154th Infantry Division Murge

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154th Infantry Division Murge
154a Divisione Fanteria Murge.png
154th Infantry Division Murge Insignia
Active1942–1943
Country Italy
Branch Italian Army
Type Infantry
Size Division
Nickname(s)Murge
Engagements World War II

The 154th Infantry Division Murge was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. The Murge Division was a garrison division formed in April 1942. It was sent to Dalmatia as an occupation force and took part in anti-Partisan operations. It took part in the Battle of the Sutjeska and then had to be withdrawn after suffering heavy losses in fighting with the Partisans. It was disbanded in September 1943, following the Italian surrender to the Allies.

Contents

Order of battle

C.R.O.W.C.A.S.S.

The names of 12 men attached to the Murge Division can be found in the CROWCASS List established by the Anglo-American Allies of the individuals wanted by Yugoslavia for war crimes:

Alistair MacLean's novel Partisans , set in the Balkan Theater of World War II, mentions the Murge Division as being a major force in the Axis offensives against the Yugoslav Partisans. The book begins at the buildup to Fall Weiss and ends with the protagonists having accomplished a significant espionage mission that would ensure the mauling of the Murge at the hands of the Yugoslav Resistance.

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ↑ An Italian Infantry Division normally consisted of two Infantry Regiments (three Battalions each), an Artillery Regiment, a Mortar Battalion (two companies), an Anti Tank Company, a Blackshirt Legion of two Battalions was sometimes attached. Each Division had only about 7,000 men, The Infantry and Artillery Regiments contained 1,650 men, the Blackshirt Legion 1,200, each company 150 men. [1]
Citations
  1. ↑ Paoletti, p 170
  2. ↑ The Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects, Consolidated Wanted Lists (1947), Naval & University Press, Uckfield 2005; Part 2 - Non-Germans only, p. 59 (facsimile of the original document at the National Archives in Kew/London).
  3. ↑ Ibid., p. 60
  4. ↑ Ibid., p. 67
  5. ↑ Ibid., p. 67
  6. ↑ Ibid., p. 70
  7. ↑ Ibid., p. 70
  8. ↑ Ibid., p. 71
  9. ↑ Ibid., p. 71
  10. ↑ Ibid., p. 72
  11. ↑ Ibid., p. 72
  12. ↑ Ibid., p. 73
  13. ↑ Ibid., p. 73

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