Uniforms, insignia, awards
Engineers Lieutenant impression
3rd Greek Mountain Brigade impression
Sacred Band impression
Volunteer NCO and low-ranking Officers' service cap
Pattern 1937 gas mask - M34/39 helmet display
King George II Aide-de-Camp shoulder tab royal cyphers
Gendarmerie cap badge
Theatre-made parachute qualification wings
Sometimes referred to as "Indian Pattern" or "SOE", this type of wings was possibly worn in North Africa, Italy and the Balkans. According to evidence based on both period photographs and surviving examples sewn on uniforms, these locally made examples were worn by British and other Allied countries' members of the Special Forces and the SOE (e.g. Force 133).
Wartime wear by Greek SOE members can be seen on photos of Themis Marinos and Sonia-Sofia Stefanidou, with the badge of the latter being on display in the Athens War Museum. Their use also seems to have continued during the postwar years, a fact that raises the question of whether there is the possibility of some of those having been made during the first postwar decade.
More information on the wings here.
Wartime wear by Greek SOE members can be seen on photos of Themis Marinos and Sonia-Sofia Stefanidou, with the badge of the latter being on display in the Athens War Museum. Their use also seems to have continued during the postwar years, a fact that raises the question of whether there is the possibility of some of those having been made during the first postwar decade.
More information on the wings here.
Greek People's Liberational Army (ELAS) cap badge
Greek People's Liberational Navy (ELAN) badge
Unified Panhellenic Youth Organization (EPON) pin
National Democratic Greek Youth Union armband, Occupation/Liberation era
Greek Volunteer Nurse Corps of Egypt badge
Royal Order of George I, Silver Cross
Royal Order of the Phoenix, Commander
Royal Order of the Phoenix, Gold Cross
Sacred Band badge
3rd Mountain Brigade award badge
The badge, worn on the right breast pocket, was awarded to Officers, NCOs and Other Ranks of the 3rd Mountain Brigade, during the last months of 1944. Made of stamped brass, the awards were made in Italy, where this technique was used in the manufacture of pre- and wartime badges, including Allied ones as well, after 1943.
The design is also interesting. Athena/Minerva seems rather one-dimensional, with disproportionate shoulders and a head twisted at an unnatural angle. These elements can be explained by putting the depiction into the right perspective. The portrait of Athena is most probably based on the statue of Athena Promachos, excavated in the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. Sculpted in such a manner as to intentionally give a two-dimensional impression, the goddess was bearing a shield and a spear, both raised. The head is then facing to the front, behind the cover of the shield, since "promachos" meant the hoplite fighting on the first row of the phalanx.
More information on the badge here.
The design is also interesting. Athena/Minerva seems rather one-dimensional, with disproportionate shoulders and a head twisted at an unnatural angle. These elements can be explained by putting the depiction into the right perspective. The portrait of Athena is most probably based on the statue of Athena Promachos, excavated in the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. Sculpted in such a manner as to intentionally give a two-dimensional impression, the goddess was bearing a shield and a spear, both raised. The head is then facing to the front, behind the cover of the shield, since "promachos" meant the hoplite fighting on the first row of the phalanx.
More information on the badge here.
Cross of Valour in Gold
Cross of Valour in Silver
1940 War Crosses, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Class
Medal for Outstanding Acts
Medal of Military Merit 2nd Class
Medal of Military Merit 4th Class
Navy officer's ribbon bar
Army NCO Long Service and Good Conduct Medals, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Class
War Disabled badge
More information on the badge here.
Macedonian Struggle Commemorative Medal, 3rd Class
Northern Epirus Struggle Commemorative Medal, 3rd Class
Award documents to Captain Charalambos Stavropoulos
More on the research regarding the documents here.