Christos Adamidis (, 1885–1949) was a

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

officer and pioneer of

military aviation Military aviation is the design, development and use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift (air cargo) capacity to provide military logistics, logist ...

. He was one of the first Greek officers who received aviation training in France and later participated in air operations during the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

Balkan Wars

Adamidis was born in

Ioannina Ioannina ( ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus (region), Epirus, an Modern regions of Greece, administrative region in northwester ...

in 1885, then part of the

Janina Vilayet The Vilayet of Janina, Yanya or Ioannina () was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, established in 1867. In the late 19th century, it reportedly had an area of .

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He initially became a cavalry officer in the

. In 1912, Adamidis was selected as one of the first three Greek officers, together with Dimitrios Kamberos and Michael Moutoussis, in order to receive aviation training in France and to man the newly established aviation branch of the Hellenic Army. During the following

he was positioned in Epirus front where he performed reconnaissance and bombing missions against Ottoman positions during the Battle of Bizani. These missions also included leaflet and food dropping to the population of

, the urban center of the area, who was starving due to the extended military conflicts. The Greek forces finally won the battle and on ,

came under Greek control. On that day, Adamidis landed his Farman MF.7 aircraft on the Town Hall square of the city, to the adulation of an enthusiastic crowd.

Later career

In 1927 Adamidis became commander of the air arm of the

. In June 1928, Adamidis together with Lt Evangelos Papadakis, flew around the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

with a Breguet 19 aircraft. The tour lasted 20 days covering a distance of , and was considered a significant achievement in relation to the capabilities of Greek aviation of that time. In 1931, when the Air Force became a separate branch of the Hellenic Armed Forces, he was appointed director of the Aeronautics Department. Adamidis was discharged in 1935 with the rank of Major General.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamidis, Hristos 1880s births 1949 deaths Hellenic Army generals Hellenic Air Force officers Greek military aviators Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Balkan Wars pilots Bomber pilots Reconnaissance pilots Military personnel from Ioannina People from Janina vilayet Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece