[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] On 7 October 2022, the Second Vice-Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Hellenic Air Force, Lieutenant General (MA)
\nIoannis Theodossoulakis and the First Councillor D.S.\/P.M. Brigadier General (D) Konstantinos
\nBibizas – Pinis, visited in his home the super-aged (102 years old)
\nWWII veteran Vice Admiral (I) Konstantinos Hatzilakos, a living legend of the
\nAir Force, which operated in the Middle East, Italy and the
\nYugoslavia with the 336 Squadron of the then NVA, where he was honoured on behalf of the
\nBoard of the War Museum for his contribution to the war, by presenting him, in honour
\nof his struggles for the freedom of the Homeland, with the Museum copies
\nof the “Aristideion of the Struggle”, which was awarded by King Otto to the
\nFighters of 1821 and which is the emblem of the War Museum.
\nThe whole family of the General was present at the presentation of the mines.
\n Vice Admiral (I) Konstantinos Hadjilakos was born in Larissa in 1920.
\nHe enlisted in the Icons School in 1940. During World War II (1940-1945) as a
\ncombat pilot of the Royal Greek Air Force, he operated on the battlefields
\nof North Africa, the Mediterranean, Italy, Yugoslavia and the Aegean.
\nHe has over 200 combat missions with aircraft
\n“Hurricane” and “Spitfire”. For this activity he was awarded 10 war
\nmedals, by Greece and the UK\/RAF.
\n In the period 1945-1967 he was an instructor at military schools of all
\nthree arms of the Armed Forces, as well as commander of large air
\nBattle Wings and Director of Operations at NATO military bases. In 1964-
\n1967 he was Defense Attach\u00e9 at the Greek Embassy in Washington, D.C.
\nHe retired in 1967, loyal to the Constitution, because of his opposition to the
\njunta of the colonels. He then worked for 9 years as a manager
\nat Chalyvourgiki and from 1978-1997 he was a technical advisor to
\nMcDonnell Douglas Corporation. Since 2006 he has been the inventor of “TRITON”, the
\nGreek Wave Energy to Electricity Converter. As a veteran combat
\npilot, he is President of the Royal Air Force Veteran Airmen’s Association of the Royal Air Force
\nAthens Branch (RAFA). He is the author of the book “The
\nLast Mission”, in which he recounts in a vivid and highly moving
\nway the struggles of the Greek Airmen in World War II.
\n
\nIt is worth mentioning the answers he gave to journalists two years ago, when he attended the ceremony of integration, in flying condition, of the
\n“Spitfire” aircraft, with which he fought in WWII, at the
\nDhekelia Air Base:<\/p>\n
-Mr.Hatzilakos you are an iconic figure of the Greek Air Force
\n. In World War II, as a pursuit pilot with
\n“Hurricane” and “Spitfire” aircraft, you carried out over 200 combat missions
\non the fronts of North Africa, the Mediterranean, Italy, Yugoslavia and
\nthe Aegean. Tell us how it all began.
\n-For us young Icarians, it all began with Greece’s “NO” and
\ncontinued with the fulfillment of an oath and a debt. A march full of
\nstress, pain and blood. “Either it was or it was not”. And so it was. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
-Who of all your fellow warriors do you most often bring to mind
\ntoday?
\n-Who do you not forget. Especially the one with whom you shared your tent
\nand in the evening after returning from a mission, you found his ranch
\nempty. <\/p>\n
-What do you have to say to today’s Greek air force pilots
\nwho defend the Aegean every day?
\n-To have duty and honour in their hearts and to do what
\nit dictates.<\/p>\n
Mr.Hatzilakos you have more than fulfilled your debt to
\nhomeland, in the most adverse conditions. What is our debt today?
\n-Let us not forget, honor and be vigilant. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”4469,4457,4459,4461,4463,4465,4467,4471″ img_size=”800×600″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] On 7 October 2022, the Second Vice-Chairman of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10449,"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10445\/revisions\/10449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warmuseum.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}