She then defended the beachhead from Axis aircraft, surface ships, and submarines. "Exmoor", the British destroyer , and the Greek destroyer attempted to enter the harbour at Augusta, Sicily, on 11 July 1943 and exchanged fire with Axis coastal artillery. "Exmoor" returned to patrol and escort duty in the central Mediterranean in August 1943, but later than month was selected to participate in Operation Avalanche, the Allied landings at Salerno on the mainland of Italy planned for September 1943. She was assigned to Task Force 65 along with "Laforey", "Loyal", "Nubian", "Tartar", and of the 19th Destroyer Flotilla and the escort destroyers "Beaufort", "Belvoir", , , , "Dulverton", , , "Pindos", , and "Tetcott". Steaming to Tripoli, Libya, in September 1943, the task force departed Tripoli on 6 September 1943 as the escort for Convoy TSF 1, which it delivered to the landing beaches on 10 September 1943. "Exmoor" then provided antiaircraft defense of and gunfire support to the beachhead and defense of Allied ships off it from German motor torpedo boats until 16 September 1943. In October 1943, "Exmoor" was assigned to operations in the Aegean Sea to assist in the unsuccessful Allied attempt to defend Italian-held islands there against invasion by German forces during the Dodecanese Campaign. On 24 October 1943 the light cruiser "Aurora", the destroyer , "Exmoor", and her sister ship , sortied from Alexandria to relieve the light cruiser and the escort destroyers "Aldenham" and "Hursley" there, after which "Exmoor" engaged in operations to intercept craft carrying German troops to the islands and to supply British garrisons. On 8 and 9 November 1943, she conducted an unsuccessful search for German invasion craft reportedly bound for Levitha, then sheltered in the Gulf of Doris. She loaded 10 long tons (11.2 short tons, 10.2 metric tons) of ammunition at Limassol on 13 November 1943 and departed the next day with the British destroyer and the Polish destroyer to deliver it to Leros, but aborted her voyage when the surrender of Leros to German forces became inevitable. On 24 November 1943 she took part in Operation Rumble Bumble, a diversionary action. On 4 December 1943 she and "Aldenham" relieved the destroyers and "Petard" of the escort of the damaged Greek destroyer to Alexandria, where she arrived on 6 December 1943.