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P/O John Agorastos PLAGIS (80227), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 249 Sq.
Distinguished Flying Cross - London Gazette # 35542, 1 May 1942, page 2
Since the beginning of March, 1942, this officer has destroyed 4 and probably destroyed a further 3 hostile aircraft. With complete indifference to odds against him, he presses home his attacks with skill and courage. In one day alone, he destroyed 2 enemy fighters and 1 bomber. He has set an outstanding example
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Sergeant - 8 December 1941 (Gazette #35460)
F/O - on probation, 1 October 1942 (Gazette #35819)
F/L - 8 December 1943 (Gazette #36280)
S/L - 28 March 1945 (Gazette #37074) |
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Acting F/L John Agorastos PLAGIS, D.F.C. (80227), RAF Volunteer Reserve, No. 185 Sq.
Bar To DFC. London Gazette # 35621, 3 July 1942 - page 1
This officer has displayed exceptional skill and gallantry in combat. He has destroyed at least 10 enemy- aircraft, 2 of which he destroyed in one engagement. Undeterred by superior numbers of attacking aircraft, he presses home his attacks with great determination.
(strangley enough, this award is never mentioned again in other, later Gazettes)
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Acting S/L John Agorastos PLAGIS, D.F.C. (80227), R.A.F.V.R., 64 Sqn.
Distinguished Service Order. London Gazette # 36777, 31 October 1944 - page 2
Since being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross this Officer has participated in very many sorties during which much damage has been inflicted on the enemy. Shipping, radio stations, oil storage tanks, power plants and other installations have been amongst the targets attacked. On one occasion, he led a small formation of aircraft against a much superior force of enemy fighters. In the engagement 5 enemy aircraft were shot down, 2 of them by Squadron Leader Plagis. This officer is a brave and resourceful leader whose example has proved a rare source of inspiration. He has destroyed 16 hostile aircraft.
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Squadron Leader John Agorastos PLAGIS, D.S.O., D.F.C. (80227), R.A.F.V.R.
Dutch Flying Cross. Suppl. to the London Gazette (of 10 Oct.) # 37758, 15 October 1946
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John Plagis by John
Mansolas & Angelos Dalassenos
John Agorastos Plagis was born in Hartley, Southern Rhodesia, on the
10th of March 1919. At the outbreak of World War 2 he tried to join
the Rhodesian Air Force but was rejected since, because his parents
were Greek, officially he was under Greek citizenship. The RAF at the
time, desperately in need of pilots, could not be bothered with such
minor details. He was accepted as a Greek citizen in 1940. He completed
his training in January 1942 and transferred to No 249 Squadron, stationed
on the besieged island of Malta.
His Spitfire MkVb “GN-K” AB346, which
left the deck of the aircraft carrier 'Eagle' on March 6th 1942 - four
days before Plagis's 23rd birthday - was one of the first 15 aircraft
of that type delivered to the island. During the next two months he
would score the bulk of his victories in the savage dogfights raging
over Malta. He was awarded the DFC, following a transfer to another
Malta Squadron, No 185. He only had enough time to score one more victory
before being evacuated to England for rest and recuperation due to a
total mental and physical breakdown.
He resumed operational duties in September 1943,
leading a flight in No 64 Squadron, this time in Coltishall, S. England.
Escorting bombers and flying armed recon patrols over occupied Europe
he succeeded in shooting down an Me-109 and a FW-190 from the cockpit
of his Spitfire V “SH-B” BL734. In July 1944 he commanded
No 126 Squadron in his Spitfire IX “5J-K” ML214, with which
he scored four more victories during July and August. In September,
during the ill-fated Operation “Market-Garden” he was shot
down by flak over Arnhem. He crashed his Spitfire at high speed, but
survived with only minor injuries.
In 1944, No 126 Squadron was equipped with Mustang
III’s. He flew these until the end of the war, performing bomber-escort.
He continued to serve in the RAF and after a long
period of rest in mid-April, he was posted to his home country, Rhodesia,
taking command of a squadron until October of that year. Returning to
England he commanded two jet-equipped units, flying Gloster Meteors
and other relevant types of the jet-era, until his retirement in May
1948.
He then returned to Hartley, this time as a Rhodesian
citizen, running a company of his own in Salisbury. There he built a
house on a street that would come to bare his name, “John Plagis
Avenue”.
Tragically, a few years later, John Plagis, the Greek
/ Rhodesian Ace who flew at least four different types of aircraft in
combat, served in two theaters of operation with distinction, and earned
the respect and admiration of his men, committed suicide. Another sad
ending to a man no longer able to bear the bourdon of a war decided.
John
Mansolas & Angelos Dalassenos are writers for the Greek magazines 'Military History' 'Aviation History' & 'History Subjects'
This article is reprinted here with permission. |
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