The Battle of Leros was the central event of the Dodecanese campaign of the Second World War, and is widely used as an alternative name for the whole campaign. After the Armistice of Cassibile the Italian garrison on the Greek island Leros was strengthened by British forces on 15 September 1943. The battle began with German air attacks on 26 September, continued with the landings on 12 November, and ended with the capitulation of the Allied forces four days later.
German paratroopers prepare to be flown to Leros.
Paratroopers board a Junkers Ju 52 bound for Leros.
Wreck of a Junkers Ju 52 shot down over Leros on 13 November and salvaged by the Hellenic Air Force in 2003. Now at the Hellenic Air Force Museum
View from the rear of Leros CWGC cemetery.
Leros, also called Lero, is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies 317 kilometres from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by a nine-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flight from Athens. It is about 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Turkey. Leros is part of the Kalymnos regional unit. It has a population of 7,992 (2021).
View of Panteli village in Leros
Front, left to right: Arkoi, Leipsoi, Leros. Back, left to right: Agathonisi, Farmakonisi and the Turkish coastline
Panteli Beach, Leros
Agios Georgios Drymona