World War II Database

Italy took the Dodecanese Island in 1940 during the invasion of Greece. The "Twelve Islands" as they were known to the Greeks served as bases for the German invasion of Crete. With Mussolini's government gone, Winston Churchill wished to take control of these islands as bomber bases to attack Adolf Hitler's oil fields in Romania. His plans were opposed by American General Dwight Eisenhower based on his suspicion of British imperialistic ambitions as well as Eisenhower's favor for a direct confrontation with German forces in Western Europe. Churchill proceeded with his own plans to align the Dodecanese Islands with the Allies despite Eisenhower's decision that he could only spare some air cover for Churchill's detachments. Eisenhower believed that the number of troops the Allies could send on such an expedition would be insufficient since he could not be certain whether the Italian troops would assist the Allies or simply back off; further, even if such an invasion succeeds, Eisenhower did not believe the Allies had enough forces to form occupation garrisons.

During September, 4,000 British troops from the Middle East command were welcomed by eight of the twelve islands. The German forces in the region fought back from Rhodes, from which air raids took off and attacked the British. German troops took Kos on 4 Oct, Leros on 16 Nov, and finally Samos on 20 Nov. With this failed campaign, Churchill lost almost 5,000 men, large numbers of aircraft, six destroyers, and two submarines. German losses were minimal.

Upon recapturing of the islands, German troops carried out severe reprisals on the Italians who cooperated with British forces.

After the war, Eisenhower noted that while he saw the strategic importance of the Dodecanese islands, the importance of the campaign in Italy outweighs this deviation from the masterplan. He claimed that the Combined Chiefs of Staff agreed with him on this view, but Churchill chose to ignore the advice against such an attack.

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