Dodecanese campaign

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The Dodecanese campaign (8 September – 22 November 1943) was the capture and occupation of the Dodecanese islands by German forces during the Second World War. Following the signing of the Armistice of Cassibile on 3 September 1943, Italy joined the Allies. The Germans implemented contingency plans to seize control of the Dodecanese, which were under Italian control. The Allies planned to use the islands as bases to strike against German targets in the Balkans, which the Germans aimed to forestall. Beginning in early September 1943, German troops defeated the Italian garrison in the Dodecanese and British forces sent to join them, aided by the fact that Allied units were operating without sufficient air cover. Most of the Dodecanese islands fell to German forces within two months, resulting in one of Germany's last victories of the war. The German occupation of the Dodecanese islands continued until the end of the war in 1945, when they surrendered to British forces.

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