The Ariete Armoured Division was an armoured division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was formed in 1939 as the second armoured division in the Italian Army after the 131 Armoured Division Centauro. The division fought in the North African Campaign until being destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein. After World War II the division was reformed as part of the Italian Army.
The Italian participation in the Eastern Front represented the military intervention of the Kingdom of Italy in the Operation Barbarossa, launched by Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union in 1941. The commitment to actively take part in the German offensive was decided by Benito Mussolini a few months before the beginning of the operation, when he became aware of Adolf Hitler's intention to invade, but it was confirmed only in the morning of 22 June 1941, as soon as the Italian dictator was informed that same day the German armies had given way to the invasion.
This article is about the Italian Royal Army which participated in World War II.
The 26th Infantry Division Assietta was a mountain infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. The Assietta Division was reorganized 5 April 1939 as a binary Mountain division. The only difference between line infantry divisions and mountain infantry divisions was that the latter's artillery was carried by pack mules instead of the standard horse-drawn carriages. Italy's real mountain warfare divisions were the six alpine divisions manned by the "Alpini" mountain troops. Most men drafted in the Assietta Division came from Asti and surroundings.
The 5th Infantry Division Cosseria was an Infantry Division of the Italian Army during the Second World War. It was mobilized in January, 1935 in Imperia city. It was made up almost totally of Ligurians and Montferratians.
During World War II, the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia was a corps-sized expeditionary unit of the Regio Esercito that fought on the Eastern Front. In July 1942 the CSIR entered the newly formed Italian Army in Russia as XXXV Army Corps.
The Italian Army in Russia was an army-sized unit of the Royal Italian Army which fought on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ARMIR was also known as the 8th Italian Army and initially had 235,000 soldiers.
The 9th Infantry Division Pasubio was an auto-transportable binary-type (2-regiments) Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. The division was formed as an infantry division in 1934, reorganized into an infantry division in 1939 and mobilized in August 1940. Its 79th Infantry Regiment and 8th Artillery Regiment were made up of men from Verona, while the ranks of the 80th Regiment were filled with men from Mantua. Its 1st Sabauda CCNN Battalion was made up of volunteers from Turin.
1st Infantry Division Superga was a mountain infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was formed in 1940 in Torino (Turin), and was part of the 4th Army, Italian I Corps during the Italian invasion of France. The only difference between line infantry divisions and mountain infantry divisions was that the latter's artillery was carried by pack mules instead of the standard horse-drawn carriages. Italy's real mountain warfare divisions were the six alpine divisions manned by the "Alpini" mountain troops.
The 16th Infantry Division Pistoia was an auto-transportable infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was created by dividing the infantry division "Fossalta" in 1939. The Pistoia was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously.
The 2nd Infantry Division Sforzesca was a mountain Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. The Division was mobilized in June 1940 in Novara, for the Italian invasion of France. The only difference between line infantry divisions and mountain infantry divisions was that the latter's artillery was carried by pack mules instead of the standard horse-drawn carriages. Italy's real mountain warfare divisions were the six alpine divisions manned by the "Alpini" mountain troops. The division was named to honor the Italian noble House of Sforza.
The 10th Infantry Division Piave was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was formed from Abruzzi brigade in Padua in 1934 as territorial division and was converted to artillery-infantry auto-transportable division format in 1939, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously.
The 7th Infantry Division Lupi di Toscana was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was in 1938 formed as binary (2-regiment) division from infantry brigade in the city of Brescia. Despite the name, the division was formed by men from Lombardy, especially from Brescia, Bergamo and the surrounding valleys.
The 11th Infantry Division Brennero was a mountain infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. The Brennero Division was mobilized in October 1939, demobilized in October, 1940, and mobilized again in December, 1940. The only difference between line infantry divisions and mountain infantry divisions was that the latter's artillery was carried by pack mules instead of the standard horse-drawn carriages. Italy's real mountain warfare divisions were the six alpine divisions manned by the "Alpini" mountain troops. It began transformation to motorized division in February, 1943.
The 18th Infantry Division Messina was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was formed 24 May 1939 in the Fano area on the Italian Adriatic sea coast and was dissolved by Germans 13 September 1943 in Croatia.
The Infantry Division "Friuli" was a division of the Italian Army active in World War II and during the early days of the Cold War.
The 44th Infantry Division Cremona was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II.
The 54th Infantry Division Napoli was a regular infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was created 15 April 1939 in Caltanissetta and was dissolved 14 August 1943 in Melia southeast of Scilla, Calabria after being nearly wiped out in the Allied invasion of Sicily. The division drafted men in southern Sicily. The members of the division hailed from Caltanissetta, Agrigento, Syracuse and surrounding territories.
The Mechanized Brigade "Trieste" was a mechanized brigade of the Italian Army. Its core units were mechanized infantry battalions. The brigade's headquarter was in the city of Bologna. Named after the North-Eastern city of Trieste the brigade's coat of arms was modeled after the city's coat of arms.
The 1940 formation of the 160th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed as part of the prewar buildup of forces, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. The division completed its formation at Gorki in the Moscow Military District and at the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union was in the same area, assigned to the 20th Rifle Corps in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. It was moved west by rail to join the 13th Army of Western Front in the first days of July 1941 in the Mogilev area. At the end of the month the division was assigned to the reserves of Central Front before becoming part of Operations Group Akimenko in the reserves of Bryansk Front. In mid-September it was encircled and forced to break out; in the process it lost its commanding officer, much of its command staff and so many men and heavy weapons that it was briefly written off. Its number was reallocated to the 6th Moscow Militia Division and for the next 18 months there were two 160th Rifle Divisions serving concurrently. By the start of Operation Typhoon at the end of September it was in Operations Group Ermakov; while falling back to southwest of Kursk it managed to avoid encirclement but remained barely combat-effective due to its heavy losses.
Regno d'Italia
Regio Esercito
