Messages posted by: General Lazaris

On 8th of May 1945, the German Commander of the Dodecanese, General Otto Wagener,surrendered to the Allies, at the island of Symi. Brigadier James Moffat was the representative of the Allied Command. During the sign of the Instrument of Surrender, Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes, the Sacred Squadron Commander was present, to whom Brig. Moffat gave the German General's pistol as a trophy, in recognition of the Sacred Squadron efforts and contribution, to the liberation of the Aegean islands.

Since then, every year the locals celebrate the day of Surrender, which they consider as the date of their liberation. After 72 years, the memory still remains intact. The old Sacred Squadron warriors, who are still in life, will go (as every year) to honour the dead, laying a wreath in front of their monument. Among them, Lt. Gen (ret) K. Korkas 96 years old today, a young soldier that time, as you can see in the attached picture.

"Brave men will never be forgotten"

Dear Commando Veterans,

On behalf of our Sacred Squadron & Raiders Club, I am wishing you an extraordinary and joyful Easter!

Warmerst regards,

N. Lazaris

Please be informed, that the history of the Greek Sacred Squadron (Middle East) has been uploaded on the Combined Ops website and you can read it by using the link:

http://combinedops.com/SACRED_SQUADRON.htm

Additionally, I provide you with a picture of their monument in Athens, located at the "Field of Mars" (Pedion tou Areos)

Kind regards,

N. Lazaris

Dear commando veterans,

I am writing a few lines to inform you, that we maintain a Veterans Club in Greece, called "Sacred Squadron-Raiders Club", and I have the honour to be the Chairman of it.

Our members include the old Sacred Squadron veterans of the WW 2 (three of whom are still in life), and of course, later retired personnel, of the Greek Special Forces units. Actually, one of the Sacred Squadron "old sweats", General Korkas, is in London today, invited by the SAS Association to participate in their 75th years jubilee. He was a member of the Force 133 of that time, he fought in a lot of the Aegean islands, and he was present during the german surrender at Symi island, in the 8th of May 1945.

Reading through your excellent website, I saw with pleasure and somehow with excitement, that you also keep in memory your old comrades in wartime, showing pictures and making reference about the Greek Sacred Squadron. (Ieros Lochos)

In my afore-mentioned capacity, I would like to thank you very much on behalf of our Club. We also, never forget allies with whom we fought side by side during wars.

Unfortunately, we have lost our contact since your old comrades and our veterans either passed away, or became too old and our bonds have loosened.

I think that it is our duty to respect our common history, by restoring our lost contact and enhance our relationship in the near future.

You can find more information about our Club in our web site: www.lki.gr

By the way, for those who are interesting in reading more about the operations of the Greek Sacred Squadron during the II WW in the Aegean, they can find a lot of information in english at the link below:

http://lki.gr/Files/History_Sacred_Squadron.pdf

It would be very nice if Geoff Slee, could upload the above at his eccellent site (http://www.combinedops.com/index.htm). The Aegean war is not so well known, and mainly the special operations in the Aegean, during the WW2

I am looking forward to hearing from you

Best regards,

Lt. Gen (ret) Nikolaos Lazaris