Battle of Leros
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| Battle of Leros | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second World War | |||||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||||
| Great Britain | Germany | ||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||
| Brig.R.Tilney | General Wolf | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| One Infantry Brigade | |||||||||
| Casualties | |||||||||
| British and Italian 4,800 Casualties 419 K.I.A 115 R.A.F aircraft lost |
German 4,000 Casualties 520 K.I.A |
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| Leros Islanders 20 Civilians Killed |
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The Battle of Leros occurred in the Second World War from 26th September - 16th November 1943 between troops from the British Army and Germany.
Contents |
[edit] History
The island of Leros is part of Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean . After the fall of Greece in April 1941 and the Allied loss of the island of Crete in May, Greece and it's many islands came under the command of German and Italian occupation forces. With the surrender of Italy in 1943 the Greek islands, which were stratigically vital to Churchill, became reachable for the first time since the Loss of Crete in 1941 .
| Churchill had a dangerously impractical vision of securing a route through the Dardenelles to Russia as an alternative to the Arctic Convoys. (Beevor, Crete,The Battle and the Resistance) |
The Italian garrisons on most of these islands either wanted to change sides and fight with the Allies or just return to their homes. German forces, based largely on mainland Greece, were rushed to many of the major islands to gain control. The speed of the German occupation of islands like Rhodes and decisions made at the Quebec Conference to divert all available shipping from the Eastern Mediterranean pushed the operation forward, resulting in a scaled down force being committed. Only one brigade from Malta , a few unsuitable craft and a handful of fighters were available to send to Cos and Leros, arriving on the 16th of September 1943. The U.S. and British aircraft were based in Lebanon to give the naval and army forces air support. By late October the U.S Airforce were withdrawn to support operations in Italy leaving the small British force with a very reduced and ineffective air support. The Germans were able to bomb Leros and Cos with impunity.
[edit] The Battle
[edit] Cos
The 1st Bn, Durham Light Infantry surrendered on Cos. The Germans landed on the 3rd November and hostilities had stopped on the 4th November.
[edit] The Landings
The Germans bombed the British and Greek naval forces, based at Leros,sinking the HMS Intrepid and the Greek battleship Queen Olga and causing many casualties amongst ground forces. Without air support the ground and naval forces in the area could not defend themselves from the relentless air attacks that would be unleashed upon them by the Luftwaffe . On 12th November 1943 at 4.30 am, after almost fifty days of airstrikes, an invasion fleet landed troops at Palma Bay and Pasta di Sopra on the north-east coast (in what the Germans called Operation Taifun). The Italian coastal gunners were not able to prevent these landings. There were other landings at Tangeli 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.
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 Brandenburgers 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. Counter attacks during the rest of that day failed. During the night of the 12th/13th November more German reinforcements were landed. Counter attacks 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 the 14th November two more companies of the Royal West Kent Regiment from Samos were 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 taked to Samos. The Germans, on the other hand landed an estimated 1,000 troops and artillery during that night.
[edit] Surrender and Aftermath
On the morning of the 16th November it became apparent to the British commander, Brigadier Tilney, that their situation was untenable and surrendered.
| The withdrawal of the American fighters had sealed the fate of Leros. With no air support and heavily attacked by enemy aircraft, the three battalions had fought for five days until they were exhausted and could fight no more. The Commander-in- Chief, Ninth Army, General Wilson, reported to the Prime Minister: "Leros has fallen, after a very gallant struggle against overwhelming air attack. It was a near thing between success and failure. Very little was needed to turn the scale in our favour and to bring off a triumph." Everything was done to evacuate the garrisons of the other Aegean islands and to rescue survivors from Leros, and eventually an officer and fifty-seven other ranks of the King's Own rejoined the details in Palestine. Fall of Leros |
The Battle of Leros was considered by some to be the last great defeat of the British Army in World War II. The loss of the island was received with shock by the British public.
[edit] British Forces on Leros
- British 234th Infantry Brigade - Brigadier R.Tilney
- 2nd Bn, The Royal Irish Fusiliers - Lt.Col.Maurice French (Killed)
- 1st Bn, The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
- 4th Bn, The Buffs (The Royal East Kent Regiment) (58 escaped)
- 2nd Bn, Royal West Kent Regiment - (Landed in four stages during battle) (90 escaped)
[edit] German Forces
[edit] Casualties
- Germany - 520
- Allies - 187
- Italy - 164
- Greek Navy - 68
- Civilians - 20
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Greek site on the Battle of Leros
- Account of the Battle of Leros
- Order of Battle Data Base
- Time lines of World War II
- Dedication to King's Own
- Brandenburgers on Leros
- Special Operations in Dodecanese
[edit] Sources
- "Crete, The Battle and the Resistance" , Anthony Beevor, Great Britain, 1991, John Murray (Publishers). ISBN 0-7195-6831-5
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