Thomas Dunbabin

Who is Thomas Dunbabin?

Thomas James Dunbabin DSO, was an Australian classicist scholar and archaeologist of Tasmanian origin. His father was Thomas Dunbabin, a distinguished journalist. Dunbabin studied at the University of Sydney and then moved to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. There, he was eventually appointed Reader in Classical Archaeology and Fellow of All Souls College, specializing on Greek colonization in Italy.

During World War II, he held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and served as a SOE Field Commander on the island of Crete, where he played a key role in organizing the local resistance and earned his DSO. He used the Greek codename Yanni and was also known to locals as o Tom.