Folgore Mechanized Division

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Divisione Meccanizzata Folgore
CoA mil ITA mec div Folgore.png
Coat of Arms of the Folgore Mechanized Division
Active25 September 1944 - 31 October 1986
Country Italy
Branch Italian Army
Role Armoured warfare
Part of V Army Corps
Garrison/HQ Treviso
Engagements World War II

The Folgore Mechanized Division was a mechanized division of the Italian Army. Its core units were three mechanized brigades. The brigades headquarters was in the city of Treviso.

Armoured warfare Military use of armored fighting vehicles

Armoured warfare or armored warfare, mechanised warfare or tank warfare is the use of armoured fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of war. The premise of armoured warfare rests on the ability of troops to penetrate conventional defensive lines through use of manoeuvre by armoured units.

Division (military) military unit size designation for grouping land forces

A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. Infantry divisions during the World Wars ranged between 8,000 and 30,000 in nominal strength.

Italian Army land warfare branch of Italys military forces

The Italian Army is the land-based component of the Italian Armed Forces of the Italian Republic. The army's history dates back to the unification of Italy in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China, Libya, Northern Italy against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, Abyssinia before World War II and in World War II in Albania, Balkans, North Africa, USSR and Italy itself. During the Cold War, the army prepared itself to defend against a Warsaw Pact invasion from the east. Since the end of the Cold War, the army has seen extensive peacekeeping service and combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank and among its aircraft the Mangusta attack helicopter, recently deployed in UN missions. The headquarters of the Army General Staff are located in Rome opposite the Quirinal Palace, where the president of Italy resides. The army is an all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel.

Contents

History

World War II

The divisions history begins on 25 September 1944 with the formation of the Folgore Combat Group of the Italian Co-Belligerent Army with soldiers from the disbanded 184th Airborne Division Nembo. The name of the combat group was chosen in commemoration of the bravery of the 185th Airborne Division Folgore, which fought to annihilation in the Second Battle of El Alamein. The Nembo itself had been raised in 1942 with the Folgores 185th Parachute Infantry Regiment as its core unit.

Second Battle of El Alamein major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War

The Second Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt.

The combat group consisted of the Nembo Parachute Infantry Regiment, the Italian Navy's San Marco Amphibious Infantry Regiment, the Folgore Parachute Artillery Regiment and the CLXXXIV (184th) Engineer Battalion. Each of the two infantry regiments consisted of three infantry battalions, a mortar company armed with British ML 3 inch mortars and an anti-tank company armed with British QF 6 pounder guns. The artillery regiment consisted of four artillery groups with British QF 25 pounder guns, one anti-tank group with British QF 17 pounder guns and one anti-air group armed with British versions of the Bofors 40mm gun.

Italian Navy maritime warfare branch of Italys military

The Italian Navy is the Navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the Regia Marina after World War II. As of August 2014, the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active personnel with approximately 184 vessels in service, including minor auxiliary vessels. It is considered a multiregional and a blue-water navy.

Ordnance QF 17-pounder 76.2 mm (3 inch) gun

The Ordnance Quick-Firing 17-pounder was a 76.2 mm (3 inch) gun developed by the United Kingdom during World War II. It was used as an anti-tank gun on its own carriage, as well as equipping a number of British tanks. Used with the APDS shot, it was capable of defeating all but the thickest armour on German tanks. It was used to 'up-gun' some foreign-built vehicles in British service, notably to produce the Sherman Firefly variant of the US M4 Sherman tank, giving British tank units the ability to hold their own against their German counterparts. In the anti-tank role, it was replaced after the war by the 120 mm BAT recoilless rifle. As a tank gun, it was succeeded by the 84 mm 20 pounder.

Equipped also with British uniforms the Combat Group took part in the Italian Campaign of World War II as part of the British XIII Corps.

World War II 1939–1945, between Axis and Allies

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 70 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

XIII Corps (United Kingdom) British Infantry Corp of WW I & WWII

XIII Corps was a corps-sized formation of the British Army that fought on the Western Front during the First World War and was reformed for service during the Second World War, serving in the Mediterranean and Middle East throughout its service.

During the war the fascist regime in Northern Italy fielded the 1st Parachute Arditi Regiment Folgore, which also fielded a Nembo and a Folgore battalion.

Italian Social Republic puppet state of Nazi Germany

The Italian Social Republic, popularly and historically known as the Republic of Salò, was a German puppet state with limited recognition that was created during the later part of World War II, existing from the beginning of German occupation of Italy in September 1943 until the surrender of German troops in Italy in May 1945.

Arditi elite storm troops of the Royal Italian Army

Arditi was the name adopted by Royal Italian Army elite special force of World War I. They were the first modern shock troops and have been defined "the most feared corps by opposing armies".

Cold War

At the end of World War II the combat group was based in Florence. When the San Marco Regiment returned to the Navy on 5 September 1945 the combat group received the Garibaldi Regiment as replacement. The Garibaldi Regiment had been formed on 25 April 1945 in Viterbo with the re-patriated veterans of the Garibaldi Partisan Division, which had fought alongside the Yugoslav Partisans on the Yugoslav Front after the Armistice of Cassibile between Italy and the Western Allies. The Garibaldi Division was formed when the 19th Infantry Division Venezia on garrison duty in Montenegro refused to surrender or ally with the Germans. The Venezia together with men of the 1st Alpine Division Taurinense, who had refused to surrender too (mainly the Ivrea battalion and Aosta artillery group) saw heavy combat in Montenegro and out of its 16,000 men only 3,800 made it back to Italy. From these veterans the Garibaldi Regiment was raised with the battalions Aosta, Venezia and Turin.

Viterbo Comune in Lazio, Italy

Viterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo.

Yugoslav Partisans Yugoslavian resistance movement

The Yugoslav Partisans, or the National Liberation Army, officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia, was the Communist-led resistance to the Axis powers in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II.

Armistice of Cassibile Armistice between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies, 1943

The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 by Walter Bedell Smith and Giuseppe Castellano, and made public on 8 September, between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed at a conference of generals from both sides in an Allied military camp at Cassibile in Sicily, which had recently been occupied by the Allies. The armistice was approved by both King Victor Emmanuel III and Italian Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio. The armistice stipulated the surrender of Italy to the Allies.

On 15 October 1945 the combat group was elevated to division and began to move to the Northern Italian city of Treviso. As the Folgore along with the Mantova Infantry Division formed the first line of defence towards Yugoslavia it was augmented with the 5th Lancers Reconnaissance Battalion, the 33rd Artillery Regiment, the 41st Anti-tank Artillery Regiment and the 5th Anti-air Artillery Regiment. On 1 November 1948 the Garibaldi Regiment was renamed as 182nd Infantry Regiment Garibaldi, the Nembo Regiment was renamed as 183rd Infantry Regiment Nembo and the Folgore Artillery Regiment was renamed as 184th Artillery Regiment.

In 1949 the 5th Lancers was expanded to regiment and equipped with tanks, changing its name to 5th Armored Cavalry Regiment "Lancieri di Novara". In 1951 the division lost the 41st Anti-tank Artillery and the 5th Anti-air Artillery regiments and the became a fully motorized division in the following years. On 15 September 1955 the division received the 82nd Infantry Regiment from the Trieste Infantry Division. As the division fielded now three regiments with three motorized infantry battalions each the army decided to transform the Garibaldi regiment into an armored regiment. On 1 November 1958 the Garibaldi finished its transformation and became the 182nd Armored Infantry Regiment with a M47 Patton tank battalion and a mechanized Bersaglieri battalion. In anticipation of the transformation of the Garibaldi regiment the division had already lost on 1 April 1957 the 5th Armored Cavalry Regiment "Lancieri di Novara", which was used to raise the Pozzuolo del Friuli Cavalry Brigade.

On 1 January 1963 the army raised the Folgore Parachute Brigade in Pisa and both units were to keep the memory and traditions of the Italian airborne divisions of World War II alive. In 1964 it received the Reconnaissance Squadrons Group "Cavalleggeri di Saluzzo". By 1974 the division was organized as follows:

Infantry Division "Folgore" in 1974 Italian Army - Folgore Division 1974.png
Infantry Division "Folgore" in 1974

1975 reform

In 1975 the Italian Army undertook a major reorganization of its forces: the regimental level was abolished and battalions came under direct command of multi-arms brigades. As tensions with Yugoslavia over the city of Trieste were allayed by the Treaty of Osimo and because a reduction of the military service from 15 to 12 months for the army and air force and from 24 to 18 months for the navy, forced the army to reduce its forces by nearly 45,000 troops it was decided that the Motorized Division Folgore would contract to brigade. Therefore during 1975 most units of the Folgore division were either disbanded or reorganized and on 23 October 1975 the remaining units of the division were used to raise the Gorizia Mechanized Brigade in Gorizia. To bring the division back to full strength it received the Mechanized Brigade Trieste in Bologna and the Vittorio Veneto Armored Brigade in Villa Opicina. By the end of the year the division consisted of the following units.

  • CoA mil ITA mec div Folgore.png Folgore Mechanized Division in Treviso
    • CoA mil ITA mec bde Gorizia 1975-1986.png Gorizia Mechanized Brigade in Gorizia
    • CoA mil ITA mec bde trieste 1975-1986.png Trieste Mechanized Brigade in Bologna
    • CoA mil ITA cor bde Vittorio Veneto 1975-1986.png Vittorio Veneto Armored Brigade in Villa Opicina
    • Amphibious Troops Command , in Lido di Venezia
    • CoA mil ITA rgt cavalleria 12.png 12th Reconnaissance Squadrons Group Cavalleggeri di Saluzzo, in Gorizia
    • CoA mil ITA rgt fanteria 028.png 28th Infantry (Training) Battalion Pavia, in Pesaro (former I Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment Pavia and transferred from the Tuscan-Emilian Military Region)
    • CoA mil ITA btg fanteria 053.png 53rd Position Infantry Battalion Umbria, in Pavia di Udine (former I Battalion, 53rd Infantry Regiment Umbria)
    • CoA mil ITA rgt artiglieria 033.png 33rd Heavy Self-propelled Field Field Artillery Group Terni, in Treviso, with M109 155mm self-propelled howitzers (former III Self-propelled Field Artillery Group, 33rd Field Artillery Regiment; M109 replaced with FH70 155mm towed howitzers in 1981)
    • CoA mil ITA rgt artiglieria 184.png 184th Heavy Self-propelled Field Artillery Group Filottrano, in Padua, with M109 155mm self-propelled howitzers (former IV Heavy Field Artillery Group, 33rd Field Artillery Regiment; M109 replaced with FH70 155mm towed howitzers in 1980)
    • CoA mil ITA rgt genio 08.png 184th Engineer Battalion Santerno, in Villa Vicentina (former Folgore Pioneer Battalion)
    • CoA mil ITA rgt trasmissioni 184.png 184th Signal Battalion Cansiglio, in Treviso (former Folgore Signal Battalion)
    • 47th Reconnaissance Helicopter Squadron Levrieri , in Treviso (former Folgore Helicopter Section)
    • Folgore Command and Signals Battalion, in Treviso
    • Folgore Artillery Specialists Group, in Treviso, (Counter-battery radars and drones) (merged Command and Services, and Artillery Specialists batteries of the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment)
    • CoA mil ITA btg logistico 05.png Folgore Logistic Maneuver Battalion, in Treviso (former Folgore Logistic Services Groupement)
    • Folgore Medical (Reserve) Battalion, in Treviso

The division was disbanded on 31 October 1986 and its units came under direct command of the 5th Army Corps.

Today

The traditions of the Folgore divisions are today carried on by the Folgore Parachute Brigade, while the name of the Garibaldi division and regiment live on in the Garibaldi Bersaglieri Brigade.

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References

  1. ↑ F. dell'Uomo, R. di Rosa (2001). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Secondo - Tomo I. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 192.
  2. ↑ F. dell'Uomo, R. di Rosa (2001). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Secondo - Tomo I. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 353.
  3. ↑ F. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti (1998). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Primo - Tomo II. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 129.
  4. ↑ Stefani, Filippo (1985). La storia della dottrina e degli ordinamenti dell'Esercito Italiano. Rome: Ufficio Storico - Stato Maggiore Esercito. p. Volume III, Tomo 2, page 473-483.
  5. ↑ Stefani, Filippo (1985). La storia della dottrina e degli ordinamenti dell'Esercito Italiano. Rome: Ufficio Storico - Stato Maggiore Esercito. p. Volume III, Tomo 2, page 437.
  6. ↑ Cerbo, Giovanni (1996). L'Aviazione dell'Esercito - Dalle origini ai giorni nostri. Rome: Rivista Militare. p. 76. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  7. ↑ F. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti (1998). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Primo - Tomo II. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 361.

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