Army Group Liguria | |
---|---|
German: Armee Ligurien Italian: Armata Liguria | |
Active | 31 July 1944 – 1 May 1945 |
Country | Italian Social Republic |
Branch | National Republican Army Heer ( Wehrmacht) |
Type | Field army |
Engagements | Italian campaign |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Rodolfo Graziani |
Army Liguria (Armee Ligurien, or LXXXXVII Army) was an army formed for the National Republican Army (Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano, or ENR). The ENR was the national army of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI). Formation of this RSI army started in 1943 and the army was disbanded in 1945. Army Liguria included several German units and its Italian units were sometimes transferred to German formations.
Between November 1944 and February 1945, the formation was alternatively known as Army Group Liguria (Armeegruppe Ligurien) due to the subordination of 14th Army under it.
On 16 October 1943, the Rastenburg Protocol was signed with Nazi Germany and the RSI was allowed to raise four division-sized military formations. The four divisions—1st Italian "Italia" Infantry Division, 2nd Italian "Littorio" Infantry Division, 3rd Italian "San Marco" Marine Division, and 4th Italian "Monte Rosa" Alpine Division—were to ultimately total 52,000 men.
In July 1944, the first of these divisions completed training and was sent to the front. Like the smaller RSI units—the Black Brigades and the Decima Flottiglia MAS—the newly formed RSI divisions generally participated in anti-partisan activities. While there were exceptions, these divisions saw front line actions against the Allies, especially at the Gothic Line.
As the remaining divisions completed training, they were combined with German units and formed into Army Group Liguria. The RSI Minister of Defense, Rodolfo Graziani, commanded all Army forces of the RSI.
On 1 May 1945. The Army Group Liguria surrendered after being defeated at the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy.
Army Group Liguria - (Marshal Rodolfo Graziani)
The 1st Bersaglieri "Italia" Division was attached to the 14th German Army.
Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli, was an Italian military officer and war criminal in the Kingdom of Italy's Royal Army, primarily noted for his campaigns in Africa before and during World War II. A dedicated fascist and prominent member of the National Fascist Party, he was a key figure in the Italian military during the reign of Victor Emmanuel III.
The Italian Social Republic, known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy, but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò, was a German puppet state and fascist rump state with limited diplomatic recognition that was created during the latter part of World War II. It existed from the beginning of the German occupation of Italy in September 1943 until the surrender of Axis troops in Italy in May 1945. The German occupation triggered widespread national resistance against it and the Italian Social Republic, leading to the Italian Civil War.
The Italian campaign of World War II, also called the Liberation of Italy following the German occupation in September 1943, consisted of Allied and Axis operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to 1945. The joint Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre and it planned and led the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, followed in September by the invasion of the Italian mainland and the campaign in Italy until the surrender of the Axis forces in Italy in May 1945.
The Italian Civil War was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during the Italian campaign of World War II between Italian fascists and Italian partisans and, to a lesser extent, the Italian Co-belligerent Army.
The Italian Co-belligerent Army, or Army of the South, were names applied to various division sets of the now former Royal Italian Army during the period when it fought alongside the Allies during World War II from October 1943 onwards. During the same period, the pro-allied Italian Royal Navy and Italian Royal Air Force were known as the Italian Co-belligerent Navy and Italian Co-belligerent Air Force respectively. From September 1943, pro-Axis Italian forces became the National Republican Army of the newly formed Italian Social Republic.
The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack in the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the surrender of all Axis forces in Italy.
The Comando Truppe Alpine or COMTA commands the Mountain Troops of the Italian Army, called Alpini and various support and training units. It is the successor to the 4º Corpo d'Armata Alpino of the Cold War. The Alpini are light Infantry units specializing in Mountain Combat. The subordinate units of the COMTA distinguished themselves during combat in World War I and World War II.
The National Republican Army, colloquially called the Army of The North was the army of the Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945 that fought on the side of Nazi Germany during World War II.
133rd Armored Division "Littorio" was an armored division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division's name derives from the fasces carried by the lictors of ancient Rome, which Benito Mussolini had adopted as symbol of state-power of the fascist regime. Sent to North Africa in January 1942 for the Western Desert Campaign the division was destroyed in the Second battle of El Alamein in November 1942.
The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack into the Lombard Plain by the Allied 15th Army Group started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the surrender of Axis forces in Italy.
The 2nd Grenadier Division "Littorio" was one of four divisions raised by Mussolini's Italian Social Republic. Although an infantry formation, it was referred to as a "Grenadier" formation to connect it with preceding Granatieri di Sardegna units.
The Battle of Garfagnana, known to the Germans as Operation Winter Storm and nicknamed the "Christmas Offensive", was a successful Axis offensive against American forces on the western sector of the Gothic Line during World War II. It took place in December 1944 in the north Tuscan Apennines, near Massa and Lucca.
The Motorized Brigade "Cremona" was an infantry brigade of the Italian Army. The brigade's headquarters was in the city of Turin. The brigade carried on the name and traditions of the 44th Infantry Division "Cremona".
The Surrender at Caserta of 29 April 1945 was the written agreement that formalized the surrender of German and Italian Fascist forces in Italy, ending the Italian Campaign of World War II.
The Italian Liberation Corps was a corps of the Italian Co-belligerent Army during the Italian campaign of World War II. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the Italian government began the formation of units to fight on the allied side against Germany. On 18 April 1944 the Italian Liberation Corps was formed, which after an intense cycle of combat operations was disbanded on 24 September 1944 to form division-sized combat groups.
The Second Battle of the Alps was a military campaign fought between combined German and Italian Social Republic forces, and the re-established French Republic led by Charles de Gaulle and other Allied forces.
The 4th Alpine Division "Monterosa" was one of four divisions raised by Mussolini's Italian Social Republic. It existed from 1 January 1944 until 28 April 1945.
The 3rd Marine Infantry Division "San Marco" was one of four divisions raised by Mussolini's Army of the Italian Social Republic. It existed from 26 November 1943 until 29 April 1945.
LXXV Army Corps was a corps in the German Army during World War II.
Archimede Mischi was an Italian Blackshirt general during World War II.