Churchill's Folly
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18 The crews of two 46 Squadron Beaufighters, Flight Lieutenant D.J.A. Crerar (pilot) with Pilot Officer L. Charles, and Flying Officer B.F. Wild (pilot) together with Flight Sergeant R.W. Gibbons, shared in the destruction of a Heinkel He 111H (8011/6N+EP) of II./K.G. 100; this was shot down north of Leros with the loss of Gefreiter Helmut Grundke (air-gunner); Feldwebel Johann Sonnenschein (wireless operator) was seriously injured. In turn, two Beaufighter XICs of 46 Squadron were lost together with Warrant Officer Ronald Lindsey (pilot) and Flight Sergeant Alfred C.A. Gardener (in JL894); and Canadian Flight Lieutenant Joseph A. Horsfall (pilot) and Flight Sergeant James R. Colley (in JM248). Two Messerschmitt Bf 109 pilots were each credited with shooting down a Beaufighter: the claim by Major Ernst Düllberg (Stab III./J.G.27) was timed at 2.35 p.m. north-east of Leros; that of Oberfähnrich Alexander Ottnad (8./J.G.27) occurred at 2.36 p.m. north-east of Agathonisi. A Junkers Ju 52 (7607/8T+CP) of 6./T.G.2 was shot down over Leros, crashing just offshore: Unteroffizier Herwarth Mandelkow (wireless operator) was rescued injured but died soon afterwards in hospital; Unteroffizier Kurt Hanuschek (flight engineer) was still in the aircraft when it sunk. In October 2003, Ju 52 8T+CP was recovered almost intact from Alinda Bay. Human remains were found in the fuselage. Gefreiter Urban Pfeifer (wireless operator) was killed when another Ju 52 (4046) of the same unit was badly damaged by AA fire. Further south, three Hurricanes of 94 Squadron and four of 336 (Hellenic) Squadron failed to return from strafing attacks over Crete.
19 White, op. cit. The commander of ‘A’ Company was actually Captain Derek Thirkell-White of the Suffolk Regiment; Captain Cecil Blyth was second-in-command. Both had been killed at Appetici. It is not known whether the subaltern and his party were among the seventy or so accounted for after the failed attack on the feature.
Chapter 11: Day Four
1 The number of troops transported by HM ships Echo and Belvoir varies depending on reports from 350 to 377 officers and men. According to Captain C.M. Bernard and Captain R.A. James (The 2nd Battalion The Royal West Kent Regiment on the Island of Samos: September – November 1943), ‘A’ Company embarked on a minesweeper [MMS 103] at 9.00 p.m. on 13 November and after laying up in Turkish waters during daylight hours arrived at Leros at about 23:00 on the 14th. Battalion Headquarters, the Signal Platoon, RAP and ‘C’ Company embarked on HMS Echo on Sunday night (14th) and reached Leros in the early morning hours. Major Shaw (second-in-command) with ‘D’ Company, the AA Platoon, the Mortar Platoon and the remainder of HQ Company embarked on another destroyer [Belvoir] and proceeded to Turkish waters where, on the 15th, ‘D’ Company was taken on board a minesweeper [MMS 103], and Major Shaw and the remaining troops transhipped to five torpedo boats [thought to have included MTBs 266, 315 and the repaired 307 plus a motor launch, HDML 1004]. The small craft reached Leros at 10.00 p.m. that night and the minesweeper about two hours later.
2 Lieutenant Commander C.P. Evensen, RNVR, Report of Proceedings – Senior Officer 10th M.T.B. Flotilla – 4th to 18th November 1943. TNA: ADM 199/1040.
3 Ibid.
4 Leonard Marsland Gander, Long Road to Leros, pp.208–9.
5 Letter to the author from Hans-Walter Lünsmann, April 2001. At least two landing craft were destroyed as a result of the naval engagement early on 15 November. The identity of the ‘Fährprahm’ boarded by Lünsmann is a mystery. There is no known wreck in the immediate area. However, what is believed to be MFP 331 (almost certainly sunk by HMS Echo) has been located further offshore at a depth of 84 metres. Pi-La-Boot 482/M was also lost with only one known survivor.
6 Ibid.
7 Account attributed to H.P. du Toit: Jonathan Pittaway, Long Range Desert Group – Rhodesia (2nd edition), p.239. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records Signalman Clifford H. Whitehead as having been reinterred at Rhodes war cemetery.
8 Raiding Forces Aegean was formed on 15 October 1943 in order to control LRDG and SBS operations in the Aegean. Colonel G.L. Prendergast was promoted to officer commanding, with command of the LRDG passing to Lieutenant Colonel Jake Easonsmith.
9 Lieutenant Colonel Robert Butler, MBE, MC, p.120, Nine Lives, Through Laughing Eyes.
10 Brigadier Robert Tilney, DSO, The Battle of Leros, 12–16 Nov 1943. TNA: WO 32/12271.
11 Jürgen Bernhagen, unpublished manuscript.
12 John Browne, Recollections of Island Warfare, p.88.
13 Edward B.W. Johnson, M.C., Island Prize, Leros, 1943, pp.66–7.
14 Browne, op. cit., pp.89–90.
15 Ibid, p.90.
16 Butler, op. cit., p.125.
17 C.W.M. Ritchie, from his account written while in captivity.
18 Browne, op. cit., p.91.
19 Colonel B. Tarleton, The 2nd Battalion The Royal West Kent Regiment on the Island of Leros, November 1943. IWM: LRDG 11/5.
20 Statement by 2/Lieut Pavilides, LRDG on operations in Leros 10–16 November 43. IWM: LRDG 2/1.
21 Some of the supply aircraft may also have been Halifaxes or Liberators of 178 Squadron, which were by this time operating with the overworked Dakotas of 216 Squadron.
22 Lieutenant Commander Ramseyer, RNVR, Report of Proceedings during and after invasion of Leros – 12th November to 4th December, 1943. The prisoners brought in by the Italians were survivors from Pi-La-Boot H lost on the first day of the battle near the islet of Strongilo.
23 Butler, op. cit., p.128.
24 According to Luftwaffe records, Gefreiter Günther Hürter (wireless operator) of 3./Schl.G.3 was wounded and his Ju 87D-3 (110592) written off in an emergency landing at Athens-Kalamaki after being damaged by a fighter. The unit responsible has not been identified.
Chapter 12: Day Five
1 In describing events during the last day of the battle, Colonel Tarleton is consistent in identifying 2 Platoon as that which fought under the command of Captain Rickcord. Generally, however, 2 Platoon was the designation of the Mortar Platoon (commanded in this instance by Lieutenant D.A. Cruickshank). It would appear that Rickcord, who was 2 i/c of Headquarter Company, actually led the Anti-Aircraft Platoon. This was created with surplus NCOs and men from the Carrier and Anti-Tank Platoons who were formed into four Bren gun sections. They had attained a high standard of efficiency and physical fitness after being deployed on foot in Samos as a mobile covering force under Company Sergeant Major Dunton.
2 C.W.M. Ritchie, from his account written while in captivity.
3 Ibid.
4 Colonel B. Tarleton, The 2nd Battalion The Royal West Kent Regiment on the Island of Leros, November 1943. IWM: LRDG 11/5.
5 John Browne, Recollections of Island Warfare, pp.92–3. Private John Chuter was 24 years of age when he died.
6 Ritchie, op. cit. The ‘famous picture’ referred to is an image by war photographer Robert Capa purporting to show the death of a Loyalist soldier in the Spanish Civil War.
7 Report by Col G.L. Prendergast DSO on his escape from Leros. IWM: LRDG 5/3.
8 Lieutenant P.A. Mold, The story of my adventures following the capitulation of Leros island Aegean. IWM: LRDG 5/4.
9 Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, Gefechtsbericht über die Eroberung der Dodekanes-Insel Lero (Unternehmen ‘Taifun’) [Combat Report on the conquest of the Dodecanese island of Leros (Operation ‘Typhoon’)]. Former signaller, George Gilchrist Hall commented in 2002: ‘I wish I knew the originator of that signal … I can say it was not sent by any of the 234 Malta Infantry Bde. for the simple reason none of our sets had to range. On the other hand, the L of C (Line of Communicatons) were linked with Palestine and Cairo – so I understood – nothing, in a sense, to do with us!’
10 Tarleton, op. cit.
11 Mold, op. cit.
12 Prendergast, op. cit.
13 Ritchie, op. cit. For his actions on 16 November, Lieutenant Alan Phipps was recommended for a decoration by Lieutenant Commander L.F. Ramseyer. He was considered for an award of the Victoria Cross but due to a lack of eyewitnesses eventually received a Posthumous Mention
in Dispatches. Six months too late, the Admiralty was sent a letter outlining events by Lieutenant E.B. Horton. Another, more detailed, report followed in August 1945 (see Appendix 8).
14 Gino Manicone, p.104, I Martiri dell’Egeo, L’Amaro volto di una tragedia Italiana.
15 Ibid, p.105. Capitano Cacciatori impressed many with his courage, as testified by Lieutenant E.A.I. Crowder: ‘One officer in particular was declared by all who fought alongside him an exceptionally brave man. He was the Captain in Command of Meraviglio [sic] battery and fought alongside the British. When his ammunition had gone, he started hurling rocks. A number of British Senior Army Officers said his conduct was exceptional.’ Report on Proceedings at Leros during and after the Battle. (TNA: AIR 20/5465). Even Brigadier Tilney, a man who was not lavish in his praise, acknowledged ‘the greatest gallantry’ displayed by Cacciatori during the defence of Meraviglia. Report of Operations on Leros: 12–16 November, 1943.
16 Ritchie, op. cit.
17 Ibid.
18 Edward B.W. Johnson, MC, Island Prize, Leros, 1943, pp.69–70.
19 Ibid, pp.70–1.
20 IWM: LRDG 2/3.
21 Ritchie, op. cit.
22 Walter Keller interviewed by Sonja Stammwitz, 27 December 2001. Dumdum (named after the town and military establishment near Calcutta) is used to define a soft-nosed bullet that expands on impact. An improvised dumdum can be made by filing down the copper tip of a standard round to expose the softer lead interior. Such a projectile generally causes a small entry wound and a large exit wound, as described by Keller. A bullet that tumbles in flight can cause similar injuries.
23 Walter Keller, unpublished manuscript.
24 Lieutenant Commander Ramseyer, RNVR, Report of Proceedings during and after invasion of Leros – 12th November to 4th December, 1943.
25 Ibid.
26 Clifford A.L. Clark, Leros – From Invasion to Surrender, published in The Echo, September 1997. Of the listed fatalities, only Lieutenant Victor Hewett was killed.
27 Manicone, op. cit., p.105.
28 Crowder, op. cit.
29 Brigadier R.A.G. Tilney, Report of Operations on Leros: 12–16 November, 1943.
30 Crowder, op. cit.
31 The Earl Jellicoe KBE, DSO, MC, FRS interviewed by the author on 13 March 2001.
32 At least three Beaufighter Xs of 47 Squadron were shot down resulting in the deaths of five airmen: Flying Officer William W. Thwaites (pilot) and Flying Officer John E. Lovell (in LZ125), Flying Officer John B. Fletcher (pilot) and Sergeant Jack Dale (in LX904), and Flying Officer Anthony D. Bond (in LX883). Only Bond’s navigator, Sergeant Alfred R. Cottle, survived. The victors were Major Ernst Düllberg (Stab III./J.G.27), Leutnant Emil Clade (7./J.G.27) and Oberfähnrich Alexander Ottnad (8./J.G.27). Also on this date a Ju 88A-4 (800632/9K+CN) of II./K.G.51 was lost during a sortie to attack Leros: Leutnant Martin Franke (pilot), Oberfeldwebel Willi Wagner (observer), Unteroffiziere Willi Steffens (wireless operator) and Friedrich Leinweber (wireless operator) were all reported missing.
33 H.M.S. Penn. Report of Proceedings, 12 – 19/11/1943. (TNA: ADM 199/1044). C.B. 3081 (29) – Battle Summary No 36 – Aegean Operations – 7th September to 28th November, 1943. – British occupation and German re-capture of Kos and Leros. TNA: ADM 1/20020.
34 Crowder, op. cit.
35 Lieutenant Commander C.P. Evensen, RNVR, Report of Proceedings – Senior Officer 10th M.T.B. Flotilla – 4th to 18th November 1943. TNA: ADM 199/1040.
Chapter 13: Escape
1 Before Leros fell, the LRDG were provided with five escape RVs. These were Pega Island (off the south-east coast); Porto Cassio; an inlet 1,000 yards east of Angistro Point; the islet of Scrofe, and just offshore east of Assachi Point.
2 Lieutenant P.A. Mold, The story of my adventures following the capitulation of Leros island Aegean. IWM: LRDG 5/4.
3 Report by Col G.L. Prendergast DSO on his escape from Leros. IWM: LRDG 5/3.
4 Mold, op. cit.
5 Prendergast, op. cit.
6 Major J.M. McSwiney DSO MC, The Aegean Dodecanese Venture (unpublished manuscript), p.143. IWM: 97/36/1.
7 Clifford A.L. Clark, Leros – From Invasion to Surrender, published in The Echo, March1998.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Captain H.W. Blyth, Operational Report No. H.Q. 1. Special Air Service Regimental Association.
11 Colonel B. Tarleton, The 2nd Battalion The Royal West Kent Regiment on the Island of Leros, November 1943. IWM: LRDG 11/5.
12 Ibid.
13 Mold, op. cit.
14 Additional report by Captain John Richard Olivey, MC, LRDG attached to his Report on Operations in Leros, dated 1 June 1944. IWM: LRDG 3/1. In his memoir written for his wife, Olivey infers that he shot one, not two, Germans, adding, ‘I … realised that I had more or less committed murder, or at least, that is what I felt at the time.’ Long Range Desert Group Story in the Dodecanese Islands: Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum (IWM: LRDG 11/3). The charges he prepared may be connected with a mysterious explosion in March 1944. A large crater remains at the site of what was the main magazine.
15 McSwiney, op. cit., p.145.
16 Ibid.
17 This is almost certainly Sub Lieutenant Allan L. Tuckey, RNVR, who was among those taken prisoner in a clandestine operation in April 1944. P Patrol of S Detachment, comprising five Special Boat Squadron personnel, had been tasked with landing on the islands of Calchi and Alimnia and to reconnoitre for suitable sites for caiques to use as a staging point in a future operation against German wireless stations. Their transport was Levant Schooner 24 crewed by two Royal Navy and four Greek Navy personnel. German Intelligence was aware that an Allied operation was imminent, and accordingly members of 1./Küstenjäger-Abt. “Brandenburg” were dispatched to counter the threat. Subsequently ten men, including two officers, were taken prisoner (one of the Greeks avoided capture); two Greek fishermen who were apprehended were later released. Of the SBS/Naval force only the SBS commander, Captain H.W. Blyth, survived the war. The remainder are thought to have been executed in accordance with a top secret Führerbefehl dated 18 October 1942 that called for the elimination of those engaged in ‘so-called commando operations’.
18 Prendergast, op. cit.
19 John Browne, Recollections of Island Warfare, p.115.
20 Ibid.
21 Olivey, op.cit.
22 Geoffrey R. Hart, correspondence with the author, June–July 2001.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
25 After deducting the number of killed and the 236 escapees reported up to 17 November from the 3,282 British Empire personnel stated by the War Office to have been on Leros at the time of capitulation, one is left with less than 2,900 who became prisoners of war.
Chapter 14: Epilogue
1 The Greek Sacred Squadron (motto: ‘Victory or Death’) is raised only in times of national emergency. The original squadron was wiped out resisting the Spartans at Thebes in 370 BC; the second was annihilated fighting for the freedom of Greece against the Turks in 1821, and the third was formed in September 1942 under the command of Sintagmatarhis Christodoulos Tsigantes with approximately 120 officers of the Greek Army who had escaped after the invasion of their homeland. In October 1943, the squadron was reinforced with 230 private soldiers and non-commissioned officers. It would eventually number 1,100 officers and men. In September 1943, the Chiefs of Staff had revised their ruling restricting the use of Greek forces in island operations. Subsequently, General H.M. Wilson dispatched a Greek force to Samos. Owing to the restricted availability of shipping, an airborne operation was undertaken by 216 Group and during the nights of 31 October–1 November and 1–2 November some 200 personnel of the Greek Sacred Squadron were parachuted on to the island. Many of the soldiers were older than usual, with little experience of flying and none of parachuting. Nevertheless, the drops were successful, marred only by the loss of a Dakota due to navigational error: the crew, who baled out over Turkey, survived.
3 Ibid.
4 Letter to the author from Uwe Wilhelm Walther, 6 April 2001. Among those in a photograph taken just after the arrival of the German delegation is the unidentified individual described by Walther. His attire is typical of the SBS and LRDG.
5 As related to Sonja Stammwitz, 10 March 2002.
6 Diary of Haat Haacke.
7 22. Infanteriedivision was redeployed to Crete and later to mainland Greece, before taking part in anti-partisan operations in the Balkans. In May 1945 the division, now retitled 22. Volksgrenadierdivision, surrendered in Yugoslavia, close to the border with Austria. Those who survived captivity were released several years later. Fallschirmjägerregiment 2 subsequently served on the Eastern Front, and in 1944 fought at Brest, in France. The regiment ended the war in Germany, where it was encircled in the Ruhr Pocket in April 1945. After operations in Greece, units of the Division Brandenburg were active in Yugoslavia. In September 1944 the division was restructured. Some personnel were transferred, notably to the SS-Jagdverbände. Others, having been reorganised as Panzergrenadier-Division “Brandenburg”, took part in defensive operations on the eastern front. As part of Panzerkorps Großdeutschland, elements of the Division fought costly delaying actions against the Soviets Ultimately, an unknown number escaped annihilation by withdrawing via the Baltic to British-occupied northern Germany.
8 TNA: DO 35/1696.
9 TNA: WO 32/11430.
10 Ergänzungsbericht zum Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandes der Wehrmacht 1943 zum Leros-Einsatz mit einem Landungsverband, bestehend aus Marinefährpremen, Pionierlandungsbooten und einigen anderen Hilfs- und Sicherungsschiffen [Supplementary report to the War Diary of Oberkommandes der Wehrmacht 1943 on the mission to Leros with a landing unit, consisting of Marinefährpremen, Pionierlandungsbooten and some other auxiliary and escort boats].