AHC/WI: Allied victory in Dodecanese Campaign 1943

Ideally with as little disruption to Allied plans as possible.

Operation Accolade, called for a direct attack on Rhodes and Karpathos, with three infantry divisions, an armored brigade, and support units. Landings at Crete, which was too well fortified and had a strong German garrison, were dropped. The main problem faced by the planners was the difficulty of countering Fliegerkorps X of the Luftwaffe because of a lack of air cover, since the American and British aircraft were based in Cyprus and the Middle East. This challenge was further exacerbated by the demands of the upcoming Allied invasion of Sicily. The Americans were skeptical about the operation, which they regarded as aiming mostly at post-war political benefits for Britain and an unnecessary diversion from the Italian Campaign. They refused to support it, warning the British that they would have to go on alone.[10]

As an Italian surrender became increasingly possible, in August 1943 the British started preparations to quickly take advantage of a possible Italian-German split, in the form of a smaller version of Accolade. A force based on the 8th Indian Infantry Division assembled and American assistance in the form of P-38 Lightning long-range fighter squadrons was requested. As a result of the Quebec Conference and the American refusal to assent to the British plans, the forces and ships earmarked for Accolade were diverted, barely a week before the surrender of Italy in the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September.[11]

OTL, 8th Indian Infantry Division was sent to Taranto, where, along with the 78th Infantry Division and the 4th Armored Brigade, they relieved the 1st Airborne Division which had landed there 3 weeks before. However, this was mostly pointless, since the Germans were conducting a fighting retreating on that front anyway, with the main fighting taking place much later.

POD : 8th Indian div. and its assigned shipping is held back in reserve, to exploit possible opportunity in the Dodecanese.

Sept. 3rd
Op. Baytown - Allied landing at the tip of Calabria
Armistice of Casibile is signed

Sept 7th.
Allied delegation meets with Badoglio in Rome, informing him about
- announcing the armistice the following day
- American paratroopers (82nd airborne) in Rome
- British troops (8th Indian) in Rhodes
Badoglio announces he's not ready, airborne landing in Rome cancelled


Sept. 8th
Armistice of Casibile is announced by radio
Germans begin implementing Op. Achse to disarm and occupy Italy
Rhodes Garrison informed of imminent arrival of the Indian Division by wireless

On the evening of 8 September, Campioni [Italian Governor of Rhodes] asked General Forgiero to contact Kleeman [commander of German forces on Rhodes] to exhort him not to give orders that could cause Italian reactions, and Kleeman reacted calmly, stating that he would cooperate. Around 20:30, shortly after news of the armistice arrived, Campioni held a meeting at the Palace of the Grand Master; however, as there were no precise orders about how to act, no decisions were taken. Lieutenant colonel Marcello Fossetta, in charge of the Maritsa air base, informed the command that the German troops guarding the airport were gathered without weapons and watching a film show, so a sudden attack would be easy to carry out, but he was ordered not to act, based on the previous promises by Kleeman. Campioni only had the Badoglio Proclamation, which had been broadcast to the other Dodecanese islands, highlighting the last sentence, which ordered Italian forces to react "to eventual attacks from any other source [than the Allies]".

ITTL, Campioni has also been informed of the arrival of British forces. Therefore, he orders col. Fossetta's plan for a surprise attack on Maritsa air base to be carried out, and it's likely it succeeds.

British forces arrive sometime the following day or two, and together with the Italians, outnumber the Germans on Rhodes 7:1.

After some bitter fighting, the remaining German forces on Rhodes surrender.

Remaining Allied landings go as OTL.
From 10 to 17 September, the 234th Infantry Brigade (Major-General F. G. R. Brittorous) coming from Malta, together with 160 men from the Special Boat Service, 130 men from the Long Range Desert Group, A Company of the 11th Battalion, Parachute Regiment[15] and Greek Sacred Band detachments had secured the islands of Kos, Kalymnos, Samos, Leros, Symi and Astypalaia, supported by ships of the Royal Navy and Royal Hellenic Navy.

Allied forces in Rhodes are then used to reinforce the other outlying islands, primarily Kos.

Thus, the German naval and air landing at Kos are defeated, thanks to reinforcements and air support from Rhodes, allowing Anglo-Italian forces to consolidate their positions.

In late October/ November, the Indians are relocated to Italy and replaced by someone else.

Ok, so...

1. Plausible?
2. Effects?
 
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Sorry. No instant gratification.

This is a know yet obscure battle. Few people understand the objectives, forces, involved, and other details. Any books to recommend on this? Or can you provide some background material?
 

Deleted member 1487

Assuming the Brits get a move on...it's really hard to see anything massively positive coming out of this. They would have to fight their way through the Aegean islands beyond holding their initial seizures, then as a 'prize' get to invade Greece, which really doesn't get them much and heavily detracts from Italy. The Germans backed out of Greece IOTL in October 1944 without a fight:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Civil_War#Confrontation:_1944
Then the Brits got to have all the fun of dealing with the Greek Civil War:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/30/athens-1944-britains-dirty-secret
Then they engage in partisan conflict against the Communists supported by Stalin.
 
Assuming the Brits get a move on...it's really hard to see anything massively positive coming out of this. They would have to fight their way through the Aegean islands beyond holding their initial seizures, then as a 'prize' get to invade Greece, which really doesn't get them much and heavily detracts from Italy. The Germans backed out of Greece IOTL in October 1944 without a fight:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Civil_War#Confrontation:_1944
Then the Brits got to have all the fun of dealing with the Greek Civil War:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/30/athens-1944-britains-dirty-secret
Then they engage in partisan conflict against the Communists supported by Stalin.

OTOH, a lot of local Jews get to live:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecanese_Campaign#Aftermath

Also, there's the possibility of Hitler overreacting to this, fearing the Romanian oil fields might be threatened, and deploying more forces than necessary to the theater, which would have been better served elsewhere. For example, on the island of Rhodes alone, they had the equivalent of half a panzer-grenadier division OTL.
 

Deleted member 1487

OTOH, a lot of local Jews get to live:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecanese_Campaign#Aftermath

Also, there's the possibility of Hitler overreacting to this, fearing the Romanian oil fields might be threatened, and deploying more forces than necessary to the theater, which would have been better served elsewhere. For example, on the island of Rhodes alone, they had the equivalent of half a panzer-grenadier division OTL.
Crete might get evacuated and the forces there used in Greece proper. The very high quality 22nd division had been locked down holding Crete since 1943 and was still there in late 1944, so if the Brits do invade Greece, bypassing Crete, which they could do IMHO, then the Germans if they are able to pull out occupation troops then have 75k additional men to use on the mainland, plus their defensive equipment (lots of FLAK and aircraft IIRC due to how important Crete was. In Greece the defender has all the advantages, so it turns into a worse Italy. It's not like 1941 in reverse.
 
The problem with the Dodecanese campaign is that you are robbing Peter to pay Paul. A lot of British/Indian troops that would be fighting in the mountains of Italy are going to end up in the Greek islands. You also have troops and aircraft that will be withdrawn for the The invasions of Northern and Southern France. So do you draw down troops from Italy or do you draw down troops from Greece?

I guess one positive would be that the Italian troops return home and are re-armed by the allies and fight to liberate their home country. You also save the lives of many Greek Jews. Perhaps another all Jewish unit is raised in Greece that could supply the future IDF with trained combat veterans.

But I see the Dodecanese as another road to nowhere. The RAF will keep the Germans under siege like the Japanese on Rabaul and that's about it. Rhodes becomes a base for commando raids against the mainland. Maybe this will counter the communist partisans from getting a strong foothold in Greece.
 
I guess one possibility would be, if Churchill really wanted to push the issue, to use the now opened up Aegean Sea to land troops at Kavala and accept a Bulgarian surrender in '44, preempting Stalin. Maybe even cross the straits into the Black Sea, landing at Constanta and accepting a Romanian surrender.
 
Assuming the Brits get a move on...it's really hard to see anything massively positive coming out of this. They would have to fight their way through the Aegean islands beyond holding their initial seizures, then as a 'prize' get to invade Greece,

Wasn't the plan of invading the Dodecanese
1. Get control of the Aegean, opening a route to -
2. Push supplies into Western Turkey via sea rather than via the limited railroad network Turkey had going to Syria, enabling Turkey to join the war on the side of the Allies &
3. Lend-Lease to be pushed into the Black Sea via the Dardanelles (Churchillian ambition to make up for 1915?)
 
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