January 6 1941. During the Greco-Italian War, the bloodiest and fiercest battle of the war begins with the Greek advance into the Këlcyrë gorge. Këlcyrë (Clisura in Greek), is the name of a town and gorge in southern Albania created by the river Vjosë, near the homonymous town. The three divisions of Greek B' Army Corps (Lt. Gen. Georgios Bakos) enter the gorge and engage in a fierce encounter with the Italian 7th Infantry Division Wolves of Tuscany (7ª Divisione fanteria &quot;Lupi di Toscana&quot;) the 3rd Mountain Division Julia (3ª Divisione Alpina &quot;Giulia&quot;) and the 131st Armoured Division Centaur (131ª Divisione corazzata &quot;Centauro&quot;).

Captured by Greeks, Italian Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40

During the Greco-Italian War, a squadron of 27 Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM-79 bombers, with Fiat CR-42 fighter escorts, headed towards Thessaloniki. Soon they were spotted and intercepted by Greek PZL P-24 fighters of the 22nd Squadron. During the dogfights, three of the bombers were shot down, while the rest reached their targets, released their bombs and commenced their return to their base in Albania. Flying Officer Marínos Metraléxes, who had already shot down one bomber, was now out of ammunition, so he aimed the nose of his PZL P-24 (Δ 130) right into an enemy bomber's tail (ΜΜ 22381), smashing the rudder and sending the bomber out of control. He then had to make an emergency landing near the crashed bomber. Having landed, Metraléxes arrested the four surviving crew members of the enemy aircraft using his pistol. For this extraordinary feat, Metraléxes was promoted to Wing Commander and awarded a number of medals, including Greece's highest award for bravery, the Gold Cross of Valour. He was the only Air Force officer to be awarded it during the war.

Flying Officer Marínos Metraléxes

April 8 1940: Late in the evening, German heavy cruiser "Blücher", heavy cruiser "Lützow", light cruiser "Emden", three torpedo boats and eight minesweepers, codenamed Kampfgruppe 5 (Rear-Admiral Oskar Kummetz), transporting 2,000 troops to capture Oslo in the initial stages of the German invasion of Norway, are spotted by the Norwegian guard vessel "Pol III". The German ships fire at her, killing her CO, Cpt. Leif Welding-Olsen who becomes the first Norwegian military fatal casualty of WWII.