Eddie Lambros was one of the 155 Greek soldiers who landed on Normandy Beach on June 6, 1944, the day World War II took a turn which eventually led to the end of the Nazi occupation of Europe.
The photograph of the Greek-American soldier and his brothers-in-arms brandishing a captured Nazi flag was published on the front page of the New York Times the next day.
Tragically, Lambros did not survive to see this photograph, as he was killed in action in France only one day after D-Day. The Greek-American GI was from Kings County, New York and served as a private in the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
Lambros received a Purple Heart medal posthumously. He is buried and memorialized at Plot D, Row 2,3 Grave 28, in the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, France, one of the enormous American armed forces cemeteries in Europe.
But he was only one man in the hundreds of Greeks who fought that day, and the nation of Greece lent its aid on D-Day in every way it possibly could, despite having been occupied by Germany for more than three years by that point in the war.
Greeks at sea in Normandy
Four thousand vessels had gathered in British waters waiting for Dwight Eisenhower’s order to sail for the Normandy coast. The enormous armada consisted of war, cargo and even passenger ships of various nationalities, all packed full of Allied troops ready to fight the Nazis.
Greece, with its fleet based in Egypt, since the country was occupied by the Germans, participated in the landing with six ships: the corvettes “Tombazis” and “Kriezis” as well as four merchant ships.
According to the memoirs of “Kriezis” commander Dimitris Kiosses, the ships were manned by “Greeks from all walks of life and professions during times of peace: accountants, lawyers, students, laborers, fishermen and merchants.”
Three merchant navy men were also there who would later see their names written on the gold pages of Greek shipping, including Stavros Niarchos, Nikolaos Mihalos and Isidoros Karousis.
The two Greek corvettes played an important role in the operation, according to Kleanthis Zervos from Kalymnos island, who served as a lieutenant on the “Kriezis.”
Specifically, the “Kriezis” and “Tombazis” accompanied twelve ships tasked with transporting select sections of the famous British Northumberland division which took part in the first wave of the invasion.
The Greek ships arrived at the Normandy coast at 7 AM on the fateful day. The first soldiers disembarked into the heaving surf amidst ruthless fire from the German army, which killed many before they had even managed to touch land.
When commander Kiosses was later informed of the success of the operation after many hours of desperate fighting, he exclaimed “Christ has risen!” and the crew filled the ship with shouts and cries of joy and jubilation.