Battle of Rhodes (1943)
Battle of Rhodes (1943) | |||||||||
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Part of the Second World War | |||||||||
German Panzer IVs in Rhodes. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Italy | Germany | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Inigo Campioni | Ulrich Kleemann | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
39,100 men (34,000 Army, 3,000 Air Force, 2,100 Navy) | 6,000–8,000 men | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
447 dead 300 wounded 30,000 POW | 1 merchant ship captured |
The Battle of Rhodes took place between Italian and German forces for the control of
Background
When the
Rhodes garrison
Italian
Campioni’s staff was headquartered in the
The Italian Army had on Rhodes the
These troops were allocated to seven defense areas, some on the coast and some inland; the Rhodes Fortress Area was at the northern end of the island, Kalitea Area in the north-east, Kalathos Area in the east, Vati Area which spread from the Lindos promontory in the south-east to Alimia bay in the west and Agios Georgios Area in the north-west. The army controlled all communications within the island, except for those of the coastal batteries and sighting points, which were under Navy control.
The
Few naval units were available at Rhodes; the 3rd MAS Flotilla with three motor torpedo boats and one MAS, the 14th Anti-Submarine Group with two submarine chasers, the 39th Minesweeping Flotilla with eight auxiliary minesweepers, the gunboat Sebastiano Caboto (immobilized by engine rouble) and the steamer Pomezia (used as a floating refrigerated warehouse). Naval personnel on the island amounted to about 2,100 men.
The
German
The German presence on Rhodes had begun in January 1943. Several attempts to put Egeomil under German control had failed, but the Germans had eventually reached an agreement with the Regia Aeronautica to place two 88 mm Flak batteries on the island to strengthen the anti-aircraft defense of the air bases. German personnel were to train Italians in using the Flak batteries and then depart but their stay was prolonged on the pretext of the expected shipment of more batteries. Towards the end of January 1943, four German officers, experts in coastal fortifications, visited the island, and in April a panzergrenadier battalion was landed in Rhodes; during the following month, two more panzergrenadier battalions arrived.
At the end of June 1943, the German general
Prelude
The announcement of the armistice on 8 September took the Italian leadership and soldiers in Rhodes by surprise; the memorandum with the instructions from the Comando Supremo (Italian Supreme Command) to Egeomil was to be sent by air but bad weather had prevented this and the messenger was still in Pescara on 9 September. On the evening of 8 September, Campioni asked Forgiero to contact Kleeman to exhort him not to give orders that could cause Italian reactions and Kleeman reacted calmly, stating that he would cooperate. Around 20:30, shortly after news of the armistice arrived, Campioni held a meeting at the Palace of the Grand Master; as there were no orders about how to act, no decisions were taken. Lieutenant colonel Marcello Fossetta, in charge of the Maritsa air base, informed the command that the German troops guarding the airport were gathered without weapons and watching a film show, so a sudden attack would be easy to carry out but he was ordered not to act, based on the promises given by Kleeman. Campioni only had the Badoglio Proclamation, which had been broadcast to the other Dodecanese islands, highlighting the last sentence, which ordered Italian forces to react "to eventual attacks from any other source [than the Allies]".
Daviso gave different orders, all ships that were at sea were to head for Leros, except for the MAS and motor torpedo boats, which were to remain in Rhodes; all the ships at Rhodes were ordered to be ready to move on short notice (except the gunboat Sebastiano Caboto, which was immobilized by engine trouble). The coastal batteries were alerted, the guard at the Rhodes Naval Command was strengthened and the naval landing force readied; the Naval Commands of Syros, Leros and Astypalaia were informed of the situation. Any aggressive action by German forces was to be opposed by arms. These instructions later turned out to be in line with the directives issued by Supermarina (Italian Navy high command) on 9 September. At midnight, Kleeman, now upset, asked Forgiero for permission to freely move his forces to be able to quickly oppose a possible British landing but received a strong refusal.
Battle
September 9
During the night, Campioni and Kleemann had a heated argument over the disposition of German troops on the island. According to some (there is no consensus on what was decided) it was agreed that the Rhodos Division would take up positions near Campochiaro, while the German troops at the air bases were to remain outside of their perimeter and any movement of German troops would require authorization by the Italian command. According to others, it was decided that the Germans would stay inside the air bases and would not disarm them if no Italian unit left Rhodes. A British aircraft over Rhodes dropped thousands of
The first German attacks began around noon; the Italians returned fire. Swift action against the Regina Division led to the capture of General Scaroina, who ordered his men to surrender.[3] The Rhodes Military Command was alerted to what was happening, and Forgiero was ordered to move to the city of Rhodes to avoid complete capture of his command. Some vehicles of his escort were intercepted by German forces and Forgiero only reached the city around 15:00, half an hour after the Germans had occupied the Maritsa air base. Daviso proposed sending the destroyer Euro, which was at Leros, to bombard the air base but the suggestion was rejected; Briganti obtained permission from Campioni to use the artillery. The guns destroyed the German tanks that had occupied the airport but also hit the Italian aircraft that were still there. When the noise of the shelling was heard in the harbour, Bagnus ordered the capture of Taganrog. The ship had a mixed Greek and German crew; the Greeks were released, while the Germans were taken prisoner and brought to the city. A new Italian crew was placed aboard the ship and the next day it left Rhodes for Symi. The Bianco battery inflicted losses on German vehicles at the Maritsa air base but was seriously damaged and had to be abandoned. The Dandolo battery was encircled and defended itself for a short time, after which its personnel were taken prisoner. The gunners freed themselves on the afternoon of 10 September.
September 10
On the night of 9/10 September, British Majors Julian Dolbey (who spoke Italian and acted as interpreter) and
Early on the morning of 10 September a German motorized formation began moving towards Maritsa, although its advance was slowed by artillery fire from Mount Paradiso and Mount Fileremo, where isolated Italian Army units remained in action. At 9:00 a German aircraft dropped leaflets offering safe passage to Italy in exchange for surrender. An hour later the destroyer Euro arrived with 200 reinforcements from Kos. As units from the inland part of the island were already reinforcing the garrison of the city of Rhodes, Euro was sent back to Kos with its troops. In the afternoon, the Maritsa battery, which was firing on the tanks that occupied the Maritsa air base, returned fire against some German 88 mm guns; together with the Melchiori battery and some mortars, they silenced the German guns, inflicting heavy casualties and losing six men. In the evening, German troops captured the positions on Mount Paradiso and Mount Fileremo and later more positions were taken. At 19:45 Jellicoe and the British sergeant, together with the Italian colonel Fanizza and an Italian major, were sent to
September 11
At 7:00 German air attacks damaged the Majorana battery and put the Navy radio station out of action. A British colonel arrived and immediately met Campioni, who once more asked for diversionary actions and for fighters to oppose the Luftwaffe. The colonel asked if he believed that a German attack on the city of Rhodes was imminent and how long the Italian garrison would be able to resist; then he was accompanied to the harbour and sent to Kastelorizo. At 8:00, an officer of the Regina Division, escorted by a German officer of the Rhodos Division, arrived with a message from Scaroina, asking for an end to the fighting in the southern part of the island. Campioni replied that the battle would go on, while he waited for a meeting with Kleemann. At 10:30 two more German officers informed the Italian command that the surrender conditions dictated by OKW were for the cessation of hostilities throughout the island, the release of German prisoners and the unconditional surrender of the Italian forces. One of the German officers added that the final conditions would be arranged with Kleemann and that Campioni had half an hour to decide, after which the city of Rhodes would be bombed.
Campioni took stock of the situation with his staff; as no British reinforcements were due to arrive soon, the military situation was considered to be desperate. Although Army units continued to resist and the city and harbour were still in Italian hands, only four artillery batteries (the Majorana battery and three anti-aircraft units) remained in action, and a German bombing of the city was certain to cause civilian casualties. It was decided to negotiate a surrender. False reports circulated that German tanks had entered the city and some ships left the harbour on their own initiative, followed by others, believing they were carrying out orders that could not be received. Daviso later ordered them to sail for Leros (according to others, they were ordered to leave Rhodes by Campioni, or by Corradini). At 15:30 Campioni, Forgiero and Daviso met Kleemann near the city. It was decided that Campioni would retain his position as governor; the Italian units would not be disbanded but would be disarmed, except for officers, who would be allowed to keep their weapons.
The German command would remain outside the city of Rhodes and no German units would enter it, except under specific conditions. The Italians destroyed
Aftermath
The Italian surrender confronted the Germans with the problem of how to handle such a large number of prisoners, with no ships available for their immediate removal. The navy and air force contingents were disarmed first, as they were determined not to co-operate and potentially more dangerous than the army, some of whose officers were showing signs of friendship towards the Germans. Kleemann had Campioni order the garrison of Karpathos to surrender, threatening to bomb the island otherwise. When Kleemann ordered him to give the same orders to Kos and Leros, Campioni refused. Soon the Germans installed themselves within the Italian command and the Italian officers, Campioni included, were evacuated. During this period many Italians tried to flee by sea to escape captivity but often these attempts did not end well and the fugitives died at sea or were discovered by the Germans. Some managed to reach Kos and Leros. The Alimia garrison, commanded by
On 19 September 1943, between 1,584 and 1,835 Italian naval and air force prisoners, were embarked the captured Italian motorship
Campioni was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland and was later handed over to RSI authorities, tried and executed for having defended Rhodes against the German invasion.[7] Sporadic resistance continued against the German occupation by Greek civilians and some Italians who had escaped capture; sergeant Pietro Carboni of the Regia Marina, helped by an Italian civilian and by a carabiniere, hid in the interior of the island and committed several acts of sabotage against the German forces, until he was discovered and killed on 20 December 1944 (he was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor).[8]
Bibliography
- Levi, Aldo (1957). Avvenimenti in Egeo dopo l'armistizio (Rodi, Lero e isole minori) [Events in the Aegean Sea after the Armistice (Rhodes, Leros and Smaller Islands)]. Attività dopo l'armistizio; Marina italiana nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale (in Italian). Vol. XVI. tome 2. Roma: Ufficio storico della Marina Militare. OCLC 256470111.
- Maltoni, Luciano Alberghini (June 2002). "Rodi 1943". Storia Militare (105): 25–43.
References
- ^ "Regio Esercito - Divisione Regina".
- ^ "Waffen-Gebirgs-Brigade der SS (tatarische Nr. 1)".
- ^ "Home Page". Dodecaneso.
- ^ "Gli avvenimenti del settembre 1943 nel Dodecaneso e nelle altre isole greche". Dodecaneso. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ "ILMIOLIBRO - L'11 settembre di Rodi - catalogo - 9988".
- ^ "ANPI - Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia". Archived from the original on 7 August 2007.
- ^ "Inigo Campioni - Marina Militare".
- ^ "Pietro Carboni - Marina Militare".
Further reading
- Boog, H.; Rahn, W.; Stumpf, R.; Wegner, B. (2001). The Global War: Widening of the Conflict into a World War and the Shift of the Initiative 1941–1943. Germany in the Second World War. Vol. VI. Translated by Osers, E.; Brownjohn, J.; Crampton, P.; Willmot, L. (Eng. trans. Oxford University Press, London ed.). Potsdam: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Research Institute for Military History). ISBN 0-19-822888-0.