When holidaying on the lovely Greek Island of Skiathos I was pleasantly surprised to find this fine memorial located right on the Quayside in the Capital - Skiathos Town.
Ever one to be on the lookout for such things (and their background story) I discovered this:- The Katsoni War Memorial honours those who perished on September 14th 1943 on board the Greek submarine Katsonis. The Submarine was in its way back to Thessaloniki following a mission in Evia when it encountered a German warship just off the north coast of Skiathos. The warship opened fire and as the submarine started to sink, the Greeks kept firing until the end. 15 men were captured by the German warship, and many others perished, including the captain Vasilis Laskou. Three men managed to swim to safety to Skiathos. Every year, as a rule on the Sunday closest to the 14th September, the event is remembered with a service at the main church. The names of the dead are called out during the service. For a few days around this time a submarine docks just off the harbour.
"Whilst trying to intercept a German troop transport during World War Two, the Lambros Katsonis was sunk by the German submarine chaser UJ-2101. This tragic event resulted in the drowning of 32 crewmen, including the ship’s captain, as well as 15 other crewmembers being captured by the Germans. Amazingly, three of the ship’s crew – Lt. Eleftherios Tsoukalas, the ship’s executive officer, and petty officers Antonios Antoniou and Anastasios Tsigros – managed to swim to the shores of Skiathos, which was an epic feat taking them nine exhausting hours. They hid on the island until they eventually managed to return to Egypt, to rejoin the Greek fleet. The submarine was named after the 18th century Greek naval hero Admiral Lambros Katsonis who built up a small fleet in order to begin harassing the Ottomans in the Aegean Sea '
BRITISH FORCES IN SKIATHOS. 31 OCTOBER 1944, AFTER THE LIBERATION OF THE GREEK ISLAND OF SKIATHOS, USED AS AN ADVANCED BASE BY BRITISH FORCES FOR NAVAL OPERATIONS AGAINST SALONIKA. (IWM Image)
Just down the Quayside to the right of the picture above is this memorial - which is dedicated to the "unknown sailor"
On 23 August 1944 Skiathos was bombarded by German Aircraft and the German army killed 9 people of Skiathos as retaliatory measures for the captivity of one German officer. This is the Greek War Memorial in Skiathos Town
Very interesting thread, thanks for posting it. I was once (a very long time ago) told that personnel were taken off on Allied submarines from Alonnisos, the third island in the Northern Sporades chain of which Skiathos is the first. The man who told me was an Alonnisot whose rather isolated house, he said, had been the final pre-embarkation staging post. Be interesting to learn more - will have to start Googling... Cheers, Pat
