Runner (soldier) wounded twice and received both the Iron Cross first class and second class during the war. Runner (soldier) A runner was a military courier, a foot soldier responsible for carrying messages during war. Runners were very important to military communications, before telecommunications became commonplace. The Ancient Greek semi-historical character of Pheidippides is said to have been the runner bringing the news of the Greek victory over the Persians from Marathon to Athens in 490 BC. Even though field telephones were widely used for the first time during World War I (1914–18), they relied on copper wire lines, which were often
Battle of Athens (1941) Battle of Athens (1941) The Battle of Athens (also known as the Battle of Piraeus harbor) on 20 April 1941 was a dog-fighting air battle over Athens fought for half an hour between the RAF and the Luftwaffe towards the end of the Battle of Greece. Marmaduke Pattle died in the battle in which Roald Dahl also fought; he describes it in his second autobiography, "Going Solo" and in the short story 'Katina' which can be found in the book "The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories". A somewhat different account of this battle together with citations will be found