Dodecanese Campaign - Battle of Leros

Battle of Leros

For more details on this topic, see Battle of Leros.

In the aftermath of the fall of Kos, the Italian garrison of Kalymnos surrendered, providing the Germans with a valuable base for operations against their next target, Leros. The operation, codenamed Operation Leopard, was originally scheduled for 9 October, but on 7 October, the Royal Navy intercepted and destroyed the German convoy headed for Kos. In addition to the loss of several hundred men, the Germans also lost most of their few heavy landing craft. The Germans were forced to bring in new ones by rail, and it was not until 5 November that they had assembled a fleet of twenty-four such 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 (see naval operations section below), the Germans suffered little losses and were able to assemble their invasion force, under Generalleutnant Müller, for Operation Taifun ("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 Fallschirmjäger (paratroop) battalion, and an amphibious operations company from the Brandenburger special operation units.

The Allied garrison of Leros consisted of most of the 234th Infantry Brigade, ca. 3,000 men of the 2nd Bn, The Royal Irish Fusiliers, under Lieutenant Colonel 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 5 November. There were also ca. 8,500 regular Italian soldiers, mostly naval personnel, under Admiral Luigi Mascherpa.

Leros had been subjected by the Luftwaffe to a prolonged aerial bombardment, starting on 26 September, which had already caused significant casualties and damage, both among the defenders of the island and amongst the supporting naval forces. On the early hours of 12 November, the invasion force, separated in two groups, approached the island from east and west. Despite failures in some areas, the Germans did succeed in establishing a bridgehead, while airborne forces successfully landed on Mt. Rachi, in the middle of the island. After repulsing the Allied counterattacks and being reinforced the following night, the Germans quickly succeeded in cutting the island in two, and the Allies surrendered on 16 November. The Germans suffered 520 casualties and captured 3200 British and 5350 Italian soldiers.