Dodecanese campaign
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Dodecanese campaign | |||||||||
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Part of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II | |||||||||
Location of the Dodecanese Islands (in red) in relation to Greece | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Italy United Kingdom Naval Support: | Germany | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Inigo Campioni (POW) Luigi Mascherpa (POW) Felice Leggio Robert Tilney (POW) L.R.F. Kenyon (POW) |
Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller Ulrich Kleemann | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
55,000 Italians[1] 5,300 British[1][2] | 7,500 Germans[3] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Italian: 5,350 killed and wounded[2] 44,391 captured[1] British: 4,800 casualties[2] 113 aircraft destroyed 1 cruiser crippled 3 cruisers damaged 6 destroyers sunk 4 destroyers damaged 3 submarines sunk 4 submarines damaged 10 minesweepers and coastal defence ships sunk[4][5] |
1,184 casualties[2] 15 landing craft destroyed |
The Dodecanese campaign of
Background
The
After the
As an Italian surrender became increasingly possible, in August 1943 the British prepared to take advantage of a possible Italian-German split, in the form of a smaller version of Accolade. A force based on the
Prelude
Fall of Rhodes
On the announcement of the armistice, the Italian garrisons on most of the
On 8 September 1943, the Italian garrison on the island of
Despite this setback, the British pressed ahead with the occupation of the other islands, especially the three larger ones of
From 10 to 17 September, the
Battle
Battle of Kos
Having identified the vital role of the Allies' only airfield at Kos, Fliegerkorps X bombed it and the Allied positions of the island, from 18 September. Reinforcements gave the Germans 362 operational aircraft in the Aegean by 1 October.
Battle of Leros
After the fall of Kos, the Italian garrison of Kalymnos surrendered, providing the Germans with a valuable base for operations against Leros. Unternehmen Leopard (Operation Leopard) was originally scheduled for 9 October but on 7 October, the Royal Navy intercepted and destroyed the German convoy headed for Kos. Several hundred men and most of the few German heavy landing craft were lost; replacements were transported by rail and it was not until 5 November that the Germans had assembled a fleet of 24 light infantry landing craft. To avoid interception by the Allied navies, they were dispersed among several Aegean islands and camouflaged. Despite Allied efforts to locate and sink the invasion fleet, as well as repeated shelling of the ports of German-held islands, the Germans suffered few losses and were able to assemble their invasion force, under Generalleutnant Müller, for Unternehmen Taifun (Operation Typhoon) on 12 November.
The German invasion force consisted of personnel from all branches of the Wehrmacht, including veterans from the 22nd Infantry Division, a
Leros had been subjected to air attack by the Luftwaffe beginning on 26 September which caused significant casualties and damage to the defenders of the island and supporting naval forces. In the early hours of 12 November, the invasion force in two groups approached the island from east and west. Despite failures in some areas, the Germans established a bridgehead, while airborne forces landed on Mt. Rachi, in the middle of the island. After repulsing Allied counter-attacks and being reinforced the following night, the Germans quickly cut the island in two and the Allies surrendered on 16 November. The Germans suffered 520 casualties and captured 3,200 British and 5,350 Italian soldiers.[21]
Since the operational theater was dominated by a multitude of islands and the Allies and Germans had to rely on naval vessels for reinforcements and supplies, the naval component of the campaign was especially pronounced. Initially, naval presence on both sides was low, most of the Allied shipping and warships having been transferred to the central Mediterranean in support of the operations in Italy, while the Germans did not have a large naval force in the Aegean. The Germans had air superiority, which caused the Allies many losses in ships. Vice Admiral Werner Lange, German Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Aegean, tried to reinforce the isolated German garrisons and carry out operations against Allied garrisons, while transporting Italian prisoners of war to the mainland. Allied ships tried to intercept the German ships, resulting in heavy losses. On 23 September, HMS Eclipse damaged the torpedo boat TA10 and sank the steamer Gaetano Donizetti, which had 1,576 Italian captives on board.[12] Another disaster occurred a month later, when USAAF B-25 Mitchells and RAF Beaufighters sank the cargo ship Sinfra, which had 2,389 Italian POWs, 71 Greek POWs and 204 German guards on board, of whom only 539 were saved.[19]
On 14 September, the first Allied loss occurred, when the Greek submarine
On the night of 10/11 November, destroyers HMS Petard, HMS Rockwood and ORP Krakowiak bombarded Kalymnos and HMS Faulknor bombarded Kos, where German forces were assembling for the attack on Leros. The German convoy reached Leros on 12 November, escorted by over 25 ships, mostly submarine chasers, torpedo boats and minesweepers. During the subsequent nights, Allied destroyers failed to find and destroy the German vessels, limiting themselves to bombarding the German positions on Leros. With the fall of Leros on 16 November, the Allied ships were withdrawn, evacuating the remaining British garrisons.[21] By that time, the Germans had also used Dornier Do 217s of Kampfgeschwader 100 (KG 100), with their novel Henschel Hs 293 radio-controlled missile, scoring two hits. One caused severe damage to HMS Rockwood on 11 November and another sank HMS Dulverton two days later.[21] The Allies lost six destroyers sunk and two cruisers and two destroyers damaged between 7 September and 28 November 1943.[6]
Aftermath
After the fall of Leros, Samos and the other smaller islands were evacuated. The Germans bombed Samos with
The British failure to capture the Dodecanese sealed the fate of
Italian prisoners of war were transferred to the mainland by the Germans in overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels, which led to several accidents, of which the sinking of the
See also
- The Guns of Navarone (1957), novel
- The Guns of Navarone (1961), film
References
- ^ a b c Levi, Aldo. Avvenimenti in Egeo dopo l´armistizio (PDF). Ufficio storico della Marina Militare. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59884-457-3. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
- ^ "8 Settembre 1943 La Resistenza". Archived from the original on 2009-09-22. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
- ^ "Warandgamemsw.com". Warandgamemsw.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ Forsyth, Rob (2011-12-16). "THE BATTLE FOR LEROS – TED JOHNSON AND BILL MINNEAR" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-06. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
- ^ a b Cunningham Pg 582
- ^ Irving, David (1990). Hitler's war. Viking press, p.584
- ^ Antony Beevor, Crete, The Battle and the Resistance
- ^ Anthony Rogers (2007), p. 49.
- ^ Anthony Rogers (2007), pp. 51–52.
- ^ Anthony Rogers (2007), pp. 54–56.
- ^ a b "Seekrieg 1943, September". Wlb-stuttgart.de. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ "rapidttp Resources and Information". rapidttp.com. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ Anthony Rogers (2007), pp. 66–67.
- ^ "Caithness Commandos:Special Service Overseas:Part 3 by David Bews/Steven Cashmore:Highland Archives". Iprom.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ Anthony Rogers (2007), p. 87.
- ^ Anthony Rogers (2007), pp. 78–84.
- ^ "Leros Churchill's folly". Dodecaneso.org. Archived from the original on 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ a b c d "Seekrieg 1943, Oktober". Wlb-stuttgart.de. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ISBN 978-88-495-2082-8.
- ^ a b c "Seekrieg 1943, November". Wlb-stuttgart.de. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- S2CID 154220013.
- ^ "The Jews in Greece— Introduction". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ "Greece Virtual Jewish Tour". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ "Holocaust". Rhodesjewishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ "The Holocaust in Greece" (PDF). Ushmm.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ISBN 978-0-00-686210-9.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-7195-6831-2.
- Holland, Jeffrey (1988). The Aegean Mission: Allied Operations in the Dodecanese, 1943. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-31326-283-8.
- Schenk, Peter (2000). Kampf um die Ägäis. Die Kriegsmarine in den griechischen Gewässern 1941–1945 [Battle for the Aegean Sea: The Navy in Greek Waters in 1941–1945] (in German). Germany: Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 978-3-81320-699-9.
- Rogers, Anthony (2007). Churchill's Folly: Leros and the Aegean: The Last Great British Defeat of World War II. Athens: Iolkos. ISBN 978-960-426-434-6.
- Cunningham, A. (1951). A Sailor's Odyssey: the Autobiography of Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. London: Hutchinson. OCLC 882476825.
- Eisenbach, Hans Peter (2009). Fronteinsätze eines Stuka-Fliegers Mittelmeer 1943 [Combat Operations a Stuka Pilot in the Mediterranean 1943]. Aachen: Helios-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938208-96-0.
- Insolvibile, Isabella (2010). Kos 1943–1948: La strage, la storia [Kos 1943–1948: The History and the Massacre] (in Italian). Napoli: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane. ISBN 978-8-84952-082-8.
- 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.
- Shores, Christopher; Massimello, Giovanni; Guest, Russell; Olynyk, Frank; Bock, Winfried; Thomas, Andy (2021). A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: Volume Five: From the Fall of Rome to the End of the War 1944 – 1945. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-911621-97-3.
External links
- Special Operations in the Dodecanese Archived 2010-05-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Account of the Battle of Leros Archived 2009-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
- Time lines of World War II