German forces in Sardinia, September 8, 1943

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mfy4444
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German forces in Sardinia, September 8, 1943

#1

Post by mfy4444 » 01 Jul 2016, 16:46

Hello all. I am looking for an approximate number of the German troops on Sardinia at the time of the Italian armistice. Numbers are all over the place, I've seen anywhere from 15,000 to 50,000. I know the only large German unit there was 90th Panzergrenadier Division. I've also read varying numbers of troops evacuated from Corsica, which would include those from Sardinia because they all went to Corsica first before being withdrawn to the mainland. Westphal said 30,000 were taken off from Corsica, other sources say 40,000, one thesis I read online said more than 30,000 were evacuated by air alone (I assume most of the evacuations were by sea to Livorno?). Also, the SS Brigade already on Corsica at time has been stated to be anywhere from 4,000 to 14,000 men (I tried to get the figures for the German Sardinia troops by subtracting those already on Corsica from the total evacuated from Corsica, but with no firm numbers there that didn't work, either... also, I think 14,000 men sounds too high for the brigade already on Corsica). Does anyone have accurate numbers for how many Germans on Sardinia at the start of September. Most sources tend to agree there were 200,000 Italians on the island.

Regards and thanks

Mike Yaklich

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jwsleser
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Re: German forces in Sardinia, September 8, 1943

#2

Post by jwsleser » 03 Jul 2016, 07:08

Mike

The Italian official (Le operazione delle unita italiane nel settembre-ottobre 1943) puts the German forces at approx. 25,000 men. The units listed are: 90° Motorized Division, 925° Independent Regiment, and another regiment (identification not provided) of two battalions attached to the 203° divisione costiera (pages 274-275). In addition there were the usual support troops (mainly AA and other units for the defense of airfields, logistical centers, etc.).

The official discusses different numbers (fn 17 on page 275). These number range from 25,000 to a high of 30,000 depending on the source.

Italian forces are listed as 132,144 men (page 275).

Pista! Jeff
Last edited by jwsleser on 03 Jul 2016, 17:32, edited 1 time in total.
Jeff Leser

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gttf
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Re: German forces in Sardinia, September 8, 1943

#3

Post by gttf » 03 Jul 2016, 14:52

Hello,
according to KTB of the Germa Naval Staff (US translation), page 278, on Sept., 19th, 1943, the following forces had been evacuated from Sardinia to Corsica:

25.800 men, 4.650 vehicles, 4.765 tons of supply, 66 medium and 78 heavy anti-tank guns, 12 light and 12 heavy infantry guns, 62 tanks and 37 assault guns, 23 armoured cars, 23 light and 8 heavy field howitzers, 4 10-cm guns, 119 8,8 cm guns, 147 2-com guns and 30 2-cm flakvierling.

At least 700 were Italian Parachutists of Divisione Nembo (XII Battaglione, 81-mm mortar coy, 47-mm antitank battery): some sources give about 2.000 italians (Parachutists and Blackshirts) joining the German forces in Sardinia to Corsica.
The German losses during the few clashes against the Italians in Sardinia were about 150 KIA/WIA and 395 POW: taking into account these figures and a presence of Italians ranging from 700 to 2000, German forces in Sardinia were probably ranging from 24.350 to 25.650.

Regards

Fabrizio

mfy4444
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Re: German forces in Sardinia, September 8, 1943

#4

Post by mfy4444 » 11 Jul 2016, 18:30

Thanks for the information, Jeff! Sorry to be so late updating here. I have another question. You said there were (from the official history) about 132,000 Italians in Sardinia. Would this be Army only, or all forces? The reason I ask, other places toss around the figure of 200,000 for total Italian forces in Sardinia in September 1943 at the time of the armistice.

Regards and thanks again for the info in your last post!

Mike

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jwsleser
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Re: German forces in Sardinia, September 8, 1943

#5

Post by jwsleser » 12 Jul 2016, 13:58

Mike

Yes the numbers from the official only reflect ground forces (forze terrestri italiane). This number includes logistical troops and 'numerous non-combatants'. The book provides some details of the RM and RA but doesn't give the number of personnel present. Of the total RE, only about 95K are considered effective due to malaria that is present on the island.

Pista! Jeff
Jeff Leser

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marko10
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Re: German forces in Sardinia, September 8, 1943

#6

Post by marko10 » 20 Oct 2016, 16:58

Anyone knows the exact location of German units of the 90th Panzergrenadier in Sardinia. In which countries were positioned?

sidescanner
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Re: German forces in Sardinia, September 8, 1943

#7

Post by sidescanner » 22 Oct 2016, 00:42

Good night,
the following are the informations I've gathered for German Forces locations around 8-9-1943.

Sanluri area: most part of the 90th Panzergrenadier;
Calangianus area: one Panzergrenadier regiment, 1 artillery Group;
Oristano (my hometown:)): 925 fortress regiment (3 battalions);
Olbia : one fortress battaillon;
Capoterra: one fortress battalion;
Quartu Sant'Elena: one fortress battalion;
Mandas : one non commisioned officer company;
Fonni : logistic center;
Monti: logistic center;
Buddusò : special sappers unit


Luftwaffe units:
Villacidro;
Decimomannu;
Milis;
Chilivani;
Ottana - Bolotana;
Alghero;
Olbia - Venafiorita;

Hope this helps...

na4222
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Re: German forces in Sardinia, September 8, 1943

#8

Post by na4222 » 12 Mar 2019, 14:41

Hello all,

My question is around whether anyone has any idea what artillery guns were used by the Germans in Sardinia, specifically whether they ever used the 75mm FK 248(i) (75mm Cannone da 75/32 modello 37) as I have seen a picture of German troops receiving instruction while standing around this gun with the back of the picture stating it was taken in Malafede, which is north of Sassari in Sardinia.

Thanks.
Nezar

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