A ceremony was held on the island of Leros for the inauguration of a monument to the fallen Italians who served on the island during the period of recently restored Italian possession. Lero is part of the Dodecanese archipelago which was an Italian possession from 1912 to 1948 as the Italian Overseas Province of the Aegean first with Brindisi as its capital and then Rhodes. From the 20s and up to the period of the "Battle of Lero" (26 September - 16 November 1943), fought by the Italians and a small English contingent against the Germans, the Regia Aeronautica maintained flying departments equipped with seaplanes deployed on the seaplane base of Lepida (Portolago, today Lakkì).
The Departments and aircraft supplied to Lero in the last war period under the Aegean Aeronautical Command were the 147 ^ and the 185 ^ Squadron of the 84 Maritime Reconnaissance Group on CANT Z 501, and the 161 ^ Autonomous Hunting Squadron Marittima on RO 43 and RO 44.
The flight activity of the deployed departments was particularly intense and many aviators lost their lives in the fulfillment of their duty both in peace and in war. Inaugurated in 1992, it has undergone a profound restoration by AIAL (Associazione Italiani Amici di Lero) whose President, Dr. Cettina Ferina, managed to raise the necessary funds through a subscription to which numerous Italian members have joined. .
The ceremony, in the presence of the local and foreign civil and military authorities, was attended by the col. Antonio Albanese, Defense Officer at the Italian Embassy in Greece.
Colonel Albanian, in his speech, said: "Today I feel a great emotion in being here also representing the men of the glorious 84 ° Group, still operating in the role of Combat SAR at the Gioia del Colle base, Group that I had the honor and the privilege to command for 2 a number of times, as commander of the Group and as commander of the 15 ° Stormo from which it depends ”.
