During World War II, the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Italian : Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia; CSIR) was a corps-sized expeditionary unit of the Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army) that fought on the Eastern Front. In July 1942 the CSIR entered the newly formed Italian Army in Russia as XXXV Army Corps.
The CSIR was formed in an attempt to provide a somewhat mobile unit to fight on a front where mobility was key. Two of the divisions were truck-moveable and one was a celere (fast) division, drawn from the reserve Army of the Po but this was more on paper than in reality. The CSIR was created by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to show solidarity with Nazi Germany after German dictator Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa and attacked the Soviet Union. Mussolini created the CSIR, despite the lack of enthusiasm shown by Hitler, on 10 July 1941 and between July and August 1941, the units of the CSIR arrived in southern Russia. The CSIR included an Aviation Command (Comando Aviazione) with a limited number of fighters, bombers and transport aircraft. This command was part of the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) and was also known as the Expeditionary Air Corps in Russia (Corpo Aereo Spedizione in Russia).
The CSIR was initially subordinated to the German 11th Army (General Eugen Ritter von Schobert). [1] On 14 August 1941, the CSIR was transferred to the control of German Panzer Group 1 (General Ewald von Kleist). On 25 October 1941, Panzer Group 1 was renamed the 1st Panzer Army. The CSIR remained under von Kleist's command until 3 June 1942 when it was subordinated to the German 17th Army (General Richard Ruoff).
The CSIR was composed of three divisions: 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta", 9th Infantry Division "Pasubio", and 52nd Infantry Division "Torino". Torino and Pasubio were semi-motorised divisions, with an assortment of commercial vehicles, with company logos intact, pressed into service. The Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Division was a combination of traditional saber wielding horse cavalry and motorized units, with much of the division's artillery horse-drawn. The highly-mobile riflemen ( Bersaglieri ) in this unit made use of motorcycles or bicycles.
The initial strength of the CSIR stood at about 3,000 officers and 59,000 men, 5,500 motor vehicles, 220 artillery pieces, 92 anti-tank guns, 83 aeroplanes and 4,600 horses and mules. [2] The units of the CSIR were primarily lightly armed infantry, horse cavalry and mobile riflemen. The Torino and Pasubio divisions were each composed of two infantry regiments and a regiment of artillery. The Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Fast Division was composed of four regiments, the Regiment "Savoia Cavalleria" (3rd), Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" (5th), the 3rd Fast Artillery Regiment and the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment. The units of the CSIR were a mixed bag and were transported by truck, horse, car, motorcycle, bicycle or as was the case all too often, on foot. While the Amedeo Duke of Aosta Division did include 60 obsolete tankettes and light tanks (Fiat L3 or Fiat L6/40), mostly in its one tank battalion, as well as anti-tank guns (Cannone da 47/32 M35), there was nothing in the Italian arsenal able to counter the numerous and technically superior Soviet tanks like the T-34/76 or KV I.
The Aviation Command of the CSIR had less than 100 Macchi C.200 Saetta (Lightning) fighters, Caproni Ca.311 light reconnaissance-bombers and Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 Pipistrello (Bat) tri-motor transports. The CSIR included the Special Intendancy East (Intendenza Speciale Est) which provided medical, commissariat, administration, artillery, chemical, horse and veterinary, transport, automotive, staging, mail and telegraphic services.
The CSIR's original commander was General Francesco Zingales. He fell ill in Vienna during the early stages of transport to Russia and on 14 July 1941, was replaced by General Giovanni Messe. Messe was never satisfied with the equipment and support available to the CSIR and pointed out the lack of adequate winter equipment. Therefore he was replaced in November 1942 by Francesco Zingales under whose command the Corps would be all but destroyed and returned to Italy in April 1943.
| No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Major General Giovanni Messe (1883–1968) | 14 July 1941 | 1 November 1942 | 1 year, 110 days | |
| 2 | Lieutenant-General Francesco Zingales (1884–1959) | 1 November 1942 | 12 July 1943 | 242 days | |
| 3 | Lieutenant-General Arturo Taranto (born 1880) | 12 July 1943 | 27 July 1943 | 15 days | |
| 4 | Lieutenant General Alessandro Gloria (1883–1970) | 27 July 1943 | 8 September 1943 | 43 days |
The CSIR was sent to the southern sector of the German advance in the Ukraine in July 1941. In August, as part of the German 11th Army, the CSIR made its first contact with the Red Army. The CSIR pursued retreating Soviet troops between the Bug River and Dniester River. While the 11th Army conducted the Siege of Odessa, the CSIR was attached to Panzer Group 1. In its early encounters the CSIR was successful, taking a number of towns and cities and creating a favourable impression on its German allies. [3] Its most notable early victory came at the Battle of Petrikowka in September 1941, where the Italians encircled some sizeable Red Army units, inflicting unknown casualties on them and capturing over 10,000 prisoners of war as well as significant numbers of weapons and horses. [2] This cost 291 Italian casualties, 87 killed, 190 wounded and 14 missing. [4] On October 20, the CSIR and the German XLIXth Mountain Corps captured the big industrial city of Stalino (now Donetsk) after determined resistance from the Soviet defenders. Units from the Pasubio Motorized Division captured the neighboring city of Gorlovka, an industrial town of around 100,000 inhabitants, on November 2. While the CSIR did not participate in the siege of Odessa, Italian troops assisted in the occupation of the Odessa area after the city fell on 16 October 1941. [5]
With the onset of winter, the CSIR units began consolidating their occupation zone and preparing defensive works. In the last week of December, the 3rd Mobile Division was counter-attacked by Soviet forces and managed to repel the attacks long enough for the 1st Panzer Army to reinforce the sector and defeat the Soviet attack. The "Christmas Battle" was hailed as a great victory in Italy, though the division likely would have fallen without German support. It subsequently weathered the 1941–1942 winter quite well in its relatively quiet occupation zone. [5]
In July 1942, the CSIR was incorporated into the far larger Italian Army in Russia (ARMIR, Armata Italiana in Russia) when Mussolini decided to expand the Italian presence in the Soviet Union. The three divisions of the CSIR all became part of the ARMIR XXXV Army Corps.
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Giovanni Messe was an Italian field marshal and politician. In the Second World War, he was captured in Tunisia but made chief of staff of the Italian Co-belligerent Army after the armistice of September 1943. Later, he was an elected representative in the Italian Senate. He is considered by many to have been the best Italian general of the war.
The Italian participation on 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 invaded the Soviet Union.
A mechanised corps was a Soviet armoured formation used prior to the beginning of World War II and reintroduced during the war, in 1942.
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The Italian Army in Russia was an army-sized unit of the Regio Esercito which fought on the Eastern Front during World War II between July 1942 and April 1943. The ARMIR was also known as the 8th Italian Army and initially had 235,000 soldiers. The bulk of this force was destroyed by the Soviet Red Army at the Battle of Stalingrad, after which Mussolini withdrew the remnants from Russia to the West.
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Between 10 September 1941 and 10 March 1942 the unit was named Maneuver Army Corps.
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The 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" was a Cavalry or "Celere" (Fast) division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division was formed in 1934, and during World War II was mobilized in June 1940. As a cavalry division it took part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia and was part of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia. Annihilated during the Red Army's Operation Little Saturn in December 1942, the survivors returned to Italy in spring 1943.
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The Battle of Petrikowka took place between 27 and 30 September 1941, during World War II. Fought between Italian and Soviet forces, it was the first significant engagement involving the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia.
During World War II, the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (CSIR) was a corps 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. On 1 August 1941 the CSIR consisted of the following units:
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The 8th Field Artillery Regiment "Pasubio" is a field artillery regiment of the Italian Army. Today the regiment is based in Persano in Campania and assigned to the Bersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi". The regiment was formed in 1860 by the Royal Sardinian Army and participated the same year in the Piedmontese invasion of Central and Southern Italy. In 1861 the regiment joined the Royal Italian Army and in 1866 it fought in the Third Italian War of Independence. During World War I the regiment served on the Italian front. In 1935 the regiment was assigned to the 9th Infantry Division "Pasubio", which in July 1941 was assigned to the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia, which was deployed to the Eastern Front of World War II. In 1942 the division and regiment were destroyed during the Soviet Operation Little Saturn and the survivors of the division were dispersed by invading German forces after the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943.
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