Alimia - a tiny island with a large history
Bob and Isabel Joce discover remnants of war while exploring the Greek island of Alimia
The walls of the buildings were covered in bullet holes and there were casings lying around, evidence of raiding parties attached to the Greek Sacred Squadron that had tried to take back Alimia from the Germans in May 1945. The island was a minor base for the Regina Marina (Italian Navy) during the Italian occupation of the Greek Dodecanese from 1912-1943, and was used as a base for re-supplying submarines. After Allied victory in Italy, the Germans took over Alimia, and although the Greek locals later returned, it was eventually abandoned in the 1960s. The remnants of conflict were in sharp contrast to the tranquility of the rest of the island.
South Bay was like a huge open-air war museum. When we landed, we saw coils of submarine netting, and the derelict barracks and enormous cistern used to capture water were eerie and desolate.
Parts of the barracks looked as if the soldiers had just left, with kitchen utensils discarded in cupboards. Inside, we found the famous wall paintings that the German soldiers had created during the occupation. One mural showed a soldier hugging a mermaid, and many of the other pictures were reminiscent of Bavaria. The soldiers were clearly very homesick despite living in such a beautiful location.
We had arrived in Alimia a few days earlier, having stopped to pick up family from bustling Rhodes. As we sailed into the huge natural harbour of Alimia, carefully avoiding the charted shoal area, we could see abandoned buildings and churches, which are overlooked by the ruined medieval castle built in 1475 by the Knights of St John.
We anchored in the larger, more exposed St George Bay so that we were close to the abandoned village. Full of anticipation, the shore party rowed ashore to do some exploring, where we found buildings in various states of decay and dilapidation. Some had upper floors still partially intact, and many contained pieces of furniture, such as beds and dressers, as well as old newspapers. We carefully went into some of the buildings and found several decorated with colourful friezes showing Second World War warships and submarines. The church was the only well maintained building, but unfortunately it was locked. The bell, however, did still ring. Due to the high temperature and general laziness we didn’t trek up to have a look at the castle ruins. The afternoon breeze made the anchorage a little less than comfortable, so we shifted over to the more southerly and sheltered Emporio Bay. From our new vantage point, we had an excellent view of a wrecked crane jib jutting curiously out above sea level. With the summer sun beating down, the opportunity for some swimming and underwater exploration was too tempting and we mounted another expedition. The wreck turned out to be a sunken barge with a six-wheeled crane, probably used in the war for transferring stores and munitions between supply ships and submarines. The crane engine, winding works and controls were all clearly visible in less than two metres of water. The wind and waves eventually calmed down and with no other boats, no phone signal, no light pollution and a clear sky, we had a peaceful night with the occasional shooting star.