WW2 - Battle of Kos Island (Oct 1943)

WW2 footage. German Wartime Newsreel (Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 687, 03-Nov-1943).

With the capitulation of Italy in September 1943, German forces in the Balkans moved to take over the Italian-held areas. At the same time, the Allies, under the instigation of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, endeavoured to occupy the Dodecanese island chain. The Dodecanese island, under Italian control since 1912, were strategically located in the southeastern Aegean Sea, and Churchill hoped to use them as a base against German positions in the Balkans, and as a means to pressure neutral Turkey into the war on the Allied side.
The capture of Kos would have disastrous consequences for British operations in the Dodecanese Islands. Deprived of air cover, the Allies were in the long run unable to hold the other islands, while the Germans pressed their advantage, capturing Leros a month later and completing their conquest of the Dodecanese by the end of November.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• army
• newsreel
• eastern
• ostfront
• wochenschau
• wehrmacht
• battle
• tank
• combat
• ju87
• tiger
• mg34
• pak
• grenadiere
• mg42
• mp40

[sre2464]

Still cleaning up after the Italians. A small victory in Greece while the Eastern Front was collapsing. Those troops would have been better used elsewhere.

[giorginho21]

VERY NICE VIDEO AND HISTORICAL......

[nosig1]

Excellent to see this video posted. My Dad was with the RAF was underneath all the Stukas, he survived, just

[spritz0]

5*****