Qualla: Battle of Rhodes (1943)

Battle of Rhodes (1943): Introduction

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Photograph: NASA, Public domain. Lieutenant Colonel Marcello Fossetta watched the German guards at Maritsa airfield put down their rifles and settle in to watch a film. It was the evening of 8 September 1943, the Italian armistice with the Allies had just been announced, and the men he had been ordered to consider enemies were sitting unarmed in a makeshift cinema. He radioed his command. A surprise attack would be easy. The order came back: do nothing. General Kleemann had given his word. Three days later, Rhodes was lost, and tens of thousands of Italian soldiers were on their way to a captivity that most of them would not survive.

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Image: Photograph: NASA | Public domain

Battle of Rhodes (1943): An Island Caught Between Allies

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pitichinaccio, Public domain. Rhodes had been Italian since 1912, the jewel of the Dodecanese, with the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights serving as Admiral Inigo Campioni's seat of government. On paper, the island was a fortress. The Italian garrison numbered around 34,000 army troops, 2,100 sailors,...

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Image: Pitichinaccio | Public domain

Battle of Rhodes (1943): Three Days of Confusion

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Janneman at German Wikipedia based on Rogers, Anthony (2019) Kos and Leros 1943: The German Conquest of the Dodecanese, Osprey Publishing, p. 23 ISBN: 9781472835109., Public domain. The instructions from Rome never arrived - the courier carrying them was stuck in Pescara because of bad weather. Around 20:30 on 8 September, Campioni held a meeting at the Palace of the Grand Master. Without orders, no decisions were made. British leaflets dropped overnight, si...

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Image: Janneman at German Wikipedia based on Rogers, Anthony (2019) Kos and Leros 1943: The German Conquest of the Dodecanese, Osprey Publishing, p. 23 ISBN: 9781472835109. | Public domain

Battle of Rhodes (1943): The Parachute Rescue That Wasn't

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Photograph: NASA, Public domain. On the night of 9 September, two British majors and a sergeant with a portable radio dropped from the dark sky onto Rhodes. One was George Jellicoe, son of the Jutland admiral; the other, Julian Dolbey, broke his leg on landing. They were brought to the Palace and met with Campio...

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Image: Photograph: NASA | Public domain

Battle of Rhodes (1943): Surrender

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Photograph: NASA, Public domain. At 10:30 on 11 September, two German officers arrived at the Palace. The terms were unconditional: cease fire across the island, release all German prisoners, lay down arms. Campioni had thirty minutes to agree before the Luftwaffe bombed the city of Rhodes. He took stock. Four a...

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Image: Photograph: NASA | Public domain

Battle of Rhodes (1943): The Sea That Swallowed Them

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Photograph: NASA, Public domain. What followed was worse than the battle. On 19 September, between 1,584 and 1,835 Italian sailors and airmen were loaded onto the captured motorship Donizetti and sent toward mainland Greece. A British destroyer, not knowing what she carried, sank her. There were no survivors. On...

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Image: Photograph: NASA | Public domain