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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Leros and the Aegean: September-November 1943

Leros and the Aegean: September-November 1943

Rogers, Anthony

Paperback

Series: Images of War

General Military HistoryGreek History

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1805002007
ISBN13: 9781805002000
Publisher: Greenhill Books
Published: Apr 28 2026
Pages: 160
Weight: 1.01
Height: 0.48 Width: 6.70 Depth: 9.62
Language: English
If you are looking to put WWII Greek Island photos with maps, here's a fine place to start. - Historical Miniatures Gaming Society

In autumn 1943, the Dodecanese in the eastern Aegean was the setting for a series of German air-sea landings, something not normally associated with the Wehrmacht. Under heavy fire, landing craft ferried to shore German infantry and, more than two years after sustaining frightful losses in Crete, Fallschirmjäger were deployed in their intended role, parachuting on to the islands of Kos, Astipalaea and Leros.

Both sides relied on aircraft and naval units, as well as conventional and unconventional ground forces. German paratroopers were drawn from the Luftwaffe and the special operations Division 'Brandenburg', which also fielded coastal raiders and assault troops. The Allies had on call 234 Infantry Brigade together with supporting units; a battalion of The Parachute Regiment, and Raiding Forces, which included the Long Range Desert Group, Special Boat Squadron, Commandos and Ieros Lohos (Greek Sacred Squadron).

Two months of conflict would culminate in a five-day battle for possession of Leros, which ended with the surrender of the British-led garrison on 16 November 1943. The island of Samos was taken without a struggle a few days later.

Unlike Operation Market Garden and the disaster of Arnhem one year later, the Aegean was first and foremost a British venture. As such, it may be considered the last irredeemable British defeat. For the Germans, the Aegean was a welcome reversal of recent setbacks and a final, but ultimately pointless, decisive victory: With the exception of Kastellorizo, key islands would remain under German occupation until May 1945.

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