Dodecanese campaign (surrender), the Italian garrisons on most of the Dodecanese Islands either wanted to change sides and fight with the Allies or go home. Anticipating Italian surrender, German forces, based largely in mainland Greece, had been rushed to many of the islands to maintain control. The German forces were part of Army Group E commanded by "Luftwaffe" General Alexander Löhr. The most important German force in the Dodecanese was the 7,500-strong "Sturm-Division Rhodos" (Assault Division Rhodes, "Generalleutnant" Ulrich Kleemann) commanding. This division was formed during the summer on the island of Rhodes, which was the administrative center of the Dodecanese Islands
Kasos island formally joined the Kingdom of Greece on 7 March 1948 together with the other Dodecanese islands. Kasos Kasos (; , ), also Casos, is a Greek island municipality in the Dodecanese. It is the southernmost island in the Aegean Sea, and is part of the Karpathos regional unit. , its population was 1084. The island is known in Italian as "Caso". Kasos lies southwest of Karpathos, between this island and Crete. Adjacent to the island is the Strait of Kasos, through which some of the Modified Atlantic Water enters the Sea of Crete. Its shape is elliptic and resembles