Battle of Leros

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict= Battle of Leros
partof= the Dodecanese Campaign of the Second World War


caption=
date=26 September–16 November 1943
place= Leros Island, Aegean Sea
result=German victory
combatant1= flag|United Kingdom
flag|Italy|1861-state
flagicon|Greece|royal Greece
combatant2= flag|Nazi Germany|name=Germany
commander1= flagicon|United Kingdom Robert Tilney
flagicon|Italy|1861-state Luigi Mascherpa
commander2= flagicon|Nazi Germany Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller
strength1=British 234th Infantry Brigade, ca. 3,000 men
74 Squadron, RAF
7 Squadron, RSAAF
c. 8,000 Italians
strength2=
casualties1=419 dead,
4,800 wounded,
115 RAF aircraft lost
casualties2=520 dead,
4,000-5,000 woundedFact|date=August 2008
casualties3=20 civilians killed (Leros Islanders)notes=

The Battle of Leros ( _el. Μάχη της Λέρου) was the central event of the Dodecanese Campaign of the Second World War, and is widely used as an alternate name for the whole campaign. Leros was occupied by British forces on September 15 1943. The Battle of Leros itself began with the German air attacks on September 26, and culminated in the landings on November 12, ending with the capitulation of the Allied forces four days later.

Background

The island of Leros is part of the Dodecanese island group in the south-eastern Aegean Sea, which had been under Italian occupation since the Italo-Turkish War. During Italian rule, Leros, with its excellent deep-water port of Lakki (Porto-Lago), was transformed into a heavily fortified aeronautical base, "the Corregidor of the Mediterranean", as Mussolini boasted.

After the fall of Greece in April 1941 and the Allied loss of the island of Crete in May, Greece and its many islands were occupied by German and Italian forces. With the surrender of Italy on 8 September 1943 however, the Greek islands, which were strategically vital to Churchill, became reachable for the first time since the loss of Crete.

The United States was skeptical about the operation, which it saw as an unnecessary diversion from the main front in Italy. This was confirmed at the Quebec Conference, where it was decided to divert all available shipping from the Eastern Mediterranean. Nonetheless, the British went ahead, albeit with a severely scaled-down force. In addition to that, air cover was minimal, with the U.S. and British aircraft based in Cyprus and the Middle East, a situation which was to be exacerbated by the withdrawal of the American units in late October in order to support operations in Italy.

Initial Allied and German moves

The Italian garrisons on most of the Dodecanese either wanted to change sides and fight with the Allies or just return to their homes. The Allies attempted to take advantage of the situation, but the Germans were ready. As the Italian surrender became apparent, German forces, based largely in mainland Greece, were rushed to many of the major islands to gain control. The most important such force, the Sturm-Division "Rhodos" swiftly neutralized the garrison of Rhodes, denying the island's three airfields to the Allies.

By mid-September, however, the British 234th Infantry Brigade under Major General F. G. R. Brittorous, coming from Malta, and SBS and LRDG detachments had secured the islands of Kos, Kalymnos, Samos, Leros, Symi, and Astypalaia, supported by ships of the British and Greek navies and two RAF Spitfire squadrons on Kos. The Germans quickly mobilized in response. Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, the commander of the 22nd Infantry Division at Crete, was ordered to take Kos and Leros on September 23.

The British forces on Kos numbered about 1,500 men, 680 of whom where from the 1st Bn, Durham Light Infantry, 120 men from the 11th Parachute Battalion, a number of men from the SBS and the rest being mainly RAF personnel, and ca. 3,500 Italians. On 3 October, the Germans effected amphibious and airborne landings ("Unternehmen Eisbär", "Operation Polar Bear"), reaching the outskirts of the island's capital later that day. The British withdrew under cover of night, and surrendered the next day. The fall of Kos was a major blow to the Allies, since it deprived them of vital air cover. [ [http://www.dodecaneso.org/rogers_eng.htm Leros, Churchill's folly] ] The Germans captured 1388 British and 3145 Italian prisoners. [ [http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/43-10.htm "Chronik des Seekrieges 1939-1945", Württembergische Landesbibliothek, entry on October 1943] ] On October 3, German troops executed the captured Italian commander of the island, Col. Felice Leggio, and 101 of his officers, according to Hitler's September 11 order to execute captured Italian officers. [ [http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/massacres.html#Greece Massacres and Atrocities of WWII] ]

Allied forces and preparations

By October, the British forces on the island of Leros numbered ca. 3,000 men of the 2nd Bn, The Royal Irish Fusiliers, under Lt.Col. Maurice French, the 4th Bn, The Buffs (The Royal East Kent Regiment), the 1st Bn, The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), and the 2nd company of the 2nd Bn, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, under Brigadier Robert Tilney, who assumed command on November 5. There were also 7,602 regular Italian (mostly Navy) troops, plus 697 naval reservists and 20 air force reservists, including an infantry battalion and two heavy MG companies, under the island's military commander, Rear Admiral Luigi Mascherpa. The island's pre-war fortifications included also 26 artillery batteries with 115 guns, out of which 52 were A/A guns. Most of these however were badly protected from air assaults, and accordingly suffered badly from Luftwaffe attacks. Of the Italian naval vessels stationed in the island, there were the Turbine class destroyer "Euro", six MAS torpedo boats and several other auxiliary ships. [ [http://www.leros.org/lerostouristhttp/wwiileros1_gr1.htm Leros during World War II, Part 1] ] Initially, the British had planned to secure the high ground of the island's interior, but Brig. Tilney insisted on a forward defence on the coastline, which had the effect of spreading his forces too thinly.

The air force units detailed for this operation were not large. Apart from the troop-carrying and transport Dakotas, there were two day and two night Beaufighter squadrons, a Wellington Torpedo Bomber Squadron, three Baltimore and one Hudson General Reconnaissance squadrons and a detachment of Photographic Reconnaissance Spitfires. This force was based on the mainland of Africa and in Cyprus. In addition, two heavy bomber squadrons of No. 240 Squadron RAF and a Wing of IX United States Bomber Command took part at a later stage. The only real offensive force were just the two squadrons No.7 SAAF and No.74 RAF both equipped with Spitfires. In all the number of aircraft used amounted to 144 fighters (single and twin-engined) and 116 heavy, medium and torpedo bombers. Of this total of 260 aircraft, 115 were to be lost.

German forces

The German forces assembling for "Unternehmen Leopard" ("Operation Leopard") under the command of Generalleutnant Müller, comprised the III./440, II./16 and II./65 Battalions of 22nd Infantry Division, the parachuters of I./FJR 2, and an amphibious commando company of the Brandenburg Division (1./Küstenjägerabteilung). The invasion force assembled in harbours in Kos and Kalymnos, with reserves and heavy equipment waiting to be airlifted around Athens. Two groups with dive-bombers Ju 87 D3 were available for Close Air Support. I. Group of Schlachtgeschwader 3, which operated from their base in Megara and II. Group from Rhodos. II. Group of Kampfgeschwader 51 with Ju 88 were available for air strikes. The Luftwaffe unleashed continuous attacks on Leros, enjoying complete air superiority, causing many casualties among the ground forces and sinking the destroyers HMS "Intrepid" and the Greek "Vasilissa Olga" on September 26, and the Italian destroyer "Euro" on October 1. [ [http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/43-09.htm "Chronik des Seekrieges 1939-1945", Württembergische Landesbibliothek, entry on September 1943] ]

The battle

The landings

On 12 November 1943 at 4.30 am, after almost fifty days of air strikes, an invasion fleet landed troops at Palma Bay and Pasta di Sopra on the north-east coast. The Italian coastal gunners were not able to prevent these landings. There were other landings at Pandeli Bay, near Leros town, that were heavily contested by the Royal Irish Fusiliers. The Fusiliers stopped the capture of some key defensive positions but were unable to stop the landings.

German consolidation

The positions of the British units were spread around the island with poor communication between them. The attacking German forces did not only have the advantage of numerical superiority but also that of air control. In the early afternoon Luftwaffe fighter-bombers machine-gunned and bombed the area between the Gurna and Alinda Bays, followed by Junkers 52s which dropped some 500 parachutists from the Brandenburg Division, most of whom landed safely despite British efforts. The position of these landings effectively divided the island in two, separating the Buffs and a company of the King's Own on the south side of the island from the rest of the garrison. Counterattacks during the rest of that day failed. During the night of 12/13 November more German reinforcements arrived. Counterattacks by the King's Own and the Fusiliers failed during the 13th with heavy casualties, but the Buffs on the south side of the island managed to capture 130 prisoners and reclaim some control of their area.

On the night of 14 November two more companies of the Royal West Kent Regiment from Samos landed at Portolago Bay. The fighting on the 14th and 15th was mostly inconclusive with more casualties on both sides. On the night of the 15th the fourth company from the West Kents was landed and 170 German prisoners were taken to Samos. The Germans, on the other hand landed an estimated 1,000 troops and artillery during that night.

Surrender and aftermath

On the morning of 16 November it became apparent to the British commander, Brigadier Tilney, that their situation was untenable and he surrendered. 3200 British and 5350 Italian soldiers went with him into captivity. [ [http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/43-11.htm "Chronik des Seekrieges 1939-1945", Württembergische Landesbibliothek, entry on November 1943] ] The 4th Bn, The Buffs, in their isolated position, were unaware of the surrender so did not attempt to escape, consequently nearly the whole unit was captured. [ [http://www.the-queens-own-buffs.com/main_pages/Buffs/Mainpage_buffs_.html History of the Buffs] ] Like The Buffs, only ninety men from the West Kents managed to escape from the island.

After the fall of Leros, which was received with shock by the British public, Samos and the other smaller islands were evacuated. The Germans bombed Samos with Stukas, prompting the 2,500-strong Italian garrison to surrender on November 22. Along with the occupation of the smaller islands of Patmos, Fournoi and Ikaria on November 18, the Germans thus completed their conquest of the Dodecanese, which they were to continue to hold until the end of the war. The Battle of Leros was considered by some to be the last great defeat of the British Army in World War II, and one of the last German victories. The German victory was predominantly due to their possession of complete air superiority, which caused great losses to the Allies, especially in ships, and enabled the Germans to supply and support their own forces effectively. The whole operation was criticized by many at the time as another useless "Gallipoli"-like disaster, and the blame was laid at Churchill's door.

The story formed the basis for the 1957 novel "The Guns of Navarone" and the successful movie of the same name.

Casualties of the Battle of Leros

*Germans - 520
*British - 187
*Italians - 164
*Hellenic Royal Navy - 68
*Civilians - 20

External links

* [http://www.leros.org/lerostouristhttp/wwiileros1_gr1.htm Leros during World War II (in Greek)]
* [http://www.leros.org/lerostouristhttp/the-battle-of-leros.html Brief account of the Battle of Leros]
* [http://leros2002.bravepages.com/leros_war2.html Account of the Battle of Leros]
*oob unit |id=5952 | name = 234 Infantry Brigade
* [http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-in-europe/southern-europe/southern-europe-index-1943.htm Time lines of World War II]
* [http://www.duxbury.plus.com/ww2.html Dedication to King's Own]
* [http://www.ienevents.com/wbiii/emchq/24/ Brandenburgers on Leros]
* [http://www.iprom.co.uk/archives/caithness/Dodecanese.html Special Operations in the Dodecanese]

Notes

Sources

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