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In 1939, an order for 24 [[Bloch MB.150|Marcel Bloch MB.151]] fighter aircraft was placed, but only nine of the aircraft reached Greece, since the outbreak of [[World War II]] prevented the French from completing the order. The aircraft entered service in the 24th Pursuit Squadron (MD – ''Moira Dioxis'') of the air force.
During the [[Greco–Italian War|Italian invasion of Greece]] (1940-1941) in the Second World War, although being severely outnumbered and counting only 79 aircraft against 380 fighters and bombers of the Italian [[Regia Aeronautica]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Piekalkiewicz|first1=Janusz|last2=Van Heurck|first2=Jan|year=1985|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcR8AAAAIAAJ&q=Mitralexis|title=The air war, 1939–1945|publisher=[[Blandford Press]]|isbn=978-0-918678-05-8|access-date=25 March 2016|via=Google Books}}</ref> RHAF managed to successfully resist the assault. On 30 October, two days after the start of the war, there was the first air battle. Some [[Henschel Hs 126|Henschel Hs126s]] of 3/2 Flight of 3 Observation ''Mira'' took off to locate Italian Army columns. But they were intercepted and attacked by [[Fiat CR.42 Falco]]s of 393<sup>a</sup> ''Squadriglia''. A first Henschel was hit and crashed, killing its observer, [[Pilot Officer]] Evanghelos Giannaris, the first Greek [[aviator]] to die in the war. A second Hs126 was downed over [[Mount Smolikas]], killing Pilot Officer Lazaros Papamichail and [[Sergeant]] Constantine Yemenetzis.{{Sfn|Carr|2012|p=4}} On 2 November 1940, a [[Breguet 19]] intercepted the [[3 Alpine Division Julia]] while it was penetrating the [[Pindos]] mountain range in an attempt to occupy [[Metsovo]]. On the same day, 2nd Lieutenant [[Marinos Mitralexis]] having run out of ammunition, aimed the nose of his [[PZL P.24]] right into the tail of an enemy [[CANT Z.1007|
After 65 days of war, the RHAF had lost 31 officers, seven wounded, plus four [[Non-commissioned officer|NCOs]] killed and five wounded. Meanwhile, the number of [[combat aircraft]] had dropped to 28 fighters and 7 battle-worthy bombers.{{Sfn|Carr|2012|p=45}} By March 1941, the Italian invasion on air and ground had been successfully pushed back, aided by the vital contribution of the RHAF to the Greek victory. During the [[Greco-Italian War]] the Royal Hellenic Air Force shot down 68 enemy aircraft (official records) and claimed another 24. The [[Royal Air Force|British RAF]] claimed 150 additional air victories against Italian aircraft. However, the Italian Air Force recorded only 65 aircraft lost, during the entire campaign against the Greeks and later the British, with 495 additional aircraft reported as damaged.{{Sfn|Carr|2012|p=171}}
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