The Wanganui Chronicle FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1943 REVERSE IN THE DODECANESE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 274, 19 November 1943, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1943 REVERSE IN THE DODECANESE

PAGER as the Middle East Command may Le to take advantage of all openings to harass the enemy in Ihe Southern Balkans, the reverses met in the Dodecanese islands would appear to suggest that it is not yet ready to cap its eagerness with performance. The powerful efforts made by the Germans to oust the Allied invaders of these former Italian-held Aegean Sea strongpoints bring into prominence the great importance the group plays in the grand strategy of the Eastern Mediterranean. The crushing of resistance on Leros is therefore all the more disquieting. Late in September reports were cabled of Allied landings on Leros, Cos and Samos, and also on Castelrosso, most easterly island of the group and only four miles from the Turkish coast, some 90 miles east of the German-held island of Rhodes. The latter was bypassed by the landing forces, and the occupation, especially of Leros, was claimed to have been accomplished by a combined Army, Navy and Air Force operation. First accounts of these successes would appear to have been premature, or else it was not anticipated that, the Germans would attach such importance maintenance of a secure footing in the Dodecanese, after the collapse of Italy, that they would be prepared to risk such large forces in attempts to regain possession. The Allied positions on Cos and Simi were found to be untenable, under strong German pressure, and in relinquishing their hold on these islands the Allies left in the hands of the enemy a base wherefrom dive-bombing attacks could be launched against the British garrisons on Leros. Further, the Germans were also able to use their airfields on Rhodes,’ seized from the Italians, and from Crete, whereas the nearest Allied bases are in Cyprus and Egypt, too far away lor effective fighter protection. Naval protection for the garrison would be extremely hazardous, even with the, co-opera-tion of carrier-borne aircraft, for such an operation might prove far too costly in enclosed waters adjacent to well supplied German air and submarine bases. In the circumstances the overpowering of the Allied landing forces, gallantly though they fought against reinforced German, units landed from sea and air, can be readily appreciated. Probably the strongest possible counter-measures were taken. Still, there is reason to doubt the wisdom of the Allied attempt to penetrate into the Aegean Sea, with a view to the seizure of strategically valuable bases, before German possession of the outer fringe of islands, from Rhodes through Crete and the Cyclades to the Grecian peninsula, had been successfully, or at least seriously, challenged, hi the meantime 1 Lje psychological result of the setback cannot be otherwise than damaging to the Allied cause. Whether or not it is the intention of the Middle East Command to take the initial steps in their long anticipated campaign in the Balkans through the islands of the Aegean Sea by a further attempt at invasions, the Axis-held island of Rhodes is going to be the toughest link in the chain to break. Similar in shape to a leaf, it is 50 miles long and about 20 miles wide. Strongly fortified, it is, next to Crete, the most important Axis defence bastion on the way to the Balkans in general and Greece in particular. The coastline of Rhodes appears ideal for invasion in various regions, being mostly sandy and flat, and on the south-east coast the ter-rain-is particularly well suited for landing operations. That, however. is all the more reason to expect that the Germans, even though preoccupied with the defence of Sicily and Italy, have found time to carry 6ut thorough defence, measures. The airport of Kalathos and two fields at Mariza and Lindos have been recently modernised, and a few mouths ago women and children were evacuated from the island, in anticipation of offensive operations by the United Nations. Rhodes, most famous and venerable island in the Aegean group, was the site of the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world until it was sold, stone by stone, to an old-material dealer. In ancient times Rhodes was a maritime power and concluded alliances with Rome. Its greatest, sons were Hippocrates and Herodotus, the latter advocating the same as its population to-day: a union with Greece. Waves of invading Persians. Saracens, Venetians and Genoese swept over war-torn Rhodes in the early days, and later the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem used it as th£ir base against Islam. They retired there from Acre in .1291, as the last stronghold on the road to the Land of the Infidels, but finally the Turks secured possession m J.j.L. and the Knights of St. John eventually made their stand on the now historic island of Malta. The Greek inhabitants of Rhodes played a major part in the War of Greek .Independence but remained under Turkish rule until Italy laid hands on the whole group shortly before the 1914-18 war. To-day Rhodes has .tell the ruthless hand ol German rule; to-morrow may bring about again its independence, but an Allied move, unless backed up more forcefully than the attempt at Leros, cannot be viewed with a major degree of confidence.