The word "Dodecanese" literally means "Twelve islands." Exactly which twelve islands has changed over the years, but a common grouping is Scarpanto (15B:2503), Patmo (15B:1602). Caso (15B:2904). Stampalia (15B3:1904), Lisso, Leros (15B:1702), Calino (15B:1801). Nisito (15B:2001), Piscopi (15B:2101), Calchi, Simi (20A:2132), and Icaria (15B:1402, 1403). This arrangement technically leaves out Coo (Kos) and Rodi (Rhodes). The Turkish sultan separated these two islands from the others politically and administratively since they refused to submit peacefully to Ottoman rule. When Italy took control of the islands after the Italo-Turkish War (1912). they included Coo and Rhodes. During the First World War Italy agreed to transfer control of the Dodecanese to Greece, but abrogated the treaty in 1922. They reverted to Greece in 1947.

Since the Dodecanese were Italian for the duration of World War II, the maps carry the Italian names - hence "Coo" instead of the more common "Kos" and "Lero" instead of "Leros."

Consigned to the periphery of WWII, the Dodecanese had seen their moment of military history in 1522, with the siege of Rhodes by the Turkish army of Sulieman the Magnificent. The Knights Hospitalers of St. John, 700 strong with 6,000 locals, held off Sulieman's army of 200,000 for seven months, causing an estimated 50,000 casualties. With no help from the west forthcoming, the Knights' Grand Master negotiated a settlement and the 180 remaining knights and 1,500 other troops evacuated Rhodes and established a new island fortress on Malta.