The Battle of Leros - often known as "Churchill's Folly" was a struggle between the Allies - including the Italians - and Nazi Germany, for control of the Dodecanese islands.

After their Italian allies surrendered to the British in 1943, Hitler's Germany decided to take control of the Italian Dodecanese islands, working north from Rhodes to Kos and Kalymnos to Leros.

Churchill requested help from the Allied command, under General Eisenhower in the form of air support. However, the Allies were heavily committed to invading Italy through Sicilly at the time and the Americans felt that the Eastern Aegean campaign was a sideshow which offered little benefit.

The Germans pounced on Rhodes, denying the British the opportunity to base their fighter planes on the island. Their next target was Kos, which had a small airstrip from which a handful of British fighter planes was operating. They quickly overcame the island and its airstrip.

Leros has one of the largest natural harbours in the Eastern Mediterranean. 2 miles long, with a narrow entrance, it was identified by the Italians as a key asset in the islands they subjugated during the Turko Italian war in 1912. They built up a formidable base there, creating a new town in the harbour - Porto Lago. The naval base and a seaplane base gave them effective control of the whole area. They placed gun emplacements on the hills around the island, dominating the approaches from the sea. The island is said to be the inspiration for Alistair MacLean's 'Guns of Navarone' - though much of the film was based in Rhodes and the island of Kastellorizo.

British and Commonwealth troops were rushed to Leros, including the Long Range Desert Group, freshly trained for hill fighting in the Lebanon after the Germans had been pushed out of North Africa.

The German attack on Leros began with unremitting aerial bombardment from German dive bombers, operating almost unopposed. On the first day, the Greek destroyer 'Queen Olga' was sunk and the British destroyer 'Intrepid' so badly damaged that she sank next day. The subsequent bombardment continued until November. On the 12th of that month, operation 'Taifun' saw German troops landing on the island under heavy fire from the British and Italian defenders.

Fierce fighting on land continued until November 16th when the British headquarters, under the command of Brigadier Tilney, were overrun and Tilney decided to hand in the towel. There is some dispute over whether the defenders could have continued to hold out, but the Germans' total control of the air probably makes this unlikely, and continuing would have led to more loss of life.

The 52 day battle to retain Leros may seem fruitless, but Churchill's strategy of holding down significant German forces could be said to have paid off. A large German force was still in place in the islands when the Nazis finally surrendered in 1945 and it's arguable that this weakened their ability to see off the allies after the Normandy landings.

The war cemetry in Alinda on Leros bears poignant witness to the loss of the many brave British and Commonwealth tropps who fought valiantly to defend the island in the 52 day battle.