Freedom Fighter in Service with Greece

Last revised September 29, 2015



During the Second World War, Greece was occupied by German forces. Resistance movements sprang up, but quickly split up into Communist and royalist factions which often fought against each other almost as ferociously as they fought against the German occupiers. After the country was liberated by British and Greek troops in October of 1944, a bloody civil war broke out between these factions, with Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia backing the Communists and the United States under the Truman doctrine government backing the royalists. The royalists finally won in October of 1949. Greece became a charter member of NATO in 1951.

As a member of NATO, Greece was a prime candidate for the Freedom Fighter. The Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia (Hellenic Air Force) was the first European air force to receive the Freedom Fighter. Service began with the delivery of 18 aircraft in June of 1965 to the 341st Mira (Fighter Squadron) based at Nea Ankhialos. In 1966, 343 Mira based at Thessaloniki-Mikri re-equipped with Freedom Fighters. The RF-5As reconnaissance versions were operated exclusively by the Thessaloniki-based 349 Mira, but none of them had their cameras fitted and all were cannon armed.

Training was initially provided by 10 new-build F-5Bs supplied from the USA under MAP. These were later supplemented by six F-5Bs delivered from Jordan.

Postwar Greece was formally a constitutional monarchy, with a legislature, a king as head of state, and a prime minister as head of government. Following the end of the civil war, the next twenty years saw a succession of weak and unstable governments. In addition, friction with Turkey arose over the island of Cyprus, the majority of whose population was ethnically Greek, and continued after Cyprus became independent in 1960. Leftist and rightist movements contended fractiously for control of the Greek government, and the late 1960s saw an increasingly unstable situation.

Fearing that a Communist takeover of Greece was imminent, a group of army colonels seized the Greek government on April 21, 1967, sending young King Constantine II into exile. Col. George Papadopoulos, a leader of the junta, gained control of the government and assumed the post of minister to the premier. Following an abortive coup by King Constantine II in December of 1967, Papadopoulos assumed the premiership and resigned his army commission. The junta placed severe controls of many aspects of Greek life and was quite brutal and repressive, often forcibly exiling its opponents and occasionally even resorting to torture. Political parties deemed too far to the left were banned. In June of 1973, in an attempt to give some sort of democratic legitimacy to the regime, Papadopoulos established a republic and assumed the post of president.

There were numerous international protests against the dictatorial ways of the Greek military regime. Even though the CIA was widely suspected to be behind the coup, relations between Greece and the United States actually got somewhat chilly because of the brutality and excesses of the regime. This resulted in an arms embargo being imposed on Greece, at which time a third squadron (349 Mira) had been only partially equipped with its supply of Freedom Fighters. However, relations with the USA had improved by late 1968 and deliveries of of the remaining F-5s resumed, and Mira 349 was finally re-equipped with its full complement of Freedom Fighters.

A coup staged by military hard-liners ousted Papadoupolos on November 25, 1973. In July of 1974, after a bungled attempt to seize Cyprus, the regime of the colonels collapsed entirely, and power was voluntarily turned over to a civilian government headed by Konstantin Karamanlis, who returned to Greece from exile. Most exiled politicans were allowed to return to Greece as well, and bans on political parties were abolished. A referendum held in December of 1974 ended the Greek monarchy and established a republic. Papadopoulos was tried for treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. Greece has had freely-elected civilian governments ever since. However, Greece has continued to experience tensions with Turkey over Cyprus, which is still divided into Greek and Turkish sectors.

With the arrival of the RF-4E in the late 1970s, some of the initial RF-5As of 349 Mira were converted to straight F-5A configuration. Others were later received from Jordan.

In the late 1970s, ten F-5A and two F-5B Freedom Fighters formerly serving with the Imperial Iranian Air Force were delivered to Greece to supplement the original order. 13 F-5As and 6 F-5Bs were delivered from Jordan to Greece in 1983. Norway transferred nine F-5As to Greece in May/August of 1986. 16 F-5As and four F-5Bs were delivered to Greece in a second transfer from Jordan in 1989. These machines were issued to 343 Mira.

In 1991, ten Canadair NF-5As and two NF-5Bs formerly with the Royal Netherlands Air Force were delivered to the Royal Hellenic Air Force to supplement the survivors from the original MDAP deliveries. The flyable NF-5As entered service with the Thessaloniki-based 349 Mira. 349 Mira had originally been attached to 111 Pterix, but was transferred to 110 Pterix in 1989. By 1994, 349 Mira had moved to Larissa to serve alongside 341 Mira. The F-5s serve alongside the ex-Luftwaffe RF-4Es of 348 Mira, which was also at one time a RF-5A operator.

A total of 114 F-5As (including four ex-Iranian machines), 34 RF-5As, and 20 F-5Bs were supplied to Greece. At the height of its operational career in the Greek air force, the 28th Tactical Air Command had 5 squadrons:

Over 100 F-5s still remained on strength in Greece, but many of these Freedom Fighters had been withdrawn from active duty and serve only as spares sources. Five of 13 RF-5As were converted to F-5A standards (with the arrival of additional RF-4s) and virtually none of the remaining RF-5As still served in their intended reconnaissance roles, and those RF-5As which still served had a day fighter role as their primary mission. Most active aircraft were fitted with Martin-Baker Mk 10LF zero-zero ejection seats, and the Jordanian aircraft came with these seats already fitted.

Three squadrons of F-5s still served in Greece, including one of RF-5As. They serve with 341 "Asos" Mira of 110 Pterix (now based at Larissa) in the fighter-interceptor role, with 343 "Asteri" Mira of 113 Pterix at Thessaloniki in the ground attack role, and RF-5As serve with 349 "Kronos" Mira of 113 Pterix at Larissa in the tactical reconnaissance role.

The last F-5 was decommissioned in 2002, and the type went out of operation in the Hellenic Air Force.

Sources:


  1. F-5: Warplane for the World, Robbie Shaw, Motorbooks, 1990

  2. Northrop F-5/F-20, Jerry Scutts, Ian Allan Ltd, 1986.

  3. Northrop F-5, Jon Lake and Robert Hewson, World Airpower Journal, Vol 25, 1996.

  4. Lycos website on Greek history.

  5. Northrop F-5, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_F-5