Vassilios (Michael) "Vass" Vassiliades

   A “millionaire playboy” born on the island of Chios, Greece, Vassilios (Michael) 'Vass' Vassiliades joined the RAF on October 13th 1942. After his training in 53 OUT, he joined No 19 Squadron on the 21st of June 1943 flying Spitfire Vs, then Mk IXs and then Mustang IIIs. He got off to a bad early start being shot down by flak in August 1944. He evaded capture however, and returned to his unit where, flying his Mustang "QV-D” FB201, he enjoyed a successful spell, shooting down six confirmed enemy aircraft, two shared and one probable. His DFM was gazetted on 26 July 1944. Around Christmas 1944 he was posted to No 3 Squadron at Volkel flying the new Tempests. With these, 'Vass' adding three FW 190s destroyed and a further one damaged to his total.
    On January 23rd 1945 he took part in the Tempest’s most successful day of the war when all five squadrons of No 122 Wing (including Vassiliades’ No 3 Sq.) destroyed 10 enemy aircraft without a single loss to themselves. 'Vass', while flying Tempest "JF-E" EJ660, was credited with downing two of them (FW 190s) along with a third damaged.
    The names of German pilots listed as shot down by RAF Tempests that day, all belonging to III/JG54 and flying FW-190Ds, were:
                    Oblt Willi Heilmann     9/JG54, “White 6”
                    Uffz Guenther Langer  9/JG54, “Black 11”
                    Ofw Ludwig Goos    10/JG54, “Black 15”
                    Fw Arnfried Koehler 10/JG54, “Black 14”
                    Uffz Hermann Rathje 12/JG54, “Red 9” (probably)
                    Oblt Heinz Seiffert     11/JG54, “Yellow 1”

   On March 7th he scored his 10th and last victory of the war shooting down the FW 190D-9, “Yellow 15”, flown by Unteroffizier Karl-Georg Genth of 11/JG26 after a 10-minute-long chase. When Genth’s machine emerged out of a cloud, “Vass” got on his tail and hit the cockpit area. Genth bailed out and his “Dora” crashed in the Enschede area. 'Vass' was awarded the DFC on the 19th of March 1945.
    Famous among his comrades for his good fortune whenever he was going head-on against all odds in every chance he got, he met death in exactly this way two weeks after this battle.

KIA

   On 25 March 1945 he was leading four Tempests in an attack 30 km behind enemy lines against a truck convoy situated in the midst of an area well-known for its lethal defending flak, the Bocholt woods. No sooner had the section begun its attack than his No 2 just exploded in mid-air. Nos 3 and 4 refused to follow the Greek ace in such a suicidal attack, so “Vass” decided to go in all on his own, regardless of the odds. He made a perfect firing pass through a heavy and accurate flak barrage emerging out of it scot-free. Looking back to check the effects of his attack he realized he could have done better with one more strafing pass. His two other comrades refused again to follow his self-sacrificing example despite his orders, so he went in, alone once more, despite their desperate warnings. Just like his No 2 a minute ago, his Tempest, coded “JF-A" EJ755, was blown to smithereens just as he was emerging out of the flak barrage.
    After the war a “Liberty” class ship was named after him, which was later sunk in the English Channel following a collision.

   Two other known Tempests flown by him were “JF-X” JN807, and “JF-H” JN817, both wearing black-white “Invasion Stripes”, and duck-egg-blue fuselage band and spinner.