George James Doundoulakis (October 18, 1921 – March 17, 2007) was a Greek American physicist and soldier who worked under British Intelligence during World War II with

SOE SOE may refer to: Organizations * State-owned enterprise * Special Operations Executive, a British World War II clandestine sabotage and resistance organisation ** Special Operations Executive in the Netherlands, or Englandspiel * Society of Opera ...

agent Patrick Leigh Fermor, and then served with the

OSS OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

in Thessaly, Greece. He is known by his twenty-six US Patents in the fields of radar, electronics, and

narrowband television Narrow-bandwidth television (NBTV) is a type of television designed to fit into a channel narrower than the standard bandwidth used for official television standards. The three predominant worldwide broadcast television standards use either 6 ...

. Doundoulakis is best remembered for the idea of suspending the

antenna feed A radio transmitter or receiver is connected to an antenna which emits or receives the radio waves. The antenna feed system or antenna feed is the cable or conductor, and other associated equipment, which connects the transmitter or receiver w ...

of the Arecibo radio telescope by cables and towers, eventually patented by his brother

Helias Doundoulakis Helias Doundoulakis (July 12, 1923 – February 29, 2016) was a Greek American civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating inf ...

. A decorated veteran of World War II, Doundoulakis formed an underground resistance organization in Crete under the Special Operations Executive. He escaped to Egypt and joined the U.S. Army and

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

– the OSS. He was sent back to Greece, where he outfitted and unified a

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

rebel army, and was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

from the United States Army and the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom from Great Britain.

Early life

George Doundoulakis was born in Detroit, Michigan to Greek-immigrant parents, Demetrios and Evanthia (née Psaroudakis) Doundoulakis. When he was four-years-old, his family immigrated to

Crete, Greece Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterr ...

to look after their blind grandmother in the village of

Archanes Archanes ( el, Αρχάνες, Godart & Olivier abbreviation: ARKH) is a former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Archanes-Asterousia, of which it is a ...

. Nearby was the

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

excavations at Knossos, where British archaeologist – later, SOE agent – John Pendlebury had been the curator. By 1941, Greece had fallen to the Axis powers except Crete. On May 20, 1941, German paratroopers invaded the island, known as the Battle of Crete.

World War II

Battle of Crete and the Cretan Resistance

During the Battle of Crete, Doundoulakis assisted the Greek and British army headquarters in

, translating communiqués from other military posts. After the British had been defeated, those soldiers who could not be evacuated either surrendered or went into hiding.

Special Operations Executive – (SOE)

Montague Woodhouse was appointed

chief on Crete, replacing John Pendlebury who had been executed by the Germans during the battle. Woodhouse approached Doundoulakis after spotting his savoir-faire as the Greek interpreter in Archanes. He requested that Doundoulakis support the SOE in hiding and evacuating British soldiers who had been left behind on Crete, with full knowledge that his efforts were punishable by death. Undaunted, Doundoulakis formed an underground organization under the command of the SOE's "Monty" Woodhouse. This would become one of the first Cretan resistance groups. Along with his brother

and friends, they began scouring the island for recruits. Gathering momentum, Doundoulakis rounded up ex-military personnel and civilians from Heraklion and Lasithi. After Woodhouse left Crete, the SOE replaced him with "Tom" Dunbabin. Risky sabotages under his watch were performed, such as the destruction of the Kastelli Airfield. Along with friend Kimon Zografakis and two British commandos, Doundoulakis was able to set the airfield on fire after they placed explosives on seven German airplanes and hundreds of barrels of aviation fuel. Informants also uncovered German naval intelligence through a paramour of a German officer. After being relayed to Dunbabin, it resulted in the destruction of a German convoy destined to resupply Field Marshal

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

and his Afrika Korps in September 1942. After the war, Doundoulakis was awarded the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom from Great Britain for his services.

Thomas Dunbabin Thomas James Dunbabin DSO (12 April 1911 – 31 March 1955), was an Australian classicist scholar and archaeologist of Tasmanian origin, as well as a renowned WWII soldier in Crete. Early life He was born in Hobart, Tasmania, on 12 April 1911. ...

was awarded the Distinguished Service Order by the British military. Dunbabin finally left, and the SOE followed him up with the legendary Patrick Leigh Fermor, known to the Cretans as "Mihalis". George's intelligence circle grew exponentially. George and Leigh Fermor, along with guerrilla leader Manolis Bandouvas, would take refuge within the mountainous SOE hideouts of

Mount Ida In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the '' Phrygian Ida'' ...

. After serving under the SOE for two years, Doundoulakis' ever-widening organization became apparent. He was blackmailed by a local Cretan who demanded one million drachmas as hush money. Otherwise, his organization and the SOE's Leigh Fermor would be let known to the Germans. Refusing the blackmail, Doundoulakis sent high school friends Sifis Migadis and John Androulakis to dispose of the traitor. However, they were too late in stopping the betrayal to the Gestapo. Leigh Fermor urged Doundoulakis to take flight at once to Crete's southern shore, and await evacuation by the SOE. They escaped through

and the mountain ranges of Rethymno with others in his organization. After hiding in caves for a month, they were rescued by a British torpedo boat south of

Tymbaki Tympaki ( el, Τυμπάκι) is a town and a former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reforms it is part of the municipality of Faistos, of which it is a municipal unit, the unit has an ar ...

. Along with thirteen other resistance members, they headed to Mersa Matruh, Egypt. As they were about to board, Doundoulakis reunited with Leigh Fermor and partisan leader Petrakogiorgis. Petrakogiorgis had returned to Crete on the same vessel carrying the Doundoulakis brothers to Egypt on June 7, 1943. They would not see Leigh Fermor for another forty years. Leigh Fermor and "Billy" Stanley Moss became renowned after the war in the British book and film, ''Ill Met by Moonlight'', for their abduction of German General Kreipe from Crete. After reaching Mersa Matruh, Doundoulakis and his brother, as well as his close circle of friends, were transported to an SOE villa in Heliopolis. They were destined for SOE saboteur training upon the entreaty of Leigh Fermor, while the other escapees went off to the exiled Greek Army in the Middle East. Before leaving Crete, Doundoulakis instructed Mikis Akoumianakis to assume command of the organization that he had begun. Mikis Akoumianakis "took over the Allied intelligence network in Heraklion and became the key British agent in the region for the last three years of the war." Later, along with Leigh Fermor and "Billy" Moss, he would become a key player in the kidnap of General Kreipe from Crete.

Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

Two months of training at the lavish SOE villa in Heliopolis, Cairo, came to an abrupt end when Doundoulakis learned of the

, the OSS. Doundoulakis contacted the fledgling American spy service that would become a key player in the Doundoulakis brothers' future. With help from Leigh Fermor, he informed the SOE commander of his intentions to join the

American Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Much to the SOE's dismay, George and Helias ultimately departed as comrade-in-arms and with hopes of defeating their common enemy. The OSS dispatched Captain James Kellis to enlist the Doundoulakis brothers into the US Army on September 16, 1943, and were assigned to the OSS. Their Commanding Officer was Major

John Vassos John Vassos (born John Plato Vassacopoulos; 23 October 1898 – 6 December 1985) whose career as an American industrial designer and artist helped define the shape of radio, television, broadcasting equipment, and computers for the Radio Corpora ...

, RCA's eminent industrial designer. Agents were trained inside a secluded palace of King Farouk's situated along Cairo's

Nile River The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...

, known as Ras el Kanayas. Doundoulakis was trained in the Morale Operations (MO) and Special Operations (SO) branches. Special Operations was modeled after the SOE, which included parachute, sabotage, defensive, weapons, and leadership training to support guerrilla or partisan resistance. Morale Operations training included psychological warfare and propaganda. After his training, Doundoulakis was sent to the port city of

Volos, Greece Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

in Thessaly. His mission, known as "Horsebreeders," was to coordinate some 7,000 Greek leftist rebels into a unified fighting force. Doundoulakis provided the necessary logistic sustainment that included weapons, a printing press, clothing, and materials for his secret army through OSS bases in Turkey. He had printed and distributed leaflets intended for German soldiers and Greek collaborators, to subvert their confidence while encouraging the Greek population to resist. They were able to inflict enough damage to Volos' railroad transportation hub and its maritime shipping, that it contributed to the demise of the German supply line near Athens. The Germans were unable to remove Doundoulakis and the leftist rebels hidden in the impassable Pelion Mountains. Unrelenting attacks upon German communications and railway links led to an overwhelming success. Doundoulakis was promoted to first sergeant and awarded the

in OSS-Cairo. His brother,

, was trained at Cairo's

Camp X Camp X was the unofficial name of the secret Special Training School No. 103, a Second World War British paramilitary installation for training covert agents in the methods required for success in clandestine operations. It was located on the ...

-type 'Spy School' where he was sent on a mission to Salonica, Greece. There, Helias set up a fake business from a bombed-out factory once owned by Greek Jews who had fled from Nazi persecution. He remained embedded in Salonica from April to December 1944, sending encrypted radio messages to OSS-Cairo on German troop movements.

Post-war

George Doundoulakis spent the remainder of his enlistment at the Congressional Country Club in

Bethesda, MD Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, which had been commandeered by "Wild Bill" Donovan's

as a training ground known by its codename " Area F". Following his discharge, Doundoulakis settled in

Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

Education

After settling in Brooklyn,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Doundoulakis received a bachelor's degree in physics from

Brooklyn Polytechnic The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United Sta ...

in 1953 under the

GI Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

. He went on to earn his master's of science in physics at

under renowned physicist and X-ray crystallographer,

Paul Peter Ewald Paul Peter Ewald, FRS (January 23, 1888 in Berlin, Germany – August 22, 1985 in Ithaca, New York) was a German crystallographer and physicist, a pioneer of X-ray diffraction methods. Education Ewald received his early education in the classi ...

in 1955.

RCA Institutes

After receiving his master's of physics from Brooklyn Polytechnic, Doundoulakis found his metier in electronics, radio physics and the advancing field of radar and television. Tutored by Ira Kamen, one of the preeminent electrical engineers in New York City at the RCA Institutes, Doundoulakis gained a solid foothold in the field. Subsequently, he taught electronics at the RCA Institutes. In 1956, Doundoulakis and Ira Kamen filed their first US patent.

General Bronze Corporation

Seeing the potential of this rising star in a rapidly developing field, Doundoulakis was hired by General Bronze Corporation in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

as head of

Research and Development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

(R&D). At the time, General Bronze was dedicated to pioneering and taking the lead in the commercial market of antenna designs. Along with Stanley Gethin, he copyrighted antenna and radar-related projects for General Bronze.

Arecibo Radio Telescope

As the head of Research and Development for General Bronze, Doundoulakis was notified by Cornell University of their intent to build a

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency ...

. Subsequently, he was invited to Cornell the day the project for the design and construction of the antenna at

Arecibo, Puerto Rico Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, the ...

was announced, by Professor William Gordon. Gordon, who led the project for Cornell, indicated at that time that the support for the

– or "eye" – was envisioned to be a 500-foot tower situated in the center of the 1000 ft. reflector. Doundoulakis, foreseeing a simpler approach with a suspended

, leapt at the opportunity. Along with Zachary Sears – who directed Internal Design at Digital B & E Corporation of New York – he received the request for proposal (RFP) from Cornell University for the antenna design. He studied the idea of suspending the

with his brother,

, a civil engineer who was then working for Emery Roth. Doundoulakis identified the problem that a tower or tripod would have presented around the center, which is the most critical portion of the reflector. Instead, Doundoulakis' proposal of a revolutionary design, by suspending the feed from cables connected to towers, was more practical. Rather than having a massive tower in the center of the reflector, his design would save millions in construction costs. He presented his proposal to Cornell University for a suspension system of the feed. This suspension system would possess a doughnut or torus-type truss suspended by four cables from four towers, to provide along its edge a rail track intended for azimuthal positioning of the feed. A second truss in the form of an

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

was to hang below and rotate on said rails through 360 degrees. The arch also provided rails onto which the unit supporting the feed would move to provide for the elevational positioning of the feed. A counter-weight would move symmetrically opposite to the feed position for overall stability. George informed his brother,

, to design the cable suspension system which was finally adopted for the Arecibo Antenna. A patent was filed on September 11, 1961, by

for "A radio telescope having a scanning feed supported by a cable suspension over a stationary reflector" who designed the suspension system according to George's specifications. Although the present configuration of the Arecibo Antenna is identical to the original drawings by George and Helias Doundoulakis (except with three towers, instead of the four towers drawn in Doundoulakis' patent), the United States Patent and Trademark Office finally granted

a U.S. Patent on September 13, 1966 – for designing the radio telescope's suspension system. Two other assignees on the patent were close friends

William J. Casey William Joseph Casey (March 13, 1913 – May 6, 1987) was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agency ...

, ex-director of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

under President Reagan, and attorney Constantine Michalos. After the observatory was damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017, it was also affected by earthquakes in 2019 and 2020. Two cable breaks, one in August 2020 and a second in November 2020, threatened the structural integrity of the support structure for the suspended platform and damaged the dish. Due to uncertainty over the remaining strength of the other cables supporting the suspended structure, and the risk of collapse due to further failures making repairs dangerous, the NSF announced on November 19, 2020, that it would decommission and dismantle the telescope. Before it could be decommissioned, several of the remaining support cables suffered a critical failure and the support structure, antenna, and dome assembly all fell into the dish at 7:55 a.m. local time on December 1, 2020, destroying the telescope.

Advancement Devices and William J. Casey

In the 1950s, Doundoulakis began his own company dedicated to pursuing his patent designs and applying them to the market. ''Advancement Devices'' was launched, under which

first heard of the inventor. In WWII, Casey had been chief of the OSS' Secret Intelligence branch for Europe. He learned that Doundoulakis also served in the OSS, and had secured a contract from the " Army Signal Corps to produce a radar that could measure the trajectory of a mortar shell. But he lacked the capital to follow through on his bid." Following this lead, Casey ensured that all the necessary funding would accompany Doundoulakis' future projects. Under Advancement Devices, and with contributions from Casey, Doundoulakis developed a stream of patents for electronics, television, and internal ballistic engines. One patent, the tri-rotor engine, became a matter of contention with the IRS in back taxes owed by Casey to the IRS. Nonetheless, the Doundoulakis/Casey business partnership would beget a life-long friendship from, "the inventor who he had long subsidized." Their bond was not only grounded in their prior service with the OSS but in an alliance that continued throughout Casey's Congressional hearings prior to his SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) post. Doundoulakis was called to testify before the United States Congress on Casey's behalf. He eventually was sworn in and became head of the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Nixon. Afterward, under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Casey was appointed the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Personal

George married Chrysanthe "Chris" (Markomihalakis) in Brooklyn, New York, where they settled after the war, resettling in

North Bellmore, New York North Bellmore is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 19,941 at the 2010 census. North Bellmore, along with Bellmore, are referred to collect ...

. They had two sons and one daughter, and three grandchildren. During the 1980s, Leigh Fermor visited and stayed with George at his North Bellmore home. Leigh Fermor visited him during one of the many celebrations for the Battle of Crete and the abduction of Gen. Kreipe, punctuating a friendship which had endured throughout both their lives.

Death and Funeral

George Doundoulakis died on March 17, 2007, and was buried with military honors in Greenfield Cemetery, Uniondale, New York.

Awards

* 2015 – Both George and Helias Doundoulakis were recipients of the OSS Society's 2015 Distinguished Service Award at th
annual Donovan Award Dinner
honoring Ambassador Hugh Montgomery in Washington, DC. * 2008 �
OSS Society
May and November, Meritorious Service Award, by the Greek Government and OSS Society, Astoria, NY * 1991 – PAA,

Pancretan Association of America The Pancretan Association of America (PAA) is an ethnic fraternal association in the United States and Canada for people of Crete, Cretan Greek ancestry. Mission Statement: The Pancretan Association of America (PAA) is a national organization ...

Distinguished Service Award, 50th Anniversary of Battle of Crete, Astoria, NY

Notable Works

US Patent Under United States law, a patent is a right granted to the inventor of a (1) process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, (2) that is new, useful, and non-obvious. A patent is the right to exclude others, for a limited ...

3985110 ''Two-rotor engine'' *

4281628 ''High efficiency tri-rotor ballistic engine'' *

4392351 ''Multi-cylinder Stirling engine'' * ''Scatter Propagation: Theory and Practice'', (with Kamen, I.) publisher: Sams, Long Beach, CA, U.S.A, 1956. * ''Shadows in the nights'' (Greek: ''Σκιές τις Νύχτες'') 1999, written in Greek.

Filmography

George Doundoulakis portrayed himself, along with Patrick Leigh Fermor in the 2005 movie, '' The 11th Day: Crete 1941'' .

References

External links

The 11th Day: Crete 1941

Benaki Museum acquisition of Leigh Fermor's home in Kardamyli, Mani, Greece

Cohen, Marshall H. 2009. ''Genesis of the 1000-foot Arecibo dish''

The Congressional Country Club during World War II

* ttp://www.myuniquelifetimeassociationwithpatrickleighfermor.org Doundoulakis, H., Gafni, G. 2015. ''My Unique Lifetime Association with Patrick Leigh Fermor''
Gaffney, F. Center for Security Policy — ''5 Great American Intelligence Heroes Honored at DC Dinner''

* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/11/09/at-black-tie-affair-modern-spies-meet-spunky-nonagenarian-world-war-ii-heroes/ Lamothe, D., 2014. The Washington Post — ''Spy party: Tuxedos, martinis and some of the greatest heroes of World War II'']
Patrick Leigh Fermor Society

OSS Society
*
OSS Society Distinguished Service Award 2015
'
''OSS: The Secret History of America's First Central Intelligence Agency'' By Richard Harris Smith

Persico, J. ''Casey: from the OSS to the CIA''Smithsonian Channel, ''World War II Spy School''

Vassos, John, Maj.: Chief Training Officer for the Middle East Theatre for the OSS' "Spy School," 1944–1945

Vassos, John, Maj.: "The Training of Agent and Radio Operator Middle East Theater, circa 1940"

Woodward, R. ''Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, 1981–1987''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doundoulakis, Helias 1921 births 2007 deaths American people of Greek descent Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni Greek Resistance members 20th-century American physicists United States Army personnel of World War II World War II spies for the United States People of the Office of Strategic Services Recipients of the Legion of Merit Espionage Recipients of the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom United States Army soldiers American expatriates in Greece