Dodecanese Islands campaign

Dodecanese Islands campaign, fought on and amongst this group of Italian islands in the Aegean Sea off Turkey's south-western Anatolian coastline as part of the battle for the Mediterranean. As the name implies, there are twelve main islands but Rhodes and Castelrosso (now Kastellorizo) are usually also recognized as being part of the group. The Italians had an air base on Rhodes, the strategic key to the area, an airfield on Cos, and a seaplane base and naval batteries at Leros, while the Germans had an air base on Scarpanto.

On the day Italy surrendered, 8 September 1943, a British officer parachuted into Rhodes to persuade the 30,000-strong Italian garrison to round up the 7,000 Germans on the island. Instead, the Germans attacked the Italians who immediately succumbed. At Churchill's behest a British infantry brigade was then dispatched to the area by the C-in-C Middle East Command, General Maitland Wilson, to join the Long Range Desert Group and Special Boat Squadron (see Special Boat Section) which, transported by British-manned caiques belonging to the Raiding Forces' Levant Schooner Flotilla, were already at work there.

By early October nearly 4,000 British troops were dispersed amongst eight of the islands and the Aegean island of Samos to the north. But with Allied forces heavily committed in the Italian campaign it was impossible to gain air superiority and the Germans were determined to maintain their grip on the area. On 3 October they attacked Cos and the British force there quickly surrendered.

Churchill ignored advice to withdraw. He was determined, against US wishes, to pursue a Balkan offensive that might bring Turkey—which claimed sovereignty of the Dodecanese—with its 40 divisions into the war on the Allied side. He therefore insisted that Leros and Samos be held at all costs, and that the invasion of Rhodes was still to be attempted, as it was impossible to continue holding the former without the latter. Leros was reinforced and by early November it contained half the 5,000 men now concentrated on the islands. On 12 November the Germans assaulted the island and overran the British garrison. The remaining British forces were then withdrawn from the area, except for Castelrosso. It was, commented the only war correspondent on the spot, ‘a disaster as big as Dieppe’.

The British lost 5 battalions, some 4,800 men, and of the 6 cruisers and 33 destroyers (7 of which were Greek) committed to the campaign, 4 cruisers were damaged, 6 destroyers sunk and 4 damaged, while 2 submarines and 10 small coastal craft and minesweepers were also sunk. Of the 288 British aircraft which took part, and which flew 3,746 sorties, 113 were lost. German casualties totalled 1,184 men and 15 small landing craft and ferries.

After the war the Dodecanese were ceded to Greece.

Bibliography

Holland, J. , The Aegean Mission (London, 1988).