The Royal Italian Army (Regio Esercito), reformed in 1861 and existed until 1946, participated in World War II. The Royal Army started with the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and the formation of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia). It ended with the dissolution of the monarchy. The Royal Army was preceded by the individual armies of the independent Italian states and was followed by the Italian Army (Esercito Italiano) of the Italian Republic (Repubblica Italiana).
Below Mussolini was the Supreme Command (Comando Supremo). The Supreme Command featured an organic staff which functioned through its defense ministries and through its various high commands. The defense ministries were based on function and included a Ministry of War, a Ministry of the Admiralty, and a Ministry of the Air. The high commands were based on geographic regions and included Army Group West, Army Group Albania, Army Group East Africa, Army Group Aegean, and Army Group Libya.[2]
Below the Army Group were armies. Armies were typically composed of two or more corps, along with separate units directly commanded at the army level. The corps were then typically composed of two or more divisions, along with separate units directly commanded at the corps level.
The division was the basic formation of the Italian Royal Army. On 10 June 1940, the army had 59 infantry divisions, three Blackshirts (Voluntary Militia for National Security – Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN) divisions, five high mountain (alpini) divisions, three mobile (celere) divisions, two motorized divisions, and three armored divisions. In addition, there were estimated to be the equivalent of about nine divisions of frontier guard troops.[2] There were also numerous colonial formations at or near the division level composed of troops from Italian Libya and Italian East Africa.
Impressive on paper, most Italian divisions did not have the full complement of men or materials when war was declared in 1940. The armored divisions had lightly armed "tankettes" instead of tanks.
Binary infantry division
After a reorganization in 1938, Italian infantry divisions were known as "binary" divisions (divisione binaria). This is because Italian infantry divisions were based on two regiments instead of the three that prevailed prior to the reorganization. By comparison, German divisions had three infantry regiments. In addition to the two infantry regiments, the Italian infantry division included an artillery regiment, a mortar battalion, an engineer battalion, and a pack gun company. The division also had some division-level services and could have a division-level reserve infantry battalion.
The divisional artillery regiment typically had 36 field pieces by design. There was a horsedrawn battery of 12 100 mm howitzers, a horsedrawn battery of twelve 75 mm guns, and a pack horse-mounted battery of 12 75 mm howitzers. In addition to the field pieces, there was a mechanized troop of eight 20 mm anti-aircraft guns.[3] Much Italian artillery was obsolete and far too reliant on horse transport.[citation needed]
The mortar battalion typically had 18 81 mm mortars and the pack gun company had 8 47 mm anti-tank guns.
From 1 March 1940, an MVSN Legion of two battalions was attached to most infantry divisions. This was to increase the manpower available to each division and also to include Fascist troops.[2] The arrival of the Blackshirt Legions effectively restored the triangular form of the divisions they reinforced.
Alpine division
The personnel, named Alpini, drawn from Italy's mountainous regions for the army's alpine divisions and tended to be of superior quality. In addition to being well trained for mountain warfare, they were expert in the handling of pack artillery. The alpine divisions differed from a standard infantry division in that each regiment had its own artillery, engineering, and ancillary services associated with the regiment on a permanent basis. This made each regiment of an alpine division relatively self-supporting and capable of independent action.[4] By design, an alpine division consisted of a divisional headquarters, two Alpini regiments, a mountain artillery regiment, a mixed engineer battalion, a chemical warfare company, two reserve Alpini battalions, and divisional services. The divisional headquarters included an anti-tank platoon. Each Alpini regiment included a headquarters company, with a platoon of flamethrowers. Each regiment also included three Alpini battalions and the service support units assigned. At full strength, the firepower for an Alpini regiment was 27 heavy machine guns, 81 light machine guns, 27 45 mm mortars, 12 81 mm mortars, and 27 flamethrowers. The mountain artillery regiment was split between the two infantry regiments. Each regiment was provided with a battalion of 75 mm howitzers, which were transported on pack animals.
Armoured division
At the beginning of the war, the armoured divisions were filled with L3 tankettes and, as a result, were incapable of providing the armoured spearhead that the German tank (panzer) formations could. Initially, a total of about 100 "medium" M11 tanks were available. But, while these vehicles were an improvement over the L3s, they were still more like "light" tanks. In addition, they were poorly designed (main armament in a "fixed" position), far too few, too under-gunned, too thinly armoured, too slow, and too unreliable to make a difference.
By design, an armoured division included one tank regiment, one artillery regiment, one highly-mobile infantry (Bersaglieri) regiment, a divisional support and a mixed engineer company. The tank regiment could have between three and five tank battalions. At full strength, each battalion had 55 tanks.[5]
Once sufficient numbers of the M13/40 tanks and its upgrades were available, Italian armored divisions began to possess some offensive capability. The Italians also developed several self-propelled 75 mm guns on the M13 chassis when the evolution in tank artillery made the 47 mm gun obsolete. Like the German 88 mm gun, the Italians learned that a 75 mm anti-aircraft gun (Cannone da 75/46 C.A. modello 34) or a 90 mm anti-aircraft gun (Cannone da 90/53) made effective anti-tank guns. While always in short supply, 57 of the 90 mm guns were ordered to be mounted on heavy trucks (Autocannoni da 90/53) to enhance mobility. 30 guns were mounted on an M14/41 tank chassis as Tank Destroyer 90/53 (Semovente 90/53).
Libyan divisions
In 1940, Italy had two divisions in Italian North Africa composed of troops native to Libya commanded by Italian officers. In many ways the Libyan divisions followed the make-up of a standard binary infantry division. Each Libyan division had two colonial infantry regiments. Each infantry regiment had three infantry battalion and a Guns company (4 65/17 mm I-Guns ). The Libyan divisions also had an integral colonial artillery regiment and colonial engineering battalion. A typical Libyan division fielded 7,400 men (including 900 Italians). The artillery regiment by design included 24 77 mm guns. The "Maletti Group" (Raggruppamento Maletti) was an ad hoc unit composed of Libyan troops transported in trucks and was commanded by the unit's namesake, General Pietro Maletti. This partly motorized unit took part in the Italian invasion of Egypt in September 1940 and in the defense of the Nibeiwa Camp in December 1940 during Operation Compass. In addition to 2,500 Libyan troops in 6 battalions, the Maletti Group included a colonial artillery element and 2 coy of armor: 12 M11 medium tanks and 14 L3 tankettes.[6]
"North Africa" division
During 1942, attempts were made to increase both the firepower and the mechanization available at the divisional level. As a result, a new "North Africa 1942" (Africa settentrionale 1942, or A.S.42) type division was developed. Similar to a standard infantry division, an "A.S.42" type division still had two infantry regiments, an artillery regiment, a mixed engineer battalion, a medical section, and a supply section. But the infantry regiments could vary greatly because the basic units making up the regiment were now an expandable company. The artillery regiment sometimes included a battery of German 88 mm guns. Mobility was increased and, in theory, an "A.S.42" type division was mechanized to a higher degree than standard infantry divisions. Unfortunately, in practice, few units had the full complement of motor vehicles.[4]
Italian motor vehicles, while in short supply, tended to be of better than average quality. British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery made use of a captured Italian vehicle.[7]
Motorised division
The motorized divisions were similar to the "North Africa" type division, but they included a regiment of highly-mobile elite riflemen (Bersaglieri). The Bersaglieri appear to have actually received the motorcycles and trucks they were allocated.[5]
Motor-transportable division
From the beginning of the war, some infantry divisions were theoretically fully mechanized and were designated as motor-transportable divisions. Again, in practice, few units had the full complement of motor vehicles. Other than being transported by motor vehicle, these divisions were organized like a standard infantry division, with two exceptions. Motor-transportable divisions had a larger complement of mortars and they did not have a MVSN Legion.[5]
In 1942, the motor-transportable divisions in North Africa were upgraded to become "North African" type motorised divisions. In spite of the upgrade, these divisions were still not fully motorized. The divisions tended to rely primarily on non-divisional sources for transportation and were, therefore, only part-time motor-transportable.
Cavalry division
Mobile (celere) divisions were cavalry divisions that had undergone a level of mechanization. Each division had two cavalry regiments, a highly-mobile infantry (Bersaglieri) regiment, an artillery regiment, and a light tank group.[5] The squadrons of the cavalry regiments were horse-mounted and, other than a motorcycle company, the Bersaglieri were issued with bicycles. The light tank group had a total of 61 tanks. The tanks were typically L3s or L6s.
Main Armaments
During the first years of World War II, Italy had only small light and medium tanks (L3/35, L6/40, M11/39, M13/40 and M15/42) tanks. When Italy declared war in 1940, Italy's armored divisions were still composed of hundreds of L3 tankettes. These vehicles were hardly on par with the Allied tanks available in 1939 and were seriously out-classed by 1942. Better Italian tanks were produced but they were generally only available in limited numbers. Italian tanks typically suffered from poor main armaments and thin, bolted-on armour.
It was not until summer of 1943 that the Italians developed a heavier tank (the P40).[8] However, while the P40 was in the same class as the contemporary M4 Sherman, only five were ready for combat before Italy signed the armistice that same year. The Germans acquired and used the few P40s which were produced.
To supplement the deficiencies of the main armaments on most tanks, the Italian Army made use of self-propelled guns like the Semovente 75/18 and the Semovente 75/34.[9] The Italians also fielded some reliable armoured cars like the AB 41.[10]
While Semovente 75/18s were available in some numbers in North Africa, the more potent Semovente 75/34s Semovente da 75/46s, Semovente 90/53s, Semovente 105/25s, and Semovente 149/40 were available in limited numbers or not at all prior to the armistice. Like the P40, the Germans acquired the few better quality self-propelled guns manufactured prior to the armistice and even continued to manufacture some after the armistice.
In the new Italian Empire, Italy had used most of the economic and military resources available during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War the conquest of Ethiopia, from 1935 to 1936, during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939, and during the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939. In the early 1930s, the Italian Royal Army successfully fought an Arab guerrilla war in Italian North Africa (Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or ASI). The Italians fought another guerilla war in Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI) between 1936 and 1940. The Italian Royal Army remained comparatively weak in armaments. The Italian tanks were of poor quality. Italian radios were small in numbers. Much of the Italian artillery and weapons dated from the First World War. Most important of all, the Italian generals were trained in the trench warfare of World War I and were not prepared at all for the new style of mechanized war based on the German "lightning war" model (blitzkrieg).
From 1936 to 1939, Italy participated on the side of Spanish GeneralFrancisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The 50,000 to 75,000 strong "Corps of Volunteer Troops" (Corpo Truppe Volontarie, CVT) was of significant assistance to the Spanish Nationalist cause and was involved in the Aragon Offensive and the "March to the Sea." Unfortunately for the Italian Royal Army, a large number of Italian weapons and supplies were utilized by the CVT or provided to Spanish Nationalists forces during this conflict.
In 1939, Italy conquered Albania without difficulty and forced King Zog to flee. As would be expected, Italy suffered few casualties. But this occupation stretched to the limit the resources of the Italian Royal Army. In spring 1940, the available oil resources for possible military operations (of the Army and Navy) were for only one year.[11]
Unlike the German Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, Mussolini was officially only the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy. Victor Emmanuel III remained Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Royal Armed Forces. Mussolini needed the consent of the King (who always looked at France as the center of European politics) to declare war and enter the Second World War. Initially the King and his staff (conscious of the Italian lack of preparation to war) did not approve Mussolini's intentions, but when France was clearly defeated in June 1940, the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) was abruptly sent to war.[12] Mussolini made the mistake to believe that Britain would accept peace agreements with the Axis after France's surrender, and did not anticipate a long lasting war. Consequently, Italy entered the war inadequately prepared.
The Italian conquest of British Somaliland in August 1940
Italy declared war on 10 June 1940 and initially the Royal Army started a campaign with limited advances in the Alps against the French Army. But the French were not quickly defeated on this front and all advances came at a high cost to the Italian army. Only in July, after the French surrender to Germany, did the Royal Army initiate a limited campaign from Italian colonies in Africa (Libya and Italian East Africa) against the British in Africa (Egypt, Kenya and Sudan). Italian forces invaded into Egypt, Kenya, and Sudan. In August, the Royal Army obtained the only Italian victory in World War II without German intervention when it carried out the conquest of British Somaliland. In the first six months of war Italy obtained only minor conquests, as Mussolini mistakenly waited for a quick end of the war.
In December 1940, British and Commonwealth forces began Operation Compass which, by February 1941, had occupied Cyrenaica and destroyed the Italian Tenth Army. In January 1941, other British and Commonwealth forces launched an invasion of Italian East Africa. By November of that year, at the conclusion of the East African Campaign, the last organized Italian troops surrendered with military honors in Gondar while some Italian officers started a guerrilla war, mainly in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
In Europe, Mussolini wanted to imitate the rapid German victories of 1939 to 1940. Mussolini began the Greco-Italian War by invading Greece from Albania in October 1940. The advances of the Royal Army were blocked by the Greek Army and bad weather. Soon Greek counter-attacks forced the Italians onto the defensive inside Albania. In March 1941, prior to the German invasion of Yugoslavia, the Italian Royal Army launched an offensive against the Greeks which ended with few meaningful gains and at high costs. A few weeks later the Axis forces of Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria defeated in a few days the Yugoslavian army and invaded Greece. The Axis victory was swift: on April 17, 1941, Yugoslavia surrendered after only eleven days, while Greece was fully occupied in May and was placed under the triple occupation of Italy, Germany and Bulgaria.
After these setbacks, Mussolini accepted assistance from Hitler and the Royal Army was reinforced (and in some cases even trained to modern military tactics and organizations) by the powerful German Army. The Royal Army even started to receive better and more modern armaments from the Italian industry, after the pressures from Mussolini to activate to the maximum the Italian "war machine".
The result was a combined German and Italian offensive during the spring and summer of 1941 throughout the entire Mediterranean area:
In the Balkans, the Italian Royal Army conquered coastal Yugoslavia and, together with the Germans, finally defeated the Greek Army which was insufficiently aided by the British. On 3 May 1941, the Italian and German Armies held a military parade in Athens to celebrate their victory in the Balkans. In this parade, Mussolini for the first time boasted of an Italian Mare Nostrum, referring to the fact that the Mediterranean was becoming an Italian-dominated sea. Effectively, it remained practically Italian from December 1941, after the sinking of two British battleships in Alexandria by the Italian frogmen of Luigi Durand De La Penne, until the landings of the Americans in Algeria (Operation Torch) in November 1942.
In North Africa, the Italian Royal Army was joined by German General Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps. A combined German and Italian force started a series of offensives and counter-offensives that culminated with the Axis victory of Gazala and Tobruk. By 1942, the Germans and Italians were driving towards Alexandria in Egypt.
Mussolini sent an Italian army against the Soviet Union. In July 1941, the "Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia" (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, or CSIR) arrived and assisted with the German conquest of Ukraine. By 1942, Italian forces in the Soviet Union were more than doubled to become the "Italian Army in Russia" (Armata Italiana in Russia, or ARMIR). This army, also known as the Italian 8th Army," was deployed in the outskirts of Stalingrad where it was destroyed during the Battle of Stalingrad.
In November 1942, with the arrival of the American Army in the Maghreb, the Italian Royal Army occupied Corsica and the French Provence up to the Rhone river. This was the last military expansion of Italy.
The Battle of El Alamein, lasting from July to November 1942, was the turning point of the war for the Italian and British Army. As Churchill wrote in his Memories: "...before El Alamein we had only defeats, after El Alamein we had only victories...". The Italian Royal Army fought this battle in a way that can be summarized by the sacrifice of the Division Folgore: the historian Renzo De Felice wrote that "...of the 5.000 "Folgore" paratroopers sent to Africa 4 months before, the survived were only 32 officers and 262 soldiers, most of them wounded. Before the surrender, they shot until the last ammo and the last hand-grenade...".[13] After the defeat at El Alamein, the Royal Army lost Libya in a few months. Tunisia, just occupied together with the German Army in November 1942, was lost in May 1943. In July 1943 Sicily was invaded by the Allies and on 8 September 1943 Italy signed the Armistice with the Allies.
Because of the chaotic way the Armistice was done, the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) suffered a terrible crisis of leadership between September and October 1943. The German occupation of Italy and of Italian positions in the Balkans and elsewhere was swift and often violent. There were 73,277 casualties in those months. With King Victor Emmanuel III and Marshal Pietro Badoglio in command, the Royal Army entered the war on the side of the Allies. Fighting for what became known as the "Badoglio government," the Italian Co-Belligerent Army, the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, and the Italian Co-Belligerent Navy were formed. Mussolini organized a new Fascist army in his "Italian Social Republic" (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI) in northern Italy. This army was called the National Republican Army (Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano, or ENR). While it lasted until April 1945, the RSI never amounted to being more than a puppet state of Nazi Germany.
Conscription and recruitment
All male Italian citizens between the ages of 18 and 54 were liable for military service. During World War II, 18-year-olds were conscripted without any preliminary military training.[14] Conscription was lax as those who were more well-off generally avoided military service and serving in the military largely felt on those belonging to the peasantry which made up nearly half of the country's population by 1940. The peasantry were poor, mostly illiterate, traditional and had a distrust of authority; because of this officers looked down upon their soldiers. Many Italian soldiers were poorly trained and would often surrender when being strongly under attack.[15] Those living in the Dodecanese Islands were exempt from military service and had been so since 1925.[16]
Previously in times of peace, those between the ages of 18 and 54 served in several stages. The first consisted of pre-military training which began at 18 and lasted until "the completion of the trainee's 20th year"; which was followed by being a conscript for 18 months after they turned 21. When finishing their conscript service they did another round of training lasting until they were 33 which was lastly followed by being placed in active reserve status until they were 54.[17]
Casualties
Nearly four million Italians served in the Italian Royal Army during the Second World War. Nearly half a million Italians (including civilians) died between June 1940 and May 1945. The Royal Army suffered 161,729 casualties between 10 June 1940 and 8 September 1943 in the war against the Allies. There were an additional 18,655 Italian casualties in Italy (plus 54,622 Italian casualties in the rest of Europe) between September and October 1943. These casualties were suffered against the German Army (Wehrmacht) after the Italian Armistice. There were about 12,000 casualties in the northern Italian guerrilla war (Guerra di Liberazione) and in the Italian Royal Army on the side of the Allies. Nearly 60,000 Italian POWs died in Nazi labour camps, while nearly 20,000 perished in Allied Prisoner of War camps (mainly Russian: 1/4 of the 84,830 Italians officially lost in the Soviet Union were taken prisoners, and most of them never returned home).
^Athanassiou, Phoebus (2017). Armies of the Greek-Italian War 1940–41. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 22. ISBN9781472819192. Retrieved December 5, 2023 – via Google Books. Like the Greek Army, the Regio Escerito was raised by conscription, and all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 54 were liable for military service... During World War II youths were conscripted for active service at the age of 18 without undergoing pre-military training.
^Crippa, Paolo (March 3, 2022). Italian tankers in the Dodecanese 1940-1945. Soldiershop Publishing. ISBN9788893278324. Retrieved December 5, 2023 – via Google Books. In 1925 the resident population before the Treaty of Lausanne obtained Italian citizenship, although without political rights and without the obligation of military service.
^Athanassiou, Phoebus (2017). Armies of the Greek-Italian War 1940–41. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 22. ISBN9781472819192. Retrieved December 5, 2023 – via Google Books. In Peacetime this was divided into three stages: pre-military training (between 18 and the completion of the trainee's 20th year), conscript service (lasting 19 months from the conscript's 21st birthday), and post-military training (from the completion of the conscript's service until 33rd birthday), followed by transfer to active reserve status (between his 33rd and 54th birthday). During World War II youths were conscripted for active service at the age of 18 without undergoing pre-military training.
Sources
De Felice, Renzo. Mussolini l'alleato: Italia in guerra (1940–1943). Mondadori Editore. Torino, 1990
Jarrett, Colonel G. B. (1971). West of Alamein. Northridge, California: Sentry.
Jowett, Philip (2001). The Italian Army 1940–45 (2): Africa 1940–43. Westminster, MD: Osprey. ISBN9781855328655.
Lamb, Richard. Mussolini as Diplomat
Mollo, Andrew (1981). The Armed Forces of World War II. New York: Crown. ISBN0-517-54478-4.
Rodogno, Davide. Il nuovo ordine mediterraneo. Le politiche di occupazione dell'Italia fascista (1940–1943). Nuova cultura ed. Torino, 2002
Walker, Ian W. (2006). Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts: Mussolini's Elite Armoured Divisions in North Africa. Wiltshire: Crowood Press. ISBN1-86126-839-4.
Recommended reading
Blitzer, Wolf; Garibaldi, Luciano. Century of War. Friedman/Fairfax Publishers. New York, 2001. ISBN1-58663-342-2
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