5372 SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 11 OCTOBER, 1948 launches and caiques of the Levant Schooner and war material as they could lay their hands Flotilla manned by Royal Naval crews provided on. With the exception of Syra they estab- the transport. lished observation posts only and did not 5. In Rhodes our emissaries were unable to garrison the islands in force. prevent the Italian Governor surrendering the 10. Apart from Rhodes, the Italians' atti- island to the Germans after a short resistance. tude was co-operative in the islands visited by (There were 30,000 Italian and 7,000 German us, though their fighting value was low. It troops in the island.) The combined service was considered that even if Leros were rein- mission waiting at Casteloraso and the 234 forced by such British troops as were avail- Infantry Brigade waiting to proceed to Rhodes able and Kos airfields developed and defended were therefore held available to reinforce the adequately, we should not be in a secure posi- British forces in the other islands. tion to continue operations in the Aegean until 6. During this phase our naval forces, con- Rhodes was in our possession. Accordingly on sisting of six Fleet of the 8th 22nd September the Chiefs' of Staff approval Flotilla, 2 Hunt class destroyers, was obtained to mount " Accolade " before Submarine Flotilla, 6 motor launches, 4 the end of October with- such forces as were L.C.F.* caiques and 8 R.A.F. high speed available in the Middle East and could be spared launches and pinnaces were employed on:— from the Central Mediterranean. (a) Building up British forces and supplies in the islands. PHASE II. (6) Intercepting enemy shipping proceed- The Start of the German Offensive. ing from the Piraeus to the Dodecanese. 26th September-i2th October. 7. By 28th September, the following had been landed:— n. With the arrival of large enemy air re- inforcements from France and the Russian front 2,700 men, 21 guns, 7 vehicles, 450 tons and the proved inefficiency of the A.A. defences of stores and ammunition. of Leros, as shewn by the sinking of H.M.S. 8. Acting on air reconnaissance, on reports INTREPID ( C. A. de W. Kitcat, from agents in the Piraeus area and from R.N.) and H.H.M.S. QUEEN OLGA in Leros Italian reporting posts and L.R.D.G.f patrols harbour on 26th September, operations of our in the Cyclades, destroyers carried out sweeps surface forces in the Aegean were restricted to ;n the Aegean by night, retiring to the south- sweeps during the dark hours with forces who ward or lying up in Leros during the day. On retired to the south-eastward to obtain fighter cover from Cyprus during the day. On ist i8th September, H.M.S. FAULKNOR (Captain : A. K. Scott-Moncrdeff, D.S.O., R.N.), H.M.S. October all available Fleet destroyers were ECLIPSE (Commander E. Mack, D.S.O., sailed to Malta as escort to H.M. Ships HOWE D.S.C., R.N.) and H.H.M.S. QUEEN OLGA and KING GEORGE V, leaving us with the (Lieutenant-Commander G. Blessas, D.S.O., Hunts whose speed and endurance made it R.H.N.) sank a 3,000 ton merchant vessel and difficult for them to operate far into the Aegean a 1,200 ton merchant vessel north of Stampalia and still be clear by daylight. As a result, and damaged the escort vessel, which put into H.M.S. ALDENHAM (Lieutenant-Commander Stampalia and was captured by one of our J. I. Jones, D.S.O., D.S.C., R.N.R.), patrols assisted by the Italian garrison. This H.H.M.S. MIAOULIS (Commander C. convoy was carrying specialist personnel and Nikitiades) and H.H.M.S. THEMISTOCLES supplies to Rhodes. On 23rd September, (Lieutenant-Commander N. Sams, R.H.N.) H.M.S. ECLIPSE sank a 2,500 ton merchant who were patrolling off Kaso Strait on the night vessel off the S.W. point of Rhodes which had of the 2nd/3rd October, were short of fuel and landed reinforcements in Rhodes and was re- in no position to take action on an aircraft turning to the westward. An ex-Italian tor- report of an enemy convoy sighted off Naxos pedo-boat was driven ashore and later and believed on all available intelligence to be destroyed by the R.A.F. bound for Rhodes. They were ordered to with- draw to for fuel. This convoy, in 9. Prior to the Italian surrender, the fact, carried an invasion force which was landed Germans had made preparations to take over on Kos at 0500 on October 3rd and captured the entire military administration of Greece the island in spite of stubborn resistance from as from 6th September and had disposed suffi- the British battalion, who received small cient forces on the west coast of Greece, the assistance from the Italian garrison. Peloponnesus, Melos, Crete, Scarpanto and Rhodes, to ensure the retention of their control 12. No surface force was available to interfere in these key positions. In the period im- with the landing, but submarines on patrol mediately following the surrender, the Germans were ordered to proceed to the Kos area to were in no position to undertake seaborne attack invasion shipping, and on 4th October operations, owing ,to the kck of shipping, the i2th Cruiser Squadron, consisting of H.M. escort vessels and , which they had Ships AURORA, flying the broad pendant of to obtain from the Italians or transfer from Commodore W. E. Agnew, C.B., D.S.O., other areas. By the middle of September, how- R.N., PENELOPE (Captain G. D. Belben, ever, they had collected enough craft to D.S.C., A.M., R.N.), SIRIUS (Captain despatch raiding forces to the Cyclades to P. W. B. Brooking, D.S.C., R.N.) and DIDO evacuate the Italian garrisons and such food (Captain J. Terry, M.V.O., R.N.), with five Fleet destroyers sailed from Malta at high Admiralty footnotes : * L.C.F.—large landing craft converted to mount speed to be available for operations in .the A.A. guns for air defence in combined operations. Aegean. From the night of 5th/6th onwards f L.R.D.G.—Long Range Desert Group. a force of cruisers and destroyers patrolled