought against the Germans at Wadi Akarit. On 12 April the Sacred Band entered Sousse, and participated in the battle for Enfidaville between April 13 and 17.

Commando actions in the Aegean[edit]
Further information: Dodecanese Campaign
From May 1943, the Sacred Band, now composed of 314 men, moved to Palestine, in various camps. In July, it went to Jenin for parachute training. There it also underwent a reorganization into an HQ Section, a Base Section, and Commando Sections I, II and III. After the Italian armistice on 9 September 1943, British forces moved into the Italian-occupied, but Greek-inhabited Dodecanese islands. Section I of the Sacred Band was dropped by air to the Greek island of Samos on 30 October, while sections II and III moved there on fishing boats. With the failure of the campaign after the battle of Leros, however, Samos was evacuated, and the men of the Sacred Band withdrew to the Middle East.

In February 1944, it was put under the command of the British Raiding Forces. On February 7, Section I moved for combat operations to the islands of the northern Aegean sea (Samos, Psara, Lesvos, Chios), while Section II moved to the Dodecanese with the same purpose.

In April 1944, the Sacred Band was expanded to regimental size, with a strength of around 1,000 men. This reflected the unit's effectiveness, and, from a British standpoint, political reliability in the face of mounting political tensions among the Greek forces in exile. Along with the British SBS, the Sacred Band took part in the successful Raid on Symi in July 1944 in which the entire German garrison was either killed or captured.

The Dekemvriana, end of war and disbandment of the unit[edit]
After the Greek mainland was liberated (October 1944), the Sacred Band returned to Greece, where strains were becoming evident in the relationship of George Papandreou's British-backed national unity government and the leftist National Liberation Front (EAM), which controlled most of the Greek countryside. The crucial issue was the disarmament of the guerrilla forces and the formation of a new national army out of members of both the exiled armed forces and the guerrillas of ELAS and EDES. However, the Papandreou government wished to retain the Sacred Band and the 3rd Greek Rimini Mountain Brigade intact: faced with the far larger guerilla army of uncertain political intent, Papandreou and the British wished to keep these units and make them the core of the new army. Disbanding them would mean that their members would become individual recruits in a possibly EAM-dominated people's army. This tension eventually spilled over into the Dekemvriana events in Athens, where the Sacred Band fought against ELAS forces.

Throughout October 1944, and then again from February 1945, after the fighting in Athens had ended, the Sacred Band continued operating against the remaining German garrisons in the islands of the Aegean Sea until the war's end in May 1945. In June, the unit returned to Egypt prior to its disbandment, which took place in a ceremony in Athens, on 7 August 1945. During the ceremony the unit's flag was awarded with Greece's highest military awards, the Commander's Cross of the Cross of Valour and the War Cross First Class. The unit's casualties throughout its existence amounted to 25 dead, 56 wounded, 3 missing and 29 taken prisoner.

In the Greek Army, some of the Sacred Band's traditions are carried on by the Mountain Raiding Companies (LOK), founded in 1946.

British connections[edit]
As a unit operating under British direction, the Sacred Squadron and Regiment had British officers attached. Some were figures well known in military or other circles.

Walter Milner-Barry (officer of the Transjordan Frontier Force and SBS).
Ian Lapraik (famous SBS and later 21 SAS officer).
Wilfred Thesiger (officer of the Sudan Defence Force and, briefly the SAS, but best known as a desert explorer and author).


Understandably, there is considerable variation in the translation of the unit's name into other European languages. It is perhaps most commonly referred to by British historians as the Sacred Brigade, even though it never reached anywhere near brigade strength, and occasionally as the Sacred Company, Sacred Squadron or Sacred Battalion. French military historians tend to refer to it as "Le Regiment Sacré". In contemporary Greek military parlance, a "lochos" is a company, but the unit's full strength was much closer to that of a regular infantry regiment.

The Sacred Squadron The struggles of an elite military unit from the deserts of Africa to the islands of the Aegean during WW2
The Greek Sacred Squadron
The complete operational history of the Sacred Band

[Mike B]

Some further interesting discussion on GSS Wings here:

http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/unifor...uniform-24434/

Mike

[sapper533]

Thanks in fact I had seen this thread before. The jacket has two points that I would mention, first the formation sign is that of the Greek 10th Infantry Division and secondly the arm of service strip looks black which makes the officer an Artillery officer. Nothing wrong with any of this it just dates it to the Civil War period. I wondered and I don't know the answer is would this officer still be wearing British wings and would they be on the shoulder or would they have been above the breast pocket?
Cheers
Sean

[Mike B]

Sean
We could do with some advice from an Airborne expert regarding the wings attached to the battledress in the above link. To me they almost resemble Force 133 wings rather than more standard British pattern ... even so there are very obvious differences re split feathers, number of feathers, and basic shape. It is a huge area in itself and comment from a specialist would be helpful. I always thought migration of the wing to above the breast pocket followed active participation in a raid. I do not recall a definitive source on this though.
Returning to your original posting though - the enamel wings are very interesting
Mike

[pontecagnano]

Hi Mike and Sean,

These wings may not be specifically GSS but could be something equally interesting; WWII SAS metal wings manufactured in Egypt. I have attached an image of what appears to be an almost identical set of wings albeit in much poorer condition together with an enhanced version of the wings posted by Sean. I haven't posted an image of the reverse to deter forgers.

Roy Turner kindly provided the following information in 2013:

"In 1989 I was in Cairo on holiday, and with an American friend and collector went searching for insignias. Numerous small stores were found, including a very small one on the outskirts of the city. Showing the owner pictures/sketches of various badges he recognised this badge from an order made during the war by his father. For 'Mr Stirling' he said. The first part of the order (quantity unknown) was collected, the second part then unmade, was not, and was still packaged 'somewhere'. He would look for it. However numerous re-visits to his shop never found it open.

As I recall reading somewhere in the distant past, the wings were not of high quality, minor knocks and the enamelling tended to crack and fall out. A possible reason for non-collection of the order remaining?”

This may help to shed some light on the origins of these wings.

Regards,

Graham

[sapper533]

Yes almost identical, I'll see what else I can find out from the owner of the post on the Greek forum

[Mike B]

Graham
Great information thank you
Mike

[castagain]

A fascinating thread, I've learned quite a lot from it, and the metal SAS wing is a work of art. Here's another photo to add to the discussion.

Regards,
Donovan

[Mike B]

Donovan - great image - thanks for sharing. Interesting to see one worn on arm, the other on breast.
Mike