Churchill's Folly Read online

  For Sonja

  First published by Cassel 2003

  This edition first published by The History Press 2017

  The History Press

  The Mill, Brimscombe Port

  Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

  www.thehistorypress.co.uk

  This ebook edition first published in 2017

  All rights reserved

  © Anthony Rogers, 2003, 2004, 2017

  The right of Anthony Rogers to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  EPUB ISBN 978 0 7509 6958 1

  Original typesetting by The History Press

  eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

  Contents

  Foreword to original edition

  by The Rt. Hon. The Earl Jellicoe KBE, DSO, MC, FRS

  Introduction and Acknowledgements

  1 Italy and the Aegean

  2 Calm before the Storm: February–September 1943

  3 Reinforcements: September 1943

  4 Operation Eisbär: 3 October 1943

  5 Kalymnos, Symi and Levitha: October 1943

  6 The War at Sea: October 1943

  7 Leros: 17 September–11 November 1943

  8 Operation Taifun: Day One: Friday, 12 November 1943

  9 Day Two: Saturday, 13 November 1943

  10 Day Three: Sunday, 14 November 1943

  11 Day Four: Monday, 15 November 1943

  12 Day Five: Tuesday, 16 November 1943

  13 Escape

  14 Epilogue

  Maps

  1 South-Eastern Aegean

  2 Kos: Operation Eisbär

  3 Levitha 1943

  4 Leros: Operation Taifun

  5 Leros: Clidi and Surrounding Area 1943

  6 Leros: Central Region 1943

  Appendices

  1 German Unit Designations

  2 Time Zones

  3 Italian Batteries – Leros

  4 Recommendation for Award to Sottonenente di artiglieria Ferrucio Pizzigoni

  5 Letter of Condolence to Family of Unteroffizier Andreas Hutter from his Commanding Officer

  6 Letter Home from Lieutenant Colonel M. French

  7 Letter from Vice Admiral A.U. Willis to Lieutenant Commander J.H. Swain, RN

  8 Correspondence Relating to the Death of Lieutenant A. Phipps, RN

  Notes

  Select Bibliography

  Foreword

  to original edition by

  The Rt. Hon. The Earl Jellicoe KBE, DSO, MC, FRS

  This is a work which has clearly demanded and which in preparation has certainly received a great deal of research.

  Since those far off days in late 1943 I have read many accounts of the war in the Aegean and of the Battle of Leros. The author of this deeply interesting book has wisely, unlike most others, examined German as well as British sources. He has also obtained useful information from Italian, Greek and, not least, American sources. It is also good and a tribute to the author’s industry and enterprise that he has managed to obtain much useful information from those who played their part in those often most gruelling days nearly sixty years ago, be it in Leros, be it in Kos or be it in other of the Dodecanese islands.

  Anthony Rogers has also brought back to life for me many dormant memories. I now recall well being summoned down from Lebanon to Egypt and to learn, to my surprise on my arrival in Cairo, of the armistice with Italy which was to become effective that evening and, much more to my surprise, that the armistice had come as an almost equal surprise to our C-in-C, Middle East.

  I remember so vividly my subsequent parachute arrival in Rhodes for discussions with Admiral Campioni, the Italian C-in-C in the Aegean, his friendly reception and his disappointment that my most able Aide, the Polish Count Dobrski (whom I had only met two days before under his SOE alias as Major Dolbey) and I were not able to guarantee the Admiral the much needed speedy military support which he most certainly required if he were to cope with his German ex-allies in Rhodes and evict them from the vital airfields on that island. Equally, I recall the very warm and helpful reception which I received two days later from the Italians in Kos and from Admiral Mascherpa in Leros. I am of course aware of the criticism which the Italians have received for their apparent lack of support for us in this Aegean campaign. Personally, I feel this criticism to be somewhat unfair. It is not easy in war to swop sides overnight. We were not able to offer instant and much needed support to them. And, the dangers for would-be Italian supporters were considerable, as demonstrated by the number of Italian officers shot by the Germans after the fall of Kos; and the subsequent execution of both Campioni and Mascherpa.

  I also of course remember full well the active role which our military Special Forces – the LRDG and the SBS – played in this campaign: the early and essential occupation of Castelorizzo by David Sutherland’s SBS Squadron; the eviction of the Germans from Lipsos by an SBS detachment under the command of Jock Lapraik, together with that memorable young Danish officer, Anders Lassen; the quick arrival of David Lloyd Owen and the LRDG in Leros; the part which the LRDG played in the Leros battle and, also, the part which those two units played in a number of smaller islands, including Levitha, where the LRDG found themselves saddled with a pretty impossible task. Moreover, when I remind myself of the role played by our Special Forces I recall how much we owed to brave and gallant naval officers like Frank Ramseyer and Adrian Seligman, who organised our transport by launch and caique.

  It is of course the two major battles in this campaign – that in Kos and later that in Leros – with which our author is mainly concerned. I was in the nearby island of Kalymnos on the day of the German attack on Kos and I have only too clear a memory of my concern even at that early stage as to its outcome. However, our forces and the German forces in Leros were not unevenly balanced and for the first days of the battle it seemed as if it might be won. I, to this day, so well recall the first parachute attack as the Germans landed close to where I, with a small detachment, was based and I was all too struck by their courage and professionalism. However, as our author rightly points out it was total German air superiority that above all won the day for the Germans.

  Our casualties were indeed heavy and whenever I visit the fine War Graves Commission cemetery in Leros I have much in mind two very special Commanding Officers, Lieutenant Colonel Jake Easonsmith of the LRDG and Lieutenant Colonel Maurice French of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, of whom Brigadier Tilney, our overall Commander, later wrote: “When we lost Maurice we lost the battle.”

  I also think of a young Naval Officer called Alan Phipps, who had been a special friend of mine in Leros and who was killed on the last day of the battle. However, when we consider our quite heavy losses it is also right to bear in mind, as indeed the author reminds us, the considerable losses in ships and men in this whole campaign incurred by the Navy and the RAF. It is also good to remember how many of our forces escaped capture and managed to make their way back to Egypt, often with the help extended to them by friendly Greeks at considerable risk to themselves and their families.

  I happened to be among the lucky ones who managed to escape and found myself, a few days after our defeat in Ler
os, at the British Embassy in Ankara. I had barely arrived there when I was told that I was urgently required in Cairo. I took the train to Adana and from there flew to Cairo. There a car was awaiting me in which I was whisked off towards the Pyramids. We stopped at a stately house where I was informed the Prime Minister was staying following the Teheran Conference. It was then early afternoon and I was promptly ushered into the room where I found Winston Churchill in bed, taking his customary post-prandial rest. Without further ado Winston asked me for my impression of the Aegean campaign and why things had gone so wrong. I must have been by his side for at least half an hour. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the exact words I used in reply to the Great Man. I cannot believe, however, that I did not make it clear that I felt it had been a folly to embark on the Aegean campaign, for which there was much to be said, if we were not in a pretty sure position to capture Rhodes and its essential airfields at the start and that this had not proved to be the case.

  It was typical of Winston Churchill to ask the view of those, however young or junior, who had been on the spot and it was typical of him, too, despite my implied critique, to invite me and a number of other young officers to dinner at our Embassy in Cairo a few days later.

  That said, I happen to share our author’s opinion that the Leros campaign, given the circumstances, was a sad mistake.

  Introduction and Acknowledgements

  The former commanding officer of Jägerregiment 1 “Brandenburg”, Oberstleutnant Uwe Wilhelm Walther, once asked why had I chosen to write Churchill’s Folly? He remarked that the Aegean was but a sideshow, especially in comparison to the Eastern Front. I could only concur.

  What happened in the Dodecanese is quite unlike the wholesale slaughter that took place in the east. But for an infantryman confronted with imminent death, was it very different whether he ended his days in a frozen foxhole in Russia or a dusty shell scrape in Greece? The war in the Aegean was a neglected topic and, I felt, a story that deserved to be told.

  In a way, too, my decision to write about the battle for the Dodecanese is a consequence of my connection with another Mediterranean island. My mother was from Malta, where I grew up, and where I later served in the Royal Marines Commandos. I have always been fascinated by Malta’s history, the war years in particular, and it was while researching my book Battle over Malta that I became interested in the fate of the thousands of infantrymen who had garrisoned the island during the siege of 1940–2. The 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment, 1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment and 1st Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment had subsequently fought in Sicily and Italy as 231 Infantry Brigade before being withdrawn to take part in the Normandy landings as 231 (Malta) Independent Brigade Group. The 4th Battalion Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs), together with 234 Infantry Brigade comprising 1st Battalion Durham Light Infantry, 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers (Faughs) and 2nd Battalion Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment had been deployed to the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean, only to be annihilated as fighting formations while defending Kos and Leros in autumn 1943. As a suitable topic for another book, 231 Brigade certainly offered potential. However, the Italian campaign and the war in Western Europe have been well documented. Another option was to write about about the lesser-known conflict into which 234 Brigade had been flung.

  When I read Dr Peter Schenk’s excellent feature about the fighting on Kos and Leros in After the Battle magazine, I decided to see the islands for myself. As my partner Sonja Stammwitz was looking for an alternative holiday destination to Malta, the Aegean seemed an ideal choice. We visited Leros for the first time in September 2000. Many hours were spent clambering over barren, windswept hills, in exploring treacherous ravines and walking along the rocky shoreline and I could only wonder what it must have been like to fight for one’s life over such rugged terrain. If it was tough for the defender, it had to be a daunting prospect for the attacker. I came away convinced that here was a tale waiting to be told: about the courage and tenacity displayed by ordinary soldiers, sailors and airmen of both sides, and the waste and sacrifice caused by poor planning and the ineptitude of politicians and senior officers alike.

  In England, I was invited to meet Ted Johnson who had fought on Leros as a young subaltern in the Faughs. His personal account Island Prize is essential reading for anyone interested about life on Leros in an infantry battalion. Ted provided me with his own documentation and material relating to the battle including correspondence with German veterans, all of which was to prove invaluable. I began to research and write about events soon after.

  Existing British Army war diaries, although they tend to have been compiled by survivors at a later date, were one reference source. More information was derived from the many and varied after-action reports, as well as patrol reports of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and records of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Former members of the Wehrmacht and the ever-helpful Peter Schenk provided copies of German records, without which the story would have been incomplete. Additional German material was discovered at the Imperial War Museum in London.

  Few books cover the fighting on Kos and Leros and what is available is not always reliable. A notable exception is War in the Aegean by Peter Smith and Edwin Walker. This explains the background to events in September–November 1943 and presents a good overall picture of the battles fought in the air, at sea and on the ground. J.S. Guard, with Improvise and Dare, has also provided a most informative account about the war in the Aegean between 1943 and 1945. However, the full story of 234 Brigade and supporting units in the fighting for Kos and Leros remained untold until 2003 with the publication of Churchill’s Folly.

  Churchill’s Folly could not have been written without Sonja Stammwitz. In addition to interviewing German veterans, Sonja dealt with their correspondence and also translated German wartime documents. She never complained when our Aegean holidays invariably turned into fact-finding tours. In addition, Peter Schenk was a constant source of information. During our second trip to the Aegean, Peter and his wife Michaela joined Sonja and me. Their knowledge about the Dodecanese was invaluable. I am also indebted to Ted Johnson and his wife Ruth for their help and generous hospitality. Equally kind hosts were William and Judy Chatterton Dickson, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Maurice French, who commanded the Faughs on Leros until his death in action on 14 November 1943. Mike Ramseyer, son of the late Lieutenant Commander L.F. Ramseyer, RNVR, of Force 133, provided unrestricted access to his father’s wartime papers and photographs.

  Former members of the armed forces of both sides selflessly gave of their time to corroborate events and/or to provide their own recollections. To this end Churchill’s Folly is as accurate as one would expect. If there are any errors, the responsibility is mine. My sincere thanks and appreciation to the many war veterans who helped to make this work possible, not least the following (ranks are those held in autumn 1943): Royal Navy: Chief Petty Officer Frank Forster (HMS Panther), Lieutenant Geoffrey W. Searle (ML 355, ML 349); Royal Marines: Marine Cecil P. Wareham (HMS Echo); Royal Tank Regiment: Captain Stanley E. Beckinsale (Constantinos, Levant Fishing Patrol); 1st Battalion The Durham Light Infantry: Lance Corporal Bob Hawkesworth; 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers: Lieutenant R. Austin Ardill, Sergeant Douglas Cone, Corporal John (Jack) Harte, Lieutenant E.B.W. (Ted) Johnson, Corporal Vic ‘Taffy’ Kenchington, Lance Corporal Walter Pancott, Jimmy Silver, Lieutenant Frank Smith; 2nd Battalion The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment: Lieutenant Clifford A.L. Clark, Sergeant George Hatcher, Lieutenant Richard A. ‘Jimmy’ James; 4th Battalion The Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs): Major Vincent G. ‘Pistol’ Bourne, Sergeant Bob Earle (attached 234 Brigade Headquarters), Private A. Goodman, Lieutenant Geoffrey Hart, Sergeant Albert H. Lukehurst, Lieutenant Eric J. Ransley, Private Jack Swinnock; 1st Battalion The King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster): Lieutenant Bob King, Lance Corporal Bill Moss, Sergeant Reg Neep, Private Jack Ponsford; Long Range Desert Group: Major David L. Lloyd Owen; 11th Battalion The Parach
ute Regiment: Corporal J.S. Bourne; Special Boat Squadron: Major Lord Jellicoe; Royal Army Medical Corps: J. Rawlinson; 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery: Major John M. ‘Pat’ McSwiney; Royal Corps Of Signals: Sergeant George Gilchrist Hall; United States Army Air Forces: Major Bill Leverette; Kriegsmarine: Oberleutnant zur See Hansjürgen Weissenborn (R 194, R 210); II. Bataillon/Grenadierregiment 16: Oberfeldwebel Hans-Walter Lünsmann, Oberleutnant Günther Steinmann; II. Bataillon/Grenadierregiment 65: Feldwebel Gustav Wehrs; Jägerregiment 1 “Brandenburg”: Oberstleutnant Uwe Wilhelm Walther; III. Bataillon/Jägerregiment 1 “Brandenburg”: Oberjäger Haat Haacke, Sanitätsgefreiter Rudolf Kahlert; 1. Kompanie/Küstenjägerabteilung “Brandenburg”: Obergefreiter Fritz Kramer, Hauptmann Armin Kuhlmann, Leutnant Hans Schädlich and Oberstabsarzt Martin Schrägle; I. Bataillon/Fallschirmjägerregiment 2: Gefreiter Georg Goldschmidt, Obergefreiter Walter Keller, Hauptmann Martin Kühne, Leutnant Karl Franz Schweiger; II. Gruppe/Transportgeschwader 4: Unteroffizier Andreas Hutter.

  My thanks are extended to the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum for granting permission to reproduce extracts from archive material, and to the army attaché at the Italy Embassy in London and the staff at Stato Maggiore della Marina in Rome for providing Italian source references. I am also grateful to Sergio Andreanelli, Tim Broderick, Mrs Adrianne Browne, Major (Retired) R.S. Cross DL, Mrs S.A. Dickson at the Air Historical Branch (RAF), Otto Dieterle (publisher of 1. Regiments Brandenburg ‘Panduren’ old comrades’ newsletter), Frau Marianne Dülken, Nigel Gander, Daniele Guglielmi, Edwin Horlington (president of the Brotherhood of Veterans of the Greek Campaign 1940–1), Mrs Anne Judd (daughter of the late Brigadier Robert Tilney), Tassos Kanaris, Doctor Kostas Kogiopoulos MD, Mrs Cathy Leverette, Mrs Ursula Lloyd Owen, Frau Uschi Lohmann, Frau Alise Mandalka, Gino Manicone, Mrs Amanda Moreno (Curator of The Royal Irish Fusiliers Regimental Museum), Giannis and Sophia Paraponiaris, Stephen Petroni, Jeremy Phipps, Frank Rixon (overseas secretary of the George Cross Island Association), Peter Rothwell (honorary general secretary of the George Cross Island Association), Frau Brigitte Schädlich, Frau Charlotte Schönau, Major John Shephard, Derek Sullivan, Garry Symonds and Dimitris Tsaloumas.