The bombing of Ioannina
Greece
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On 28 October 1940, Greece officially entered World War II, after rejecting an ultimatum in which the Italian government was demanding free passage of the Italian troops to Greece. The Greco-Italian war lasted from October 1940 until April 1941. The headquarters of the Greek Army were based in Ioannina, the closest city to the frontline. Military hospitals and hubs for the medical care of war casualties had already been organised. The first air raid took place a few days after the beginning of the war. On 2 November 1940, the Italian “Regia Aeronautica” sent ten fighter aircraft and five bomber aircraft to destroy Ioannin's airport and strategic targets in the city centre. Three Greek interceptor planes of the Hellenic Royal Air Force were scrambled to defend the area. Two of the Greek planes were shot and their pilots killed. Ioannina was the first Greek city engaged in World War II, as it was located close to the battlefields of the Greco-Italian War. The city was bombed several times by the Royal Italian Air Force from the beginning of the war in October 1940. The worst bombing in terms of casualties occurred in April 1941 and was carried out by the German Luftwaffe.
The military hospital operating in the Its Kale castle (the site where the Byzantine Museum of Ioannina is located today) was bombed on 5 November 1940. One of the patients was killed and the hospital was severely damaged. There were also other buildings destroyed by this bombardment.
In early April 1941, German troops attacked Greece from Bulgaria. On 20 April 1941, Easter Sunday, the German Luftwaffe bombed the city of Ioannina. This was the most devastating air raid on the city, as the main target was the 2nd Military Hospital, which was housed in the Zosimaia Pedagogical Academy. The hospital was in full operation when the bombs fell in the early afternoon. The director urged nurses to hide in the shelters, but they refused to leave the patients. Some moments later, the strike of a bomb took the lives of 57 people, including doctors, nurses and patients. The head doctor died while he was operating. Six nurses were identified by their personal belongings.
The bombing of Ioannina stopped when Greece was placed under triple occupation by Italy, Germany and Bulgaria.
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