The Battle of Mount Dikeos was the first phase of the Battle of Kos, occurring on 3 October 1943. German Brandenburgers from the 5th Fallschirmjaeger Battalion mounted an airborne attack on Italian strongpoints around Mount Dikeos at the center of Kos, seizing the mountain after encountering heavy resistance.
In preparation for the 22nd Infantry Division's landings on the island, the German fallschirmjaeger forces were dropped at the base of Mount Dikeos, where they secured Italian trench lines and defensive structures before pushing up towards the mountain. Italian soldiers were mowed down by German FG-42 fire as they charged down hillsides to counterattack, and the Germans began to drop paratroopers around the mountain, outflanking the Allied soldiers. The fiercest fighting came when the Germans were forced to attack a rocky hilltop where the entire Italian force concentrated its numbers. The Germans lobbed grenades at the densely-packed Italians, but the Italians were able to reinforce their positions and mass their fire against the Germans as they advanced uphill. The Germans eventually took this position and pressed forward until all their objectives were secure.