Dodecanese campaign lies in the south-eastern Aegean Sea, and had been under Italian control since the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. During Italian rule, the strategically well-placed islands became a focus of Italian colonial ambitions in the Eastern Mediterranean. Rhodes, the largest of the islands, was a major military and aerial base. The island of Leros, with its excellent deep-water port of Lakki (Portolago), was transformed into a heavily fortified aeronautical base, "the Corregidor of the Mediterranean", as Benito Mussolini, the Italian leader, boasted. An early British attempt to contest Italian control of the Dodecanese, codenamed Operation Abstention, was thwarted in February 1941,
Island groups of the Philippines the same name, is the chief city of the Visayas. Mindanao's main city is Davao, towards its southeast. Island groups of the Philippines The geographical divisions of the Philippines are the three island groups of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Luzon and Mindanao are both named after the largest island in their respective groups, while the Visayas (also the "Visayan Islands") are an archipelago. Islands are organized into three distinct island group according to regions: Regions "I" to "V", "CAR", and "NCR" are for Luzon, Regions "VI" to "VIII" are for the Visayas, and Regions "IX" to "XIII" and "ARMM" are