The Second Battle of El Alamein order of battle is a listing of the significant formations that were involved in the Second Battle of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, 23 October – 4 November 1942.
The 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Brescia was named after the city of Brescia in Lombardy. The Brescia was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously.
The 102nd Motorized Division "Trento" was a motorized infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division was formed in 1935 and named for the city of Trento, where its infantry and artillery regiments were based. The Trento served in the Western Desert Campaign and was destroyed in the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942.
101st Motorized Division "Trieste" was a motorized infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Trieste was formed in 1939 and named for the city of Trieste. The division and its infantry and artillery regiments were based in Piacenza, while the 9th Bersaglieri Regiment was based until 1940 in Treviso and then moved to Cremona to be closer to the division. In September 1941 the Trieste was transferred to Libya for the Western Desert Campaign. The division was decimated in the Second Battle of El Alamein, but was rebuild with the survivors of destroyed divisions. The Trieste then participated in the Tunisian Campaign until Axis forces in Tunisia surrendered to allied forces on 13 May 1943.
The 25th Infantry Division "Bologna" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Bologna was named after the city of Bologna and classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously.
The 17th Infantry Division "Pavia" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Pavia was formed in on 27 April 1939 and named after the city of Pavia. The Pavia was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously. The Pavia had its recruiting area and regimental depots in the Romagna and its headquarters in Ravenna. Its two infantry regiments were based in Cesena (27th) and Ravenna (28th), with the division's artillery regiment based in Ravenna. Shortly after its formation the division was sent to Sabratha in Italian Libya. It participated in the Western Desert campaign and was destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein.
185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" was an airborne division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division was formed in Tarquinia near Rome on 1 September 1941. In July 1942 the division was sent to Libya to fight in the Western Desert Campaign and was destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein in early November 1942.
The 184th Paratroopers Division "Nembo" was an airborne division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. After the Armistice of Cassibile the division joined the Italian Co-belligerent Army's Italian Liberation Corps and together with the Polish II Corps liberated Ancona in the Battle of Ancona.
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.
The 2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca" was a infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Sforzesca was classified as a mountain infantry division, which meant that the division's artillery was moved by pack mules instead of the horse-drawn carriages of line infantry divisions. Italy's real mountain warfare divisions were the six alpine divisions manned by Alpini mountain troops. The Division, with the exception of the 53rd Infantry Regiment based in Biella, was based in Novara and recruited its troops primarily from northern Piedmont. The division was named for the Battle of Sforzesca fought during the First Italian War of Independence in 1849.
The 10th Infantry Division "Piave" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. At the beginning of World War II Piave was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously. On 15 July 1941 the division reorganized to a fully motorized division and was renamed 10th Motorized Division "Piave". The division was named after the river Piave, where during World War I Italy and Austria fought three major battles. The division had its recruiting area in Veneto and its headquarters in Padua. Its two infantry regiments were based in Vicenza (57th) and Padua (58th), with the division's artillery regiment also based in Padua.
The 52nd Infantry Division "Torino" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Torino was named after the city of Turin and classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously. The division was formed by expanding the Torino Brigade in June 1940 and was based with two of its regiments in Civitavecchia, while the 81st Infantry Regiment "Torino" was based in Rome. The division took part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia and was then sent to the Eastern front as part of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia.
The 7th Infantry Division "Lupi di Toscana" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Division, with the exception of the 78th Infantry Regiment based in Bergamo, was based in Brescia. Despite its name referencing the region of Tuscany, the division was formed by men from Lombardy, especially from Brescia, Bergamo and the surrounding valleys.
The 22nd Infantry Division "Cacciatori delle Alpi" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division was based in Perugia and named for the Cacciatori delle Alpi corps raised for the Second War of Italian Independence.
The 61st Infantry Division "Sirte" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division was formed on 9 May 1937 in Misrata in Italian Libya and named for the Libyan city of Sirte. The division's regimental depots were in mainland Italy in Calabria and shared with the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia", with both divisions recruiting their troops from and training them there. The division was destroyed on 22 January 1941 during the British capture of Tobruk and officially declared lost on 23 January 1941. The Sirte was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously.
The 11th Army was a World War II field army of the Royal Italian Army. It was formed in November 1940 for service in the Greco-Italian War, and after the German invasion of Greece and the capitulation of that country in April 1941, assumed occupation duties in the Greek mainland. It remained on station in Greece until the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943, when it was forcibly disbanded by the Germans.
The XXVI Army Corps was an infantry corps of the Royal Italian Army during World War I, the Italian invasion of Albania, and the Greco-Italian War and the subsequent Italian occupation of Greece during World War II.
The XXV Army Corps was an infantry corps of the Royal Italian Army during World War I, the Italian invasion of Albania, and the Greco-Italian War and the subsequent Italian occupation of Greece during World War II.
The VIII Army Corps was an infantry corps of the Royal Italian Army during World War II, when it participated in the Italian invasion of Albania, and the Greco-Italian War and the subsequent Italian occupation of Greece.
Enrico Frattini was an Italian general during World War II, most notable for commanding the 185th Paratroopers Division Folgore during the second battle of El Alamein, and the second commander of Allied Land Forces Southern Europe in the 1950s.