| Battle of Rhodes (1943) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Dodecanese Campaign of the Second World War | |||||||||
&sq=engine&lang=en&file=File:German_tanks_in_Rhodes.gif) German Panzer IVs in Rhodes. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Italy |
 Germany | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Inigo Campioni  |
Ulrich Kleemann | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 39,100 men (34,000 Army, 3,000 Air Force, 2,100 Navy) | 6,000–8,000 men | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
447 dead 300 wounded 30,000 POW | 1 merchant ship captured | ||||||||
The Battle of Rhodes took place between Italian and German forces for the control of Rhodes, a Greek island in the Italian (1912–1943) Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea. The Italian authorities in Rome had been negotiating the Armistice of Cassibile with the Allies and the Germans had been manoeuvring to launch a coup in Italy and Italian-garrisoned areas in southern Europe, at the first sign of treachery to the Axis. German troops had been sent to Rhodes with tanks, artillery and air support. The British deception Operation Mincemeat intended to divert German attention from Sicily may have added to German apprehensions over the Aegean area.