Michael Moutoussis
Encyclopedia
Michael Moutoussis was one of the first military aviators in the Greek Armed Forces. During the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...

 (1912–1913) he performed together with Aristeidis Moraitinis
Aristeidis Moraitinis (aviator)
Aristeidis Moraitinis D.S.O. was a pioneer Greek military aviator of the early 20th century. During the Balkan Wars he performed together with Michael Moutoussis the first naval air mission in history, while in the following World War I, he became Greece's only ace with nine aerial victories in...

 the first naval air co-operation mission in history.

Early career

Moutoussis, originally an Engineers officer, became one of the first six Greek officers in 1912 that were selected to receive aviation training in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, in order to man the newly established aviation branch of the Greek Army. In the following Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...

 (1912–1913) he initially carried out bombing missions on Turkish positions in the Macedonian front. In December 1912, he was positioned in the Epirus front, where he performed various scouting and bombing operations in the region around Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...

, during the Battle of Bizani
Battle of Bizani
The Battle of Bizani took place in Epirus on March 4–6, 1913. The battle was fought between the Greek and the Ottoman forces during the last stages of the First Balkan War, and revolved around the forts of Bizani, which covered the approaches to Ioannina, the largest city in the region.At the...

.

Reconnaissance over the Dardanelles

On a few days after the Greek naval victory at Lemnos
Naval Battle of Lemnos
The Battle of Lemnos , fought on , was a naval battle during the First Balkan War, which defeated the second and last attempt of the Ottoman Empire to break the Greek naval blockade of the Dardanelles and reclaim supremacy over the Aegean Sea from Greece....

, First Lieutenant Moutoussis and Ensign Aristeidis Moraitinis
Aristeidis Moraitinis (aviator)
Aristeidis Moraitinis D.S.O. was a pioneer Greek military aviator of the early 20th century. During the Balkan Wars he performed together with Michael Moutoussis the first naval air mission in history, while in the following World War I, he became Greece's only ace with nine aerial victories in...

 were ordered to spot the position of the retreated Ottoman fleet in the Dardaneles with their seaplane, a converted Maurice Farman MF.7
Farman MF.7
|-See also:-External links:* Contemporary technical description of the MF.7 with photographs and drawings....

. When they reached the Nara naval base they noted down the Turkish ships and installations. Additionally, before they left the area they dropped four bombs, but without inflicting any serious damage or casualties. During the return flight an engine failure forced them down in the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

 and they were finally collected by the crew of the nearby Greek destroyer Velos
Greek destroyer Velos
Velos was a Niki class destroyer that served in the Royal Hellenic Navy .The ship, along with her three sister ships, was ordered from Germany in 1905 and was built in the Vulcan shipyard at Stettin....

. This operation is regarded as the first naval-air operation in military history and was widely commented upon in the press, both Greek and international.

Moutoussis also participated in the Macedonian front
Macedonian front (World War I)
The Macedonian Front resulted from an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. The expedition came too late and in insufficient force to prevent the fall of Serbia, and was complicated by the internal...

 of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 as well as in the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...

, where he was positioned in Proussa Air Field (in modern Bursa).
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