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The Battle of Arbuzovka was fought between 22 and 25 December 1942 in the valley of Arbuzovka (near Chertkovo, Russia), between Italian and German forces and Soviet forces, as part of the Battle of Stalingrad.
During the Axis retreat during Operation Little Saturn, the remains of the 52nd Motorised Division Torino, retreating towards Chertkovo, became separated from the rest of the ARMIR and were encircled by the 35th Guards Rifle Division of the Red Army in the valley of Arbuzovka, 30 km east of Chertkovo, a place where the temperatures often dropped to –50 °C during winter. Together with them were 6,000 men of the 298th German Infantry Division and the remains of the "3 Gennaio" Blackshirt Group (made of the 63rd Assault Blackshirt Legion "Tagliamento" and the 10th Ordinary Blackshirt Legion "Montebello") under Console (Colonel) Antonio Galardo. [1]
The battle lasted three days, with the Italian and German forces trying to break out of the encirclement. These attempts, including several bayonet charges by the Italian units, were repelled with high casualties, and the situation seemed hopeless enough that the Italian regimental commanders were ordered to burn their units' flags. The extreme cold, exhaustion and hunger further worsened the situation, along with the complete exposure of the Axis forces (blocked in the valley floor) to the Soviet fire (coming from the sides). Some men committed suicide out of desperation. A Russian colonel was sent three times to ask for surrender; in the first two occasions, the offer was refused, but a number of Italian soldiers individually accepted to lay down their weapons and were marched to the Soviet lines. The third time the colonel was sent, however, German Schutzstaffels intervened during the parley and gunned down both him and the Italian negotiators.
During the battle two Italian soldiers, carabineer Giuseppe Plada Mosca and flamethrower soldier Mario Iacovitti, rode their horses against the Soviet troops, waving the Italian flag (both were later awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor; Mosca was killed in the battle, whereas Iacovitti was wounded and captured, but survived captivity). [2] [3] This act had the effect of stimulating the Italian soldiers, who gathered their last forces and launched another series of attacks, which, after fierce hand-to-hand combat and in co-operation with renewed German attacks, finally managed to break the encirclement on 25 December. Only a small number of Italian and German soldiers, however, managed to reach Chertkovo on the following day; in what the Italian soldiers came to call the "Valley of Death", at least 10,000 Axis soldiers were killed, 5,000 were wounded or frostbitten, and between 10,000 and 15,000 taken prisoner.
Operation Uranus was the codename of the Soviet 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation in World War II which led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the German Fourth Panzer Army. The operation was executed at roughly the midpoint of the five-month long Battle of Stalingrad, and was aimed at destroying German forces in and around Stalingrad. Planning for Operation Uranus had commenced in September 1942, and was developed simultaneously with plans to envelop and destroy German Army Group Center and German forces in the Caucasus. The Red Army took advantage of the German army's poor preparation for winter, and the fact that its forces in the southern Soviet Union were overstretched near Stalingrad, using weaker Romanian troops to guard their flanks; the offensives' starting points were established along the section of the front directly opposite Romanian forces. These Axis armies lacked heavy equipment to deal with Soviet armor.
The Corps of Volunteer Troops was a Fascist Italian expeditionary force which was sent to Spain to support the Nationalist forces under General Francisco Franco against the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War, 1936–39.
Operation Saturn, revised as Operation Little Saturn, was a Red Army operation on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in the North Caucasus and Donets Basin regions of the Soviet Union from December 1942 to February 1943.
The Italian participation in the Eastern Front during World War II began after the launch of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1941. To show solidarity with his Axis ally, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered a contingent of the Italian Royal Army to be prepared for the Eastern Front and, by early July, an Italian force was in transport.
Two Romanian armies, the Third and the Fourth, were involved in the Battle of Stalingrad, helping to protect the northern and southern flanks respectively of the German 6th Army as it tried to conquer the city of Stalingrad, defended by the Soviet Red Army in mid to late 1942. Overpowered and poorly equipped, these forces were unable to stop the Soviet November offensive, which punched through both flanks and left the 6th Army encircled in Stalingrad. The Romanians suffered enormous losses, which effectively ended their offensive capability on the Eastern Front for the remainder of the war.
The Hungarian Second Army was one of three field armies (hadsereg) raised by the Kingdom of Hungary which saw action during World War II. All three armies were formed on March 1, 1940. The Second Army was the best-equipped Hungarian formation at the beginning of the war, but was virtually eliminated as an effective fighting unit by overwhelming Soviet force during the Battle of Stalingrad, suffering 84% casualties. Towards the end of the war, a reformed Second Army fought more successfully at the Battle of Debrecen, but, during the ensuing Siege of Budapest, it was destroyed completely and absorbed into the Hungarian Third Army.
The 1st Alpini Regiment is an inactive regiment of the Italian Army's mountain infantry speciality, the Alpini, which distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II.
The Battle of Nikolayevka was the breakout of Italian forces in January 1943, as a small part of the larger Battle of Stalingrad. The breakout involved a corps of the Italian 8th Army's near the village of Nikolayevka.
The 19th Infantry Division Venezia was a mountain infantry division of the Regio Esercito was raised in 1934 to serve in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War under the name Gavinana division. It was demobilized and reduced to the brigade in July, 1936, but again mobilized 15 April 1939, under the "19th Infantry Division Venezia" name. 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. In October–November 1943, it has gradually get transformed into the partisan Garibaldi division fighting together with Yugoslav Partisans against Axis.
The 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" was an auto-transportable Infantry Division formed 1 January 1935 as 27th Infantry Division Sila and reorganized to the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" 24 May 1939.
It was made up of draftees from Calabria. The Brescia was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously.
The Italian Army in Russia was an army-sized unit of the Italian Royal 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 25th Infantry Division Bologna was an auto-transportable Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was stationed in Tripolitania and was sent to Libya for the Italian invasion of Egypt. It fought in North Africa until it was destroyed in the Second Battle of El Alamein.
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.
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 3rd Infantry Division (Ravenna) was a mountain infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. 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 Ravenna Division was mobilized for war in October 1939 in Alessandria.
The 12th Infantry Division Sassari was an Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. After the end of World War I the Italian Army disbanded all brigades raised during the war with the exception of the Sassari Infantry Brigade and three further brigades, which also had distinguished themselves during the war: Liguria, Arezzo and Avellino. The brigade moved to Trieste as part of the 12th Infantry Division Timavo'. In 1926 the brigade gained the 12th Infantry Regiment Casale and changed its name to XII Infantry Brigade. Along with the 34th Artillery Regiment the brigade were the only units of the 12th Division. In 1939 the brigade lost the 12th Infantry regiment and was renamed 12th Infantry Division Sassari. This binary division consisted of only two infantry regiments and the 34th Field Artillery Regiment. To increase the weak strength of the division in 1941 the division was joined by the 73rd Blackshirt Assault Legion Boiardo, a battalion sized militia unit of the Italian Fascist Party.
The 136th Armoured Division Giovani Fascisti was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II.
