101 Italian WW2 victories & counting

[Urmel]

On April 8, the same day Mechili fell, he received fresh reinforcements in the form of the 605th Antitank Battalion, the vanguard of the 15th Panzer Division. At their head rode Maj. Gen. Henrich von Prittwitz und Gaffron, a promising and energetic divisional commander. Rommel immediately placed him in charge of a pursuit force: a combat group made up of the 3d Reconnaissance, 8th Machine Gun, and 605th Antitank Battalions. Before the day was out they took 800 more prisoners along the Coastal Road and streamed forward again, in the direction of Tobruk ... (Triumphant Fox: Erwin Rommel and the Rise of the Afrika Korps, Samuel. W. Mitcham, p. ?, Stackpole Books, 2014)

On April 8, von Prittwitz cut off and captured one of the Australian rearguards (800 men), but he was unable to prevent Morshead from retiring into the fortress. (The Rise of the Wehrmacht: Vol. 1, Samuel. W. Mitcham, p. 433, ABC-CLIO, 2008)

How is that an Italian victory?

[carlodinechi]

Italian victories during the Christmas Battle (Eastern Front, 1941)

"The Italo-German advance represented one of the few instances that winter, in which Axis forces were not losing ground to the Red Army and were even capturing additional territory. Having fought to exhaustion, both sides settled down and passed New Year's Eve without serious incident. The influence of the CSIR's Chritsmas 1941 victory on the course of the war on the Eastern Front is entirely overlooked. The Soviet Command had high expectations of an operation against the CSIR, and expected to destroy the German 49th Mountain Corps as well. Sucess against those Axis formations might have allowed the Russians to follow up with an offensive against the rest of 1st Panzer Army, instead of the 17th Army. In those circumstances, the Wehrmacht could have been threatened with a Stanlingrad-type defeat in the first winter of the war."

(Three Kings: Axis Royal Armies on the Russian Front 1941, Patrick Cloutier, p. 141, 2012)

12 December - The commander of the 'Torino' Division, General Ugo de Carolis, is killed and posthumously awarded the German Knight's Cross.

26 December - Italians overrun part of the Russian 733rd Rifle Division at Mikhailovka. ("At 1030 hours the German 318th Regiment, supported by fifty tanks, went into action to relieve the besieged defenders of Mikhailovka. Attacking from the western end of the valley, the panzers reached the Italians. With their newly arrived support, the Italians turned their bayonets against the Russians, who minutes earlier were about to overwhelm them. With this sudden reversal in fortune, the Soviet soldiers attempted to escape. Those Russian units which resisted were destroyed by the combined efforts of the Blackshirts, Bersaglieri and German tanks. As a result, the 733rd Rifle Regiment (136th Rifle Division), which had trapped the Italians in Mikhailovka, was encircled in turn and completely destroyed." Three Kings: Axis Royal Armies on the Russian Front 1941, Patrick Cloutier, p. 139, 2015)

27 December - Italians recapture the high ground at Kurgun Ostriy on the Eastern Front. ("On 27 December the Italo-German counter-attack was reinforced by the 2nd Airborne Regiment (3rd Airborne Division). The Axis troops restored the situation and also captured the commanding height at Kurgun Ostriy. Petropavlovka, which the Russians had recaptured the previous day with infantry and cavalry, was once more in Italian hands. Three Kings: Axis Royal Armies on the Russian Front 1941, Patrick Cloutier, p. 140, 2015)

28 December - The 63rd Blackshirt & 25th Bersaglieri Battalions capture Kolkhoz Voroshilova & Rassipnoy. (" The Italo-German force in the Celere Division's sector experienced more success,as German paratroopers captured the stretch of double railroad track at Kulinatskiy, and the 63rd Blackshirt Battalion, captured Kolkhoz Voroshilova, which was below the commanding height at Kurgun Ostriy. The German 318th Regiment captured the village of Greko-Timofeyevskiy from the Rifle Division, while the XXV Bersaglieri Battalion took Rassipnoy.." Three Kings: Axis Royal Armies on the Russian Front 1941, Patrick Cloutier, p. 140, 2015)

30 December - The 18th Bersaglieri Battalion overruns part of the Soviet 296th Rifle Division. ("On 30 December the 296th Rifle Division managed to capture Height 311.7 from the Germans, but this was recaptured the next day by the XVIII Bersaglieri Battalion, with tank support, in a surprise move." Three Kings: Axis Royal Armies on the Russian Front 1941, Patrick Cloutier, p. 140, 2015)

[carlodinechi]

More Italian victories on the Eastern Front

30 September - Italian troops overrun several units near Petrikovka, capturing 10,000 Russian troops. (" in late September 1941 they were even able to encircle some sizeable Red Army units near Petrikovka. The Italians took more than 10,000 prisoners of war." The Unknown Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht and Hitler's Foreign Soldiers, Rolf-Dieter Müller, p.73, I.B.Tauris, 2014)

20 October - The 20th Bersaglieri Battalion forces the Russian the 383rd Rifle Division to abandon the Ukrainian steel manufacturing city of Stalino. (" The situations for the Soviets became very serious on the northern flank of the 383rd Rifle Division, around the suburban railroad station of Stantsia Stalino, where the Italians were advancing. With the capture of Grishino and Grodovska from the 296th Rifle Division the Pasubio Division had maneuvered to the north of the Celere Division, thus securing the left flank of the Bersaglieri and cavalrymen. General Marazzini decided it was an opportune time to attack the 383rd Rifle Division's unprotected flank, in the viciniity of Yasinovataya. A reinforced battalion from the 291st Rifle Regiment, under 1st Lieutenant Shcherbak, was sent to the threatened area. The Soviet battalion fought bitterly to prevent an Italian breakthrough and delayed them long enought to allow the "Miners" Division to retreat. Nevertheless, the XX Bersaglieri Battalion captured Stalino Station. Threatened by the Italians to the north, and with Germans vanguards already in Stalino, the Russians had no choice but to abandon the city." Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 67, Lulu Press, 2010)

27 October - In a new action Italians win praise from the German High Command for defeating attacks in the Donets Basin and capturing several hundred Russian prisoners. ("In the Donets Basin an attempt to retard our advance was prevented by Italian troops. The enemy was thrown back with heavy and bloody losses and left several hundred prisoners in the hands of our allies." German High Command Communique, 27 October 1941)

29 October - Italian forces defending Stalino, throw back several Russian counterattacks. ("The official Stefani agency reported today that Italian troops on the Eastern front had been halted and put on the defensive for the past eight days by Russian counter-attacks ...The dispatch said Russian attacks and aerial bombardments were "furious" but added that the Italian troops "never ceded a millimeter of ground." https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 3802&hl=en Units Halted, Italians Admit, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 30 October, 1941)

2 November - Italians capture Gorlovka on the Eastern Front. ("Together with the XXXXIX German Mountain Corps, the CSIR captured the industrial centre of Stalino on 20 October, whereas Pasubio units took the iron and steel works of Gorlovka in the Donets province on 2 November 1941" The Unknown Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht and Hitler's Foreign Soldiers, Rolf-Dieter Müller, p.73, I.B.Tauris, 2014)

14 November - The Italian Supreme Command reports the 'Pasubio' Division has smashed the defences in the Donets Basin forcing the Russian defenders to retreat to Voroshilovgrad. ("Two infantry battalions of the Pasubio Division broke through the Soviet line in the Donets Basin yesterday after two days of hard fighting in a blizzard and intense cold and forced the Russians to fall back toward Voroshilovgrad, 100 miles north of Rostov, on the Donets River The Russians rushed reinforcements from the north and east until they had amassed four divisions to halt the Italian advance, but the Italians continued to push ahead." The New York Times, 15 November 1941)

[carlodinechi]

Australians defending Benghazi in April 1941, retreat in the face of Italian spearheads

3 April- Italian motorcycle-equipped spearheads from the 'Ariete' and 'Sabratha' Divisions enter Benghazi without opposition from the Australians. They are informed of cases of torture, rape, and murder of Italian women. ("These incidents include the murder of Italian women in Benghazi (the murder scene being photographed by Germans during the advance), photographs of a looted ossuary (reputedly by New Zealand troops), and general reports of destruction, rape, and some reports of murder." Rommel's North Africa Campaign: September 1940-November 1942, Jack Greene, Alessandro Massignani, p. 133, Da Capo Press, 2007)

4 April - With sixty Italian tanks near Jebel el Akdar, the British Commonwealth Forces start withdrawing and Italian civilians and soldiers welcome the arrival of the German 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion in Benghazi with wine bottles. ("Rommel decided to make a bid for all of Cyrenaica in a single stroke, although the only support for his Germans was two weak Italian divisions. He ordered a double envelopment, sending the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion straight along the Via Balbia toward Benghazi, while directing the 5th Panzer Regiment and the Italian Ariete Armored Division (sixty tanks) across the chord of the Cyrenaican bulge to El Mechili, just south of the "Green Mountain" of Jebel el Akdar. If the panzers continued northward, they could block the British retreat along the coast. The effect was instantaneous; the British hurriedly evacuated Benghazi and fell back in confusion." How Great Generals Win, Bevin Alexander, p. 248, W. W. Norton & Company, 2002)

(Italian pathfinders welcome the arrival of the German 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion AUSTRALIAN 9TH DIVISION FLEES FROM BENGHAZI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgV3NGG6s5Y)

(Classy Italian woman from Benghazi smiling AUSTRALIAN 9TH DIVISION FLEES FROM BENGHAZI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgV3NGG6s5Y)

(Italian woman and civil defence member hand out flowers and wine bottles to the German 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion AUSTRALIAN 9TH DIVISION FLEES FROM BENGHAZI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgV3NGG6s5Y)

(Italian Bersaglieri pathfinder and Benghazi female resident AUSTRALIAN 9TH DIVISION FLEES FROM BENGHAZI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgV3NGG6s5Y)

(Italian pathfinders with anti-aircraft gun mounted on truck outside Benghazi government building https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgV3NGG6s5Y)

[carlodinechi]

BATTLE OF EL GUETTAR/THE FORGOTTEN ITALIAN VICTORIES

"Fought in the rugged region south of Gafsa, the Battle of El Guettar was a bona fide victory that did show American mettle ... Infantrymen of the 9th Infantry Division were in the thick of the action in the mountainous region. Italians accounted for most of the enemy forces."

(I Was with Patton, D. A. Lande, p.50, Turner Zenith Imprint, 2002)

23 March - The 10th Panzer Division, supported by the 7th Bersaglieri Regiment attack Lieutenant-Colonel Robert H. York's 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, US 1st Infantry Division, and the German tanks roll through the valley between the US 1st and 3rd Battalions, reaching a position about six miles behind the 1st Battalion. ("On March 23, Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. York commanded the 1st Battalion of an Infantry Regiment of the First Division, which was in position on the northeastern slopes of Djebel Berda, generally facing Hill 369, about seven miles east of El Guettar. At dawn that day, the German 10th Panzer Division and elements of the Italian 7th Bersaglieri Regiment attacked the 1st Division with at least two hundred vehicles. Colonel York's regiment, owing to its position, bore the brunt of the attack. The enemy tanks succeeded in penetrating the valley between the 3d and 1st Battalions which held the high ground on either side and some of the enemy tanks reached a position about six miles to the rear of the 1st Battalion before the attack was finally broken down." Infantry Journal, Volumes 54-55, p. 42, United States Infantry Association, 1944)

The 10th Panzer Division with the help of the Bersaglieri riding in half-tracks, trucks and motorcycles overrun the US 32nd Field Artillery Battalion and part of the US 5th Field Artillery Battalion, with the Italian Supreme Command reporting that 170 Allied troops had been captured in the action. ("The Italian High Command said today that 40 Allied tanks had been destroyed in fierce fighting, which was continuing in central and southern Tunisia, and said 170 Allied prisoners had been taken." https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 7893&hl=en Yankee Units Within Hour's Drive of Sea; Blast 30 Nazi Tanks, Reading Eagle, 24 March 1943)

30 March - Colonel Edwin H. Randle's 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, US 9th Infantry Division, attacks the Italian strongpoints, but lose a rifle company that is forced to surrender. ("At H-Hour, 6 A.M. March 28th, the 47th was in position to take the day's objective, Hill 369. It fell quickly, but the darkness and poor maps had led the 47th astray to El Hamra Ridge ... The 2nd Battalion 47th had been sent on a flanking movement that might have done the job. But it was caught in a murderous crossfire decimating Company E. The Battalion C.O. and the Communications Officer were captured as were the commander of Company E and 175 of his men." The 9th Infantry Division: Old Reliables, John Sperry, p.11, Turner Publishing Company, 2000)

1 April - General George Patton drives up to Colonel Randle's command post, unhappy that the 47th Regiment had failed to dislodge the Italians on three consecutive nights. ("Patton was in a huffy mood and stormed over to see Colonel Randle in his Jeep. It was obvious he wasn't pleased with the initial results of the night attack. I'll never forget Colonel Randle's instructions as they moved into El Guettar: "Where we're going you won't need a physic." http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/veterans-9th.html 9th Division Veterans/Emil J. Dedonato)

2-3 April - Lieutenant-Colonel Aldo Ramondi's 5th Bersaglieri Regiment, although outnumbered, fights successful delaying action with rifles, hand grenades, and machine guns. ("The Centauro Armored Division fought bravely at Guettar against a two-fold superiority." Das Afrika Korps: Erwin Rommel and the Germans in Africa, 1941-43, Franz Kurowski, p. 228, Stackpole Books, 2010)

[carlodinechi]

OPERATION HUSKY THE SUCCESSFUL ITALIAN FIGHTING RETREAT

OPERATION HUSKY

Allied firepower proved decisive in the invasion of Sicily, with one Allied war correspondent reporting that:

"Large numbers of Italians fought hard and well. The road on which I rode across to Syracuse and beyond proves that. The road to Syracuse was strewn with bodies and shattered pillboxes. Our troops are not winning because of an Italian collapse but because the Allied soldiers are fighting better, with better and more equipment. They are fighting smoothly and efficiently mile by mile — not walking in unopposed."

(The Western Australian, 15 July 1943)

The Axis forces defending Sicily, under the command of General Alfredo Guzzoni, consisted of 200,000 Italians and 60,000 Germans; these latter included elite Panzer units such the 1st 'Hermann Göring' Panzer Division and the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division. ("At first glance, the command—numbering some 200,000 Italian troops backed up by another 32,000 German soldiers and 30,000 German Luftwaffe ground crews—should have been impressive." Operation Husky: The Canadian Invasion of Sicily, July 10 - August 7, 1943, Mark Zuehlke, p. 67, D & M Publishers, 2009) ("Alfredo Guzzoni's Italian Sixth Army, a collection of 200,000 Italian soldiers backed by 50,000 Germans..." Men on Iron Ponies: The Death and Rebirth of the Modern U.S. Cavalry, Matthew Darlington Morton, p. 131, Northern Illinois University Press, 2009)

9 July - American and British paratroopers land on Sicily followed by mass invasion by landing crafts. A company of the British 1st Airborne Division captures Ponte Grande but Colonel Francesco Ronco's 75th Regiment from General Giulio Porcinari's 'Napoli' Division counterattacks forcing the British "Red Devils" to surrender. The astounded British later claim that crack German troops overwhelmed them. ("Lt. Withers led a small force across the river to attack the far end of the Ponte Grande; they succeeded, and, as stragglers gathered around them, they began a desperate defence of the bridge against enemy counter-attacks. With never more than 90 men, they held out until about 1500 hrs, on the afternoon of the 10th, when the last 15 or so men were overrun by the Germans." The Paras, 1940-1984, p. 12, Osprey Publishing, 1984) ("Two companies of sailors attacked first but were beaten back. Gradually they were reinforced as the Italians shelled the bridge with mortars and, finally, field guns. The Italian 385th Coastal Battalion joined the battle, and at about 11:30 A.M., the 1st Battalion of the Italian 75th (Napoli) Infantry Regiment came up ... The Red Devils held on, but by 2:45 P.M. there were fifteen unwounded survivors, although several of the wounded continued to fight. Finally, at 3:30 P.M., the end came when the ammunition ran out." The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, Samuel W. Mitcham, Friedrich von Stauffenberg, p. 76, Stackpole Books, 2007)

Italian Stukas sink the destroyer USS 'Maddox' and the HM hospital ship Talamba, and in the following days Axis aircraft damage or sink several more warships, transport vessels and landing craft. (Junkers Ju87 over the Mediterranean, John A Weal, p. 53, Delprado Publishers, 1996) (WITNESS DESCRIBES HOSPITAL SHIP LOSS; Injured Paratrooper Relates How Italian Plane Bombed Fully Lighted Talamba, The New York Time, 19 July 1943)

Several Italian coastal units fight well, with Major Marco Rubellino's 429th Coastal Battalion defending Gela, losing 45 percent of its men killed or wounded, and the attacking US Ranger Battalion losing several men to mines, machinegun and cannon fire. ("The 429th suffered 45 percent combat casualties, including 5 officers killed and 4 wounded and 185 enlisted men killed or wounded." The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Friedrich von Stauffenberg, p. ?, Stackpole Books, 2007) ("The 1st and 4th Ranger Battalions hit the beach at 3:00 A.M. and antipersonnel mines and rifle fire took a heavy toll. D Company of the 4th Battalion, for example, lost all of its officers. After moving off the beach and destroying several pillboxes, the Rangers entered Gela. Fighting was house-to-house, but by midmorning the Rangers had the town. The victory was interrupted around 10:30 A.M., when the seasoned Italian Livorno Division counterattacked and nine Italian light tanks broke the Rangers' outer defensive positions." Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat, Patrick K. O'Donnell, p. 38, Simon and Schuster, 2001)

10 July - On Highways 115 and 117, the Italian "Niscemi" Armoured Combat Group supported by infantry from General Domenico Chirieleison's 'Livorno' Divison counterattack the Gela beachhead, overruning the forward Rangers and nearly capturing US General George Patton at Gela, but gunfire from the destroyer USS 'Shubrick' and cruiser USS 'Boise' destroy several tanks and halt the attacking infantry battalion. ("Fighting was house-to-house, but by midmorning the Rangers had the town. The victory was interrupted around 10:30 A.M., when the seasoned Italian Livorno Division counterattacked and nine Italian light tanks broke the Rangers' outer defensive positions." Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat, Patrick K. O'Donnell, p. 38, Simon and Schuster, 2001) ("Chirieleison's troops nearly reached Patton, who had joined a group of Rangers on the 1st Infantry Division front. Little did the Italians know that Patton was watching them from a house on the edge of Gela." (Fighting Patton: George S. Patton Jr. Through the Eyes of His Enemies, Harry Yeide, p. 202)

The Italian counterattack makes headlines in the major US newspapers:

"Supported by no less than forty-five tanks, a considerable force of infantry of the Livorno Division attacked the American troops around Gela. The American division beat them back with severe casualties. This was the heaviest response to the Allied advance."

(The New York Times, 13 July, 1943)

By the morning of 10 July the Allies had captured the port of Licata, at the cost of nearly 100 killed and wounded in the American 3rd Infantry Division, with the division having to beat a counterattack from the 538th Coastal Defence Battalion.

That same day, 18 Renault R35 tanks from Lieutenant-Colonel Massimo D'Andretta's Gruppo Mobile 'D' along with supporting infantry from the 'Napoli' Division, break through the forward positions held by the 6th Battalion 'Durham Light Infantry', and are only defeated by anti-tank fire, with 5 tanks penetrating the Priolo and Floridia suburbs of Syracuse. ("In the event, he saw very little of them, but had one report that a group of eighteen Italian tanks, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Massimo d'Andretta, fought very bravely on their right flank." Sicily, Hugh Pond, p. 117, Kimber, 1962) ("The 6th Battalion, however, was counterattacked by the Italian Napoli Division, first with tanks and then with infantry. The tanks - some five in all careered down the road from Palazzola as the Battalion was moving forward: four where knocked out but one reached Floridia, shooting up Colonel Watson's jeep and wounding the medical officer on the way ... The infantry attack was launched after the Battalion had moved into its new positions and it was stopped by artillery fire." The D.L.I. at War: The History of the Durham Light Infantry 1939-1945, David Rissik, p. 123, Andrews UK Limited, 2012) ("By midday, the Brigade had captured most of its objectives but the Dorsets, who had been delayed, were soon subjected to a spirited counterattack by the Italians in French M35 tanks. This attack had been anticipated and the Italians were met by Sherman tanks and 17-pounder anti-tank guns which succeeded in beating them off." The Battle for Sicily: Stepping Stone to Victory, Ian Blackwell, p. 91, Pen & Sword Military, 2008)

10/11 July - The British attempt to capture Augusta, but gunners of the 246th Coastal Battalion repel the British landing force that was supported by three Royal Navy and Greek destroyers. ("12 July saw the firmly-established Americans expanding from their beachheads, as the flow of supplies and reinforcements increased: the British consolidated their gains south of Syracuse, and prepared for offensive action toward the ports of Augusta and Catania. The latter had attempted to get a landing force past the harbor defences of Augusta on the night of 11/12 July, but those members of the 246th Coastal Battalion who remained at their guns turned back the effort, which was made by one Greek and two British destroyers ... the shore batteries delayed a British takeover of Augusta by two days. " Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 191, Lulu Press, 2013)

11 July - General Enrico Francisci of the Sicilian Command is killed leading a tank attack and posthumously decorated with the Gold Medal for Military Valour. ("Rome Radio says Lieutenant-General Enrico Francisci, of the Fascist Militia, commander of the 13th zone of Blackshirts and general liaison officer to the Sicilian Command, has been killed in action." https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 6694&hl=en "BATTLE IS GETTING FIERCER," SAYS ALGIERS, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 July 1943) ("Ufficiale generale valorosissimo, riuscito ad ottenere in situazione estremamente critica il comando di truppe operanti in settore delicato contro soverchianti forze nemiche, raggiunse nottetempo le posizioni più avanzate. Preso personalmente contatto coi reparti in prima linea impartì gli ordini per l’azione. Alle prime luci dell’alba, accesosi il combattimento fra carri armati nemici ed alcuni semoventi italiani, si portò al lato del semovente più avanzato e, mentre, in piedi seguiva le mosse dell’avversario fu colpito in pieno da una granata sparata da brevissima distanza. Animati dal sublime esempio bersaglieri ed artiglieri, testimoni della gloriosa sua morte, si accanirono nella resistenza emulando il loro eroico comandante. — Favarotta-Campobello di Licata, 11luglio 1943." http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/Dettag ... rato=45467 Enrico Francisci Medaglia D'oro al Valor Militare)

12 July - With General Paul Conrath's 1st 'Hermann Göring' Panzer Division failing to show up, Colonel Dante Ugo Leonardi's 3rd Battalion, 34th Regiment of the 'Livorno', pushes on regardless and counterattacks the Gela beachhead again. (http://www.comandosupremo.com/flesh.html Flesh vs. Iron COMANDO SUPREMO/ITALY AT WAR) (Chirieleison, having waited for an hour, launched 3rd Battalion 34th Livorno
Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Dante Ugo Leonardi, without tank support at 0630 hours on 11th July, Sicily, Hugh Pond, p. 93, Kimber, 1962)

That day, semoventes, the 246th Coastal Brigade and 'Napoli' and 'Livorno' Divisons take up rearguard positions and successfully cover the withdrawal of the German 'Schmalz' Battle Group and 'Hermann Göring' Division. ("On 12 July, an Axis retreat began all along the line, with the Allies advancing close behind. The U.S. advance toward Cancinatii was temporarily held up by a group of Semovente da 90/53. Group Schmalz retreated toward Catania. The 246th Coastal Brigade, which had been holding off British tanks, was ordered to retreat to strongpoints at Cozzo Telegrafo and Acquedolci. The Napoli Division's 76th Regiment covered the left flank of Schmalz's Germans, who were withdrawing toward Lentini; soon the reunited battalions of Napoli's 76th Regiment were ordered to withdraw to Palermo ... The Hermann Göring Division was tardily withdrawing from the Piano Lupo area toward Caltagirone, and the Livorno Division was refusing its right flank in a withdrawal toward Piazza Armerina, in a move meant to cover the Hermann Göring Division." Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 193, Lulu Press, 2013)

The 1st Canadian Division dislodges the 122nd Coastal Infantry Regiment and capture Pachino airfield. Canadian war correspondent Ross Munro reports that the Italian regiment fought well. ("Stubborn resistance has been put up by the Italians north and west of Pachino, and along other sectors of the front there were heated engagements. Big battles will probably come before long, but meanwhile large numbers of prisoners are being captured." The Toronto Globe & Mail, 12 July 1943)

The 206th Coastal Division counterattacks Brigadier Robert Edward Laycock's Special Service Brigade and threatens to outflank the British Commandos. Fortunately for the British, an alert Canadian heavy mortar unit nearby responds and breaks up the Italian attack.

13 July - A battalion of Lieutenant-Colonel John Durnford-Slater's 3 Commando Brigade captures Malati Bridge, but lose possession of the bridge when Semoventes from Lieutenant-Colonel Francesco Tropea's 4th Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion, and supporting infantry from the 372nd Coastal Defence Battalion and Italian 53rd Motorcycle Company counterattack. The British attackers lose 28 killed, 66 wounded and 59 captured in the Italian counterattack. The Italian Commanding Officer, Tropea is killed in the action and posthumously awarded the Silver Medal for Military Valour. The astounded British commandos would later claim they were defeated by the 3rd Fallschirmjäger Battalion and 504th Heavy Tank Battalion of the 1st 'Hermann Göring' Panzer Division. (Sicily, Hugh Pond, p. 128, Kimber, 1962) ("Fra Primosole e Codadivolpe (lato sud del Simeto) le forze inglesi vennero attaccate con energica decisione ancora dal gruppo tattico Tropea, rinforzato da sparuti elementi del 372° btg. costiero." Sicilia senza Italia, Luglio-Agosto 1943, Sandro Attanasio, p. 154, Mursia, 1976) (" It had been thought that the only resistance would be from scattered Italian defenders, but straight away the commandos ran into the 3rd Battalion of the Hermann Goering Regiment." Punta dei Malati - 3 Commando Bridge. July 14th/15th 1943 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peoples ... 6178.shtml)

Early on 13 July, the British 8th Army captures Augusta, but losses ground when a battalion from the 'Napoli' Division counterattacks and recaptures the Augusta Naval Base. The British 50th Division pushes up Route 114 toward Lentini—15 miles (24 km) northwest of Augusta—but meets increasingly determined resistance from R 35 tanks and infantry from the 'Napoli' Division. The Canadian Official History of the war later make the mistaken claim that the attacking Italian R 35s were heavy Tiger tanks from the 'Hermann Göring' Division. The British 4th Armoured Brigade overruns the command post of the 'Napoli' and General Giulio Porcinari and his staff officers are captured. At 6:45 PM on 14 July Lentini is finally cleared of obstructions and stay-behind Italian snipers and the British advance resumes ("On July 13 a battalion-sized detachment of Italians caused further delay to the British. It launched a surprise counterattack, broke through British lines, and briefly reoccupied the Italian seaplane base at Augusta. The following morning more British units came up and forced it to retire." The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, Samuel W. Mitcham, Friedrich von Stauffenberg, p. ?, Stackpole Books, 2007) ("During the following day, 13 July, the commander and staff of the Italian 54th 'Napoli' Division surrendered but enemy resistance began to stiffen in the area of Carlentini and Lentini, in the path of the 50th Division." The Allied forces in Italy 1943-45, Guido Rosignoli, p. 35, Ermanno Albertelli Editore, 1989) ("A further attempt to advance met strong opposition towards last light. After dark the advance was called off and the squadron withdrawn to Cancattini Bagni ... The leading tank was fired on by ten R 35 s and in reply knocked out two R 35s, 4 cars and 3 lorries. This blocked the road completely ... Further on they met and destroyed 12 vehicles, 3 R 35 s and a motor-cycle, bringing their total for the day to 8 tanks, 6 guns, 29 assorted vehicles and 3 motor-cycles ..." http://www.warlinks.com/armour/4th_armo ... pter_4.php THE HISTORY
OF 4TH ARMOURED BRIGADE)

14 July - The British 1st Parachute Brigade in the form of 300 "Red Devils" captures Primasole Bridge, but the British are forced to retreat when the Italian 10th Arditi Paratroop Regiment arrives and fights all day long, allowing the 1st Fallschirmjägerdivision Division to join the battle that continues for four days. Although the Italian Paratroopers fight and die alongside the Fallschirmjägers, their role is later ommited in the British books and documentaries of the battle. ("The British proceeded to the Primasole Bridge, but they would not capture the bridge until 17 July. Determined German and Italian resistance (the elite Arditi Battalion fought alongside the German paratroopers), repeatedly foiled British efforts to capture the Primasole Bridge..."Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 193, Lulu Press, 2013) ("Under cover of this bombardment, the enemy established themselves extremely close to the British defences in preparation for an attack which, when it came at 16:00, was duly thrown back, but only just. The shelling started afresh whilst German infantry applied increasing pressure to the defensive pocket ... At 18:30, German troops were seen to be crossing the River Simeto some 400 yards to the east, and as the British neither had the manpower nor the ammunition to resist a determined attack from this direction, it was clear to all that the bridge could no longer be held. At 19:15, with their ammunition almost exhausted and enemy troops crossing the river in ever increasing numbers, Brigadier Lathbury ordered the bridge to be abandoned, with the men proceeding in small groups to the 2nd Battalion's positions in the hills to the south." http://www.pegasusarchive.org/sicily/depth_pressure.htm)

On 15 July, British war correspondent Evelyn Aubrey Montague reports that the Italians had indeed repeatedly attacked Primasole Bridge:

"While some dropped behind enemy lines and rounded up a large number of Italian prisoners ... the main body captured the bridge and held it all yesterday against tremendous odds. For nearly 24 hours, they were shelled, under mortar fire, strafed from the air, and attacked on the ground by seven Italian battalions. There were less than 200 of them to resist this continuous onslaught, but they held out stubbornly, knowing that behind them our infantry were fighting, furiously to come to their aid."

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 7583&hl=en Stern Fight for a Bridge on Catania Plain, The Glasgow Herald, 19 July 1943)

16 July - The Regia Aeronautica orders the evacuation of all surviving Italian aircraft at airfields in Calabria and Puglia. About 160 Italian aircraft had been lost in the first week of the invasion, 57 of which were lost to Allied fighters and anti-aircraft fire from 10–12 July alone. In a parting shot on the 16th, the British aircraft carrier HMS 'Indomitable' is crippled by an Italian torpedo bomber and the the Italian submarine 'Dandolo' cripples the British cruiser HMS 'Cleopatra'. (Italian Aces of World War 2, Giorgio Apostolo, p. 25, Osprey Publishing, 2000) (Italian Aces of World War 2, Giorgio Apostolo, p. 25, Osprey Publishing, 2000) (http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsCarriers3.htm AIRCRAFT CARRIER WARFARE) (Submarines of World War II, John Ward, p. 50, Zenith Imprint, 2001)

17 July - The American advance stalls outside Agrigento, due to fierce resistance from Colonel Augusto De Laurentis' 207th Coastal Defence Division. The 10th Bersaglieri Regiment under Colonel Fabrizio Storti forces Colonel William Darby's 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions to fight their way into Agrigento, a city of 34,000. Resistance is stiff enough to require house-to-house combat fighting, but late the next day, the city is in American hands. According to historian Samuel Eliot Morison, "The Italians fought manfully for Agrigento". ("The 207th Coastal Defence Division, under Colonel de Laurentis, which now consisted mostly of Tactical Group Chiusa-Sciafani and a Blackshirt unit, stalled the American advance to Agrigento." Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 194, Lulu Press, 2013) ("The Italian defenders under Colonel de Laurentis had by now withdrawn to Agrigento, rallying around Col. Fabrizio Stortils Tenth Bersaglieri Regiment in defense of the city. They forced the First Battalion, U.S. Seventh Infantry to fight its way into Agrigento, pinning them down on the high ground above the city until the Third Battalion was brought out of reserve to reinforce them ... The combination of navy fire support and army artillery produced the desired result before Agrigento and Porto Empedocle. By late afternoon on July 16 the enemy's artillery had fallen silent and troops of the Seventh Infantry had battled their way into Agrigento from the southeast. "After some street fighting Agrigento surrendered," General Truscott recalled." History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 9: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp.206-207, University of Illinois Press, 2002) (Nevertheless in a bold enveloping movement executed by the 7th Regiment and 3rd Rangers, carried out with speed, skill and energy and supported by naval gunfire, both Porto Empedocle and Agrigento were captured ... The Italians fought manfully for Agrigento." History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 9: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944, Samuel Eliot Morison, p.176, University of Illinois Press, 2002)

On the night of 17 July, the Italian cruiser 'Scipione Africano' clears the Messina Straits of lurking British Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs), sinking MTB 316 and badly damaging MTB 313.

18 July - The morale of the Herman Göring Panzer Division is reported to be very low, according to a captured order signed by General Paul Conrath. The orders says:

"I had the bitter experience to watch scenes during the last days which are not worthy of a German soldier, particularly not soldiers of the panzer division of Herman Goering. Persons came running to the rear hysterically crying because they had heard the detonation of a single shot fire somewhere on the landsape. Others, believing in false rumors, moved a whole column to the rear. In one instance supplies were senselessly distributed to soldiers and civilians by a supply unit that had fallen victim to a rumor.

I want to state in these instances that these facts were committed not only by the youngest soldiers but also by CO's and warrant officers. Fear and the spreading of rumors are to be eliminated by the severest measures. Withdrawal without orders and cowardice are to be punished on the spot and, if necessary, by the use of weapons. I shall apply the severest measures of court martial against such saboteurs of the fight for the freedom of our nation and shall not hesitate to give the death sentence in serious cases. I expect all officers will use their influence to suppress such an undignified attitude in the panzer division of Herman Goering."

(https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 2046&hl=en German General Is Disgusted at Panic in His Own Ranks, The Milwaukee Journal, 22 July 1943)

21 July - The US 2nd Armored and 2nd Infantry Divisions overrun the Italian Ragruppamento 'Schreiber' and several battalions from the 'Aosta' and 'Assietta' Divisions covering the Axis withdrawal, but suffer heavy casualties in the process.
("One by one, the small Italian mobile groups were overwhelmed. Group Schreiber was overrun and destroyed by American tanks near Alimena on July 21, and Patton's spearheads barrelled into the rear of the retreating Assietta and Aosta Divisions, destroying the Aosta's mortar battalion and overrunning several battalions of infantry. The 48th (Assietta) Artillery Regiment escaped with only one gun." Blitzkrieg No Longer, Samuel Mitcham, p. 185, Pen and Sword, 2010) ("Patton's men moved away from their landing areas and toward their interim objective of Palermo. Patton turned to a trusted subordinate general, Geoffrey Keyes, whom he appointed his deputy Seventh Army commander. He assigned Keyes to lead both 2nd Infantry and 2nd Armored Divisions on a very fast ride of 100 miles in only a few days. The result was 300 American casualties and enemy casualties numbering 6,000." I Was With Patton, D. A. Lande, p. 81, Zenith Imprint, 2002)

22 July - Italians soldiers ambush Lieutenant-Colonel William P. Yarborough's US 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment near Sciacca, before successfully disengaging, killing 9 and wounding 18 Elite Paratroopers in 'F' Company. According to the shocked American survivors, German Panzergrenadiers had ambushed the "Screaming Eagles" that saw their Commanding Officer, relieved of command, de-ranked to Major and given a desk job. (""We cleared Sciacca, then headed for Marsala. In an area called "Tuminello Pass," we were forced to make a frontal assault when a strong German force caught us by surprise and opened fire on our column. This turned into a long, hard fire fight, with a number of casualties on both sides, before the Germans were driven off." I Was With Patton, D. A. Lande, p. 78, Zenith Imprint, 2002) ("On July 21, with Lieutenant Sims and Company F, 504th, once again in the lead, Italian infantry supported by a battery of 75mm guns and two 90mm guns ambushed the paratroopers." All American, All the Way: A Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II: From Sicily to Normandy, Phil Nordyke, p. 92, Zenith Press, 2009)

31 July - The US 1st and 9th Divisions attack the 15th Panzer Division and Italian 'Aosta' Division defending Troina. For six days, the Germans and Italians stubbornly defend their positions inflicting and taking heavy casualties. During the battle, the Axis defenders launch numerous counterattacks, in one of which Lieutenant-Colonel Giuseppe Gianquinto's 1st Battalion, 5th 'Aosta' Regiment captures 40 American soldiers. ("Four battalions from the Aosta's 5th and 6th Regiments were on hand to support the German defence of Troina." Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 200, Lulu Press, 2013) ("The Germans were assisted by Lieutenant Colonel Gianquinto's 1st battalion of the 5th (Aosta) Infantry Regiment ...The 1st even managed to take forty American prisoners in one successful counterattack." The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Friedrich Von Stauffenberg, p.263, Stackpole Books )

2-8 August - The US 3rd Division's advance stalls in the face of determined resistance from the 29th Panzergrenadier Division and 26th 'Assieta' Division defending San Fratello Ridge, with the Italians allocated "the most exposed" section of the Axis position. ("Defending the collapsing bridgehead became a nightmare to the German command which, following the pattern of the North African campaign, had stationed an Italian division in the most exposed section of the line. This division, the Italian 26th division, was on the western approaches to Mount Etna." https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3 ... &dq=&hl=en Ring of Steel Thrown Around Foe In Sicily, St Petersburg Times, 4 August 1943)

The Axis defenders hold out for six days thanks in large part to the 25th Artillery Regiment of the 'Assietta'. ("The Axis units held their positions through several days of attack, much thanks due to Italian artillery support." The Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 202, Lulu Press, 2013)

3-6 August - The Italian commander at Messina, Admiral Pietro Barone evacuates 62,182 Italian defenders, 41 guns, 227 vehicles under the cover of 150 Italian and 168 German anti-aircraft guns, and thanks to the cruiser 'Scipione Africano' that had earlier on cleared the Straits of Messina and the real fears that the Italian Navy was preparing to intervene and clear the Straits of Messina in a suicide run. ("Lining either side of the Messina Straits were some 150 Italian anti-aircraft guns, and an estimated 168 of the Germans ... Some estimates put the total number of anti-aircraft guns closer to 500, and some pilots claimed the intensity of the flak was worse than that confronted by Bomber Command in raids on Germany's Ruhr region." The Decisive Campaigns of the Desert Air Force 1942-1945, Bryn Evans, p. 104, Pen and Sword, 2014) ("Word spread that the redoutable Littorio and Roma Battleships, accompanied by the Scipione, together with every other surviving Italian warship, were on their way to clear the Messina Channel in a suicide run." Mussolini's War: Fascist Italy's Military Struggles from Africa and Western Europe to the Mediterranean and Soviet Union 1935-45, Frank Joseph, p. 176, Casemate Publishers, 2010)

[carlodinechi]

OPERATION HUSKY THE SUCCESSFUL ITALIAN FIGHTING RETREAT

OPERATION HUSKY

Allied firepower proved decisive in the invasion of Sicily, with one Allied war correspondent reporting that:

"Large numbers of Italians fought hard and well. The road on which I rode across to Syracuse and beyond proves that. The road to Syracuse was strewn with bodies and shattered pillboxes. Our troops are not winning because of an Italian collapse but because the Allied soldiers are fighting better, with better and more equipment. They are fighting smoothly and efficiently mile by mile — not walking in unopposed."

(The Western Australian, 15 July 1943)

The Axis forces defending Sicily, under the command of General Alfredo Guzzoni, consisted of 200,000 Italians and 60,000 Germans; these latter included elite Panzer units such the 1st 'Hermann Göring' Panzer Division and the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division. ("At first glance, the command—numbering some 200,000 Italian troops backed up by another 32,000 German soldiers and 30,000 German Luftwaffe ground crews—should have been impressive." Operation Husky: The Canadian Invasion of Sicily, July 10 - August 7, 1943, Mark Zuehlke, p. 67, D & M Publishers, 2009) ("Alfredo Guzzoni's Italian Sixth Army, a collection of 200,000 Italian soldiers backed by 50,000 Germans..." Men on Iron Ponies: The Death and Rebirth of the Modern U.S. Cavalry, Matthew Darlington Morton, p. 131, Northern Illinois University Press, 2009)

9 July - American and British paratroopers land on Sicily followed by mass invasion by landing crafts. A company of the British 1st Airborne Division captures Ponte Grande but Colonel Francesco Ronco's 75th Regiment from General Giulio Porcinari's 'Napoli' Division counterattacks forcing the British "Red Devils" to surrender. The astounded British later claim that crack German troops overwhelmed them. ("Lt. Withers led a small force across the river to attack the far end of the Ponte Grande; they succeeded, and, as stragglers gathered around them, they began a desperate defence of the bridge against enemy counter-attacks. With never more than 90 men, they held out until about 1500 hrs, on the afternoon of the 10th, when the last 15 or so men were overrun by the Germans." The Paras, 1940-1984, p. 12, Osprey Publishing, 1984) ("Two companies of sailors attacked first but were beaten back. Gradually they were reinforced as the Italians shelled the bridge with mortars and, finally, field guns. The Italian 385th Coastal Battalion joined the battle, and at about 11:30 A.M., the 1st Battalion of the Italian 75th (Napoli) Infantry Regiment came up ... The Red Devils held on, but by 2:45 P.M. there were fifteen unwounded survivors, although several of the wounded continued to fight. Finally, at 3:30 P.M., the end came when the ammunition ran out." The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, Samuel W. Mitcham, Friedrich von Stauffenberg, p. 76, Stackpole Books, 2007)

Italian Stukas sink the destroyer USS 'Maddox' and the HM hospital ship Talamba, and in the following days Axis aircraft damage or sink several more warships, transport vessels and landing craft. (Junkers Ju87 over the Mediterranean, John A Weal, p. 53, Delprado Publishers, 1996) (WITNESS DESCRIBES HOSPITAL SHIP LOSS; Injured Paratrooper Relates How Italian Plane Bombed Fully Lighted Talamba, The New York Time, 19 July 1943)

Several Italian coastal units fight well, with Major Marco Rubellino's 429th Coastal Battalion defending Gela, losing 45 percent of its men killed or wounded, and the attacking US Ranger Battalion losing several men to mines, machinegun and cannon fire. ("The 429th suffered 45 percent combat casualties, including 5 officers killed and 4 wounded and 185 enlisted men killed or wounded." The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Friedrich von Stauffenberg, p. ?, Stackpole Books, 2007) ("The 1st and 4th Ranger Battalions hit the beach at 3:00 A.M. and antipersonnel mines and rifle fire took a heavy toll. D Company of the 4th Battalion, for example, lost all of its officers. After moving off the beach and destroying several pillboxes, the Rangers entered Gela. Fighting was house-to-house, but by midmorning the Rangers had the town. The victory was interrupted around 10:30 A.M., when the seasoned Italian Livorno Division counterattacked and nine Italian light tanks broke the Rangers' outer defensive positions." Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat, Patrick K. O'Donnell, p. 38, Simon and Schuster, 2001)

10 July - On Highways 115 and 117, the Italian "Niscemi" Armoured Combat Group supported by infantry from General Domenico Chirieleison's 'Livorno' Divison counterattack the Gela beachhead, overruning the forward Rangers and nearly capturing US General George Patton at Gela, but gunfire from the destroyer USS 'Shubrick' and cruiser USS 'Boise' destroy several tanks and halt the attacking infantry battalion. ("Fighting was house-to-house, but by midmorning the Rangers had the town. The victory was interrupted around 10:30 A.M., when the seasoned Italian Livorno Division counterattacked and nine Italian light tanks broke the Rangers' outer defensive positions." Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat, Patrick K. O'Donnell, p. 38, Simon and Schuster, 2001) ("Chirieleison's troops nearly reached Patton, who had joined a group of Rangers on the 1st Infantry Division front. Little did the Italians know that Patton was watching them from a house on the edge of Gela." (Fighting Patton: George S. Patton Jr. Through the Eyes of His Enemies, Harry Yeide, p. 202)

The Italian counterattack makes headlines in the major US newspapers:

"Supported by no less than forty-five tanks, a considerable force of infantry of the Livorno Division attacked the American troops around Gela. The American division beat them back with severe casualties. This was the heaviest response to the Allied advance."

(The New York Times, 13 July, 1943)

By the morning of 10 July the Allies had captured the port of Licata, at the cost of nearly 100 killed and wounded in the American 3rd Infantry Division, with the division having to beat a counterattack from the 538th Coastal Defence Battalion.

That same day, a battalion of 18 Renault R35 tanks from Lieutenant-Colonel Massimo D'Andretta's Gruppo Mobile 'D' along with supporting infantry from the 'Napoli' Division, break through the forward positions held by the 6th Battalion 'Durham Light Infantry', and are only stopped by anti-tank fire, with 5 tanks penetrating the Priolo and Floridia suburbs of Syracuse. ("In the event, he saw very little of them, but had one report that a group of eighteen Italian tanks, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Massimo d'Andretta, fought very bravely on their right flank." Sicily, Hugh Pond, p. 117, Kimber, 1962) ("The 6th Battalion, however, was counterattacked by the Italian Napoli Division, first with tanks and then with infantry. The tanks - some five in all careered down the road from Palazzola as the Battalion was moving forward: four where knocked out but one reached Floridia, shooting up Colonel Watson's jeep and wounding the medical officer on the way ... The infantry attack was launched after the Battalion had moved into its new positions and it was stopped by artillery fire." The D.L.I. at War: The History of the Durham Light Infantry 1939-1945, David Rissik, p. 123, Andrews UK Limited, 2012) ("By midday, the Brigade had captured most of its objectives but the Dorsets, who had been delayed, were soon subjected to a spirited counterattack by the Italians in French M35 tanks. This attack had been anticipated and the Italians were met by Sherman tanks and 17-pounder anti-tank guns which succeeded in beating them off." The Battle for Sicily: Stepping Stone to Victory, Ian Blackwell, p. 91, Pen & Sword Military, 2008)

10/11 July - The British attempt to capture Augusta, but gunners of the 246th Coastal Battalion repel the British landing force that was supported by three Royal Navy and Greek destroyers. ("12 July saw the firmly-established Americans expanding from their beachheads, as the flow of supplies and reinforcements increased: the British consolidated their gains south of Syracuse, and prepared for offensive action toward the ports of Augusta and Catania. The latter had attempted to get a landing force past the harbor defences of Augusta on the night of 11/12 July, but those members of the 246th Coastal Battalion who remained at their guns turned back the effort, which was made by one Greek and two British destroyers ... the shore batteries delayed a British takeover of Augusta by two days. " Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 191, Lulu Press, 2013)

11 July - General Enrico Francisci of the Sicilian Command is killed leading a tank (Semovente) attack and posthumously decorated with the Gold Medal for Military Valour. ("Rome Radio says Lieutenant-General Enrico Francisci, of the Fascist Militia, commander of the 13th zone of Blackshirts and general liaison officer to the Sicilian Command, has been killed in action." https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 6694&hl=en "BATTLE IS GETTING FIERCER," SAYS ALGIERS, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 July 1943) ("Ufficiale generale valorosissimo, riuscito ad ottenere in situazione estremamente critica il comando di truppe operanti in settore delicato contro soverchianti forze nemiche, raggiunse nottetempo le posizioni più avanzate. Preso personalmente contatto coi reparti in prima linea impartì gli ordini per l’azione. Alle prime luci dell’alba, accesosi il combattimento fra carri armati nemici ed alcuni semoventi italiani, si portò al lato del semovente più avanzato e, mentre, in piedi seguiva le mosse dell’avversario fu colpito in pieno da una granata sparata da brevissima distanza. Animati dal sublime esempio bersaglieri ed artiglieri, testimoni della gloriosa sua morte, si accanirono nella resistenza emulando il loro eroico comandante. — Favarotta-Campobello di Licata, 11luglio 1943." http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/Dettag ... rato=45467 Enrico Francisci Medaglia D'oro al Valor Militare)

12 July - With General Paul Conrath's 1st 'Hermann Göring' Panzer Division failing to show up, Colonel Dante Ugo Leonardi's 3rd Battalion, 34th Regiment of the 'Livorno', pushes on regardless and counterattacks the Gela beachhead again. (http://www.comandosupremo.com/flesh.html Flesh vs. Iron COMANDO SUPREMO/ITALY AT WAR) (Chirieleison, having waited for an hour, launched 3rd Battalion 34th Livorno
Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Dante Ugo Leonardi, without tank support at 0630 hours on 11th July, Sicily, Hugh Pond, p. 93, Kimber, 1962)

That day, Semoventes, the 246th Coastal Brigade and 'Napoli' and 'Livorno' Divisons take up rearguard positions and successfully cover the withdrawal of the German 'Schmalz' Battle Group and 'Hermann Göring' Division. ("On 12 July, an Axis retreat began all along the line, with the Allies advancing close behind. The U.S. advance toward Cancinatii was temporarily held up by a group of Semovente da 90/53. Group Schmalz retreated toward Catania. The 246th Coastal Brigade, which had been holding off British tanks, was ordered to retreat to strongpoints at Cozzo Telegrafo and Acquedolci. The Napoli Division's 76th Regiment covered the left flank of Schmalz's Germans, who were withdrawing toward Lentini; soon the reunited battalions of Napoli's 76th Regiment were ordered to withdraw to Palermo ... The Hermann Göring Division was tardily withdrawing from the Piano Lupo area toward Caltagirone, and the Livorno Division was refusing its right flank in a withdrawal toward Piazza Armerina, in a move meant to cover the Hermann Göring Division." Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 193, Lulu Press, 2013)

The 1st Canadian Division dislodges the 122nd Coastal Infantry Regiment and capture Pachino airfield. Canadian war correspondent Ross Munro reports that the Italian regiment fought well. ("Stubborn resistance has been put up by the Italians north and west of Pachino, and along other sectors of the front there were heated engagements. Big battles will probably come before long, but meanwhile large numbers of prisoners are being captured." The Toronto Globe & Mail, 12 July 1943)

The 206th Coastal Division counterattacks Brigadier Robert Edward Laycock's Special Service Brigade and threatens to outflank the British Commandos. Fortunately for the British, an alert Canadian heavy mortar unit nearby responds and breaks up the Italian attack.

13 July - A battalion of Lieutenant-Colonel John Durnford-Slater's 3 Commando Brigade captures Malati Bridge, but lose possession of the bridge when Semoventes from Lieutenant-Colonel Francesco Tropea's 4th Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion, and supporting infantry from the 372nd Coastal Defence Battalion and Italian 53rd Motorcycle Company counterattack. The British attackers lose 28 killed, 66 wounded and 59 captured in the Italian counterattack. Lieutenant-Colonel Tropea is killed leading the tank (Semovente) attack and is posthumously awarded the Silver Medal for Military Valour. The astounded British commandos would later claim they were defeated by the 3rd Fallschirmjäger Battalion and 504th Heavy Tiger Tank Battalion of the 1st 'Hermann Göring' Panzer Division. (Sicily, Hugh Pond, p. 128, Kimber, 1962) ("Fra Primosole e Codadivolpe (lato sud del Simeto) le forze inglesi vennero attaccate con energica decisione ancora dal gruppo tattico Tropea, rinforzato da sparuti elementi del 372° btg. costiero." Sicilia senza Italia, Luglio-Agosto 1943, Sandro Attanasio, p. 154, Mursia, 1976) (" It had been thought that the only resistance would be from scattered Italian defenders, but straight away the commandos ran into the 3rd Battalion of the Hermann Goering Regiment." Punta dei Malati - 3 Commando Bridge. July 14th/15th 1943 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peoples ... 6178.shtml)

Early on 13 July, the British 8th Army captures Augusta, but losses ground when a battalion from the 'Napoli' Division counterattacks and recaptures the Augusta Naval Base. The British 50th Division pushes up Route 114 toward Lentini—15 miles (24 km) northwest of Augusta—but meets increasingly determined resistance from R 35 tanks and infantry from the 'Napoli' Division. The Canadian Official History of the war later made the claim that the attacking Italian R 35s were heavy Tiger tanks from the 'Hermann Göring' Division. The British 4th Armoured Brigade overruns the command post of the 'Napoli' and General Giulio Porcinari and his staff officers are captured. At 6:45 PM on 14 July Lentini is finally cleared of obstructions and stay-behind Italian snipers and the British advance resumes ("On July 13 a battalion-sized detachment of Italians caused further delay to the British. It launched a surprise counterattack, broke through British lines, and briefly reoccupied the Italian seaplane base at Augusta. The following morning more British units came up and forced it to retire." The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, Samuel W. Mitcham, Friedrich von Stauffenberg, p. ?, Stackpole Books, 2007) ("During the following day, 13 July, the commander and staff of the Italian 54th 'Napoli' Division surrendered but enemy resistance began to stiffen in the area of Carlentini and Lentini, in the path of the 50th Division." The Allied forces in Italy 1943-45, Guido Rosignoli, p. 35, Ermanno Albertelli Editore, 1989) ("A further attempt to advance met strong opposition towards last light. After dark the advance was called off and the squadron withdrawn to Cancattini Bagni ... The leading tank was fired on by ten R 35 s and in reply knocked out two R 35s, 4 cars and 3 lorries. This blocked the road completely ... Further on they met and destroyed 12 vehicles, 3 R 35 s and a motor-cycle, bringing their total for the day to 8 tanks, 6 guns, 29 assorted vehicles and 3 motor-cycles ..." http://www.warlinks.com/armour/4th_armo ... pter_4.php THE HISTORY
OF 4TH ARMOURED BRIGADE)

14 July - The British 1st Parachute Brigade in the form of 300 "Red Devils" captures Primasole Bridge, but the British are forced to retreat when the Italian 10th Arditi Paratroop Regiment arrives and fights all day long, allowing the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division to join the battle that continues for four days. Although the Italian Paratroopers fight and die alongside the Fallschirmjägers, their role is later ommited in the British books and documentaries of the battle. ("The British proceeded to the Primasole Bridge, but they would not capture the bridge until 17 July. Determined German and Italian resistance (the elite Arditi Battalion fought alongside the German paratroopers), repeatedly foiled British efforts to capture the Primasole Bridge..."Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 193, Lulu Press, 2013) ("Under cover of this bombardment, the enemy established themselves extremely close to the British defences in preparation for an attack which, when it came at 16:00, was duly thrown back, but only just. The shelling started afresh whilst German infantry applied increasing pressure to the defensive pocket ... At 18:30, German troops were seen to be crossing the River Simeto some 400 yards to the east, and as the British neither had the manpower nor the ammunition to resist a determined attack from this direction, it was clear to all that the bridge could no longer be held. At 19:15, with their ammunition almost exhausted and enemy troops crossing the river in ever increasing numbers, Brigadier Lathbury ordered the bridge to be abandoned, with the men proceeding in small groups to the 2nd Battalion's positions in the hills to the south." http://www.pegasusarchive.org/sicily/depth_pressure.htm)

On 15 July, British war correspondent Evelyn Aubrey Montague reports that the Italians had indeed repeatedly attacked Primasole Bridge:

"While some dropped behind enemy lines and rounded up a large number of Italian prisoners ... the main body captured the bridge and held it all yesterday against tremendous odds. For nearly 24 hours, they were shelled, under mortar fire, strafed from the air, and attacked on the ground by seven Italian battalions. There were less than 200 of them to resist this continuous onslaught, but they held out stubbornly, knowing that behind them our infantry were fighting, furiously to come to their aid."

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 7583&hl=en Stern Fight for a Bridge on Catania Plain, The Glasgow Herald, 19 July 1943)

16 July - The Regia Aeronautica orders the evacuation of all surviving Italian aircraft at airfields in Calabria and Puglia. About 160 Italian aircraft had been lost in the first week of the invasion, 57 of which were lost to Allied fighters and anti-aircraft fire from 10–12 July alone. In a parting shot on the 16th, the British aircraft carrier HMS 'Indomitable' is crippled by an Italian torpedo bomber and the the Italian submarine 'Dandolo' cripples the British cruiser HMS 'Cleopatra'. (Italian Aces of World War 2, Giorgio Apostolo, p. 25, Osprey Publishing, 2000) (Italian Aces of World War 2, Giorgio Apostolo, p. 25, Osprey Publishing, 2000) (http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsCarriers3.htm AIRCRAFT CARRIER WARFARE) (Submarines of World War II, John Ward, p. 50, Zenith Imprint, 2001)

17 July - The American advance stalls outside Agrigento, due to fierce resistance from Colonel Augusto De Laurentis' 207th Coastal Defence Division. The 10th Bersaglieri Regiment under Colonel Fabrizio Storti forces Colonel William Darby's 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions to fight their way into Agrigento, a city of 34,000. Resistance is stiff enough to require house-to-house combat fighting, but late the next day, the city is in American hands. According to historian Samuel Eliot Morison, "The Italians fought manfully for Agrigento". ("The 207th Coastal Defence Division, under Colonel de Laurentis, which now consisted mostly of Tactical Group Chiusa-Sciafani and a Blackshirt unit, stalled the American advance to Agrigento." Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 194, Lulu Press, 2013) ("The Italian defenders under Colonel de Laurentis had by now withdrawn to Agrigento, rallying around Col. Fabrizio Stortils Tenth Bersaglieri Regiment in defense of the city. They forced the First Battalion, U.S. Seventh Infantry to fight its way into Agrigento, pinning them down on the high ground above the city until the Third Battalion was brought out of reserve to reinforce them ... The combination of navy fire support and army artillery produced the desired result before Agrigento and Porto Empedocle. By late afternoon on July 16 the enemy's artillery had fallen silent and troops of the Seventh Infantry had battled their way into Agrigento from the southeast. "After some street fighting Agrigento surrendered," General Truscott recalled." History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 9: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp.206-207, University of Illinois Press, 2002) (Nevertheless in a bold enveloping movement executed by the 7th Regiment and 3rd Rangers, carried out with speed, skill and energy and supported by naval gunfire, both Porto Empedocle and Agrigento were captured ... The Italians fought manfully for Agrigento." History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 9: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944, Samuel Eliot Morison, p.176, University of Illinois Press, 2002)

On the night of 17 July, the Italian cruiser 'Scipione Africano' clears the Messina Straits of lurking British Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs), sinking MTB 316 and badly damaging MTB 313.

18 July - The morale of the Herman Göring Panzer Division is reported to be very low, according to a captured order signed by General Paul Conrath. The orders says:

"I had the bitter experience to watch scenes during the last days which are not worthy of a German soldier, particularly not soldiers of the panzer division of Herman Goering. Persons came running to the rear hysterically crying because they had heard the detonation of a single shot fire somewhere on the landsape. Others, believing in false rumors, moved a whole column to the rear. In one instance supplies were senselessly distributed to soldiers and civilians by a supply unit that had fallen victim to a rumor.

I want to state in these instances that these facts were committed not only by the youngest soldiers but also by CO's and warrant officers. Fear and the spreading of rumors are to be eliminated by the severest measures. Withdrawal without orders and cowardice are to be punished on the spot and, if necessary, by the use of weapons. I shall apply the severest measures of court martial against such saboteurs of the fight for the freedom of our nation and shall not hesitate to give the death sentence in serious cases. I expect all officers will use their influence to suppress such an undignified attitude in the panzer division of Herman Goering."

(https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 2046&hl=en German General Is Disgusted at Panic in His Own Ranks, The Milwaukee Journal, 22 July 1943)

21 July - The US 2nd Armored and 2nd Infantry Divisions overrun the Italian Ragruppamento 'Schreiber' and several battalions from the 'Aosta' and 'Assietta' Divisions covering the Axis withdrawal, but suffer heavy casualties in the process.
("One by one, the small Italian mobile groups were overwhelmed. Group Schreiber was overrun and destroyed by American tanks near Alimena on July 21, and Patton's spearheads barrelled into the rear of the retreating Assietta and Aosta Divisions, destroying the Aosta's mortar battalion and overrunning several battalions of infantry. The 48th (Assietta) Artillery Regiment escaped with only one gun." Blitzkrieg No Longer, Samuel Mitcham, p. 185, Pen and Sword, 2010) ("Patton's men moved away from their landing areas and toward their interim objective of Palermo. Patton turned to a trusted subordinate general, Geoffrey Keyes, whom he appointed his deputy Seventh Army commander. He assigned Keyes to lead both 2nd Infantry and 2nd Armored Divisions on a very fast ride of 100 miles in only a few days. The result was 300 American casualties and enemy casualties numbering 6,000." I Was With Patton, D. A. Lande, p. 81, Zenith Imprint, 2002)

22 July - Italians soldiers ambush Lieutenant-Colonel William P. Yarborough's US 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment near Sciacca, before successfully disengaging, killing 9 and wounding 18 Elite Paratroopers in 'F' Company. According to the shocked American survivors, German Panzergrenadiers had ambushed the "Screaming Eagles" that saw their Commanding Officer, relieved of command, de-ranked to Major and given a desk job. ("We cleared Sciacca, then headed for Marsala. In an area called "Tuminello Pass," we were forced to make a frontal assault when a strong German force caught us by surprise and opened fire on our column. This turned into a long, hard fire fight, with a number of casualties on both sides, before the Germans were driven off." I Was With Patton, D. A. Lande, p. 78, Zenith Imprint, 2002) ("On July 21, with Lieutenant Sims and Company F, 504th, once again in the lead, Italian infantry supported by a battery of 75mm guns and two 90mm guns ambushed the paratroopers." All American, All the Way: A Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II: From Sicily to Normandy, Phil Nordyke, p. 92, Zenith Press, 2009)

31 July - The US 1st and 9th Divisions attack the 15th Panzer Division and Italian 'Aosta' Division defending Troina. For six days, the Germans and Italians stubbornly defend their positions inflicting and taking heavy casualties. During the battle, the Axis defenders launch numerous counterattacks, in one of which Lieutenant-Colonel Giuseppe Gianquinto's 1st Battalion, 5th 'Aosta' Regiment captures 40 American soldiers. ("Four battalions from the Aosta's 5th and 6th Regiments were on hand to support the German defence of Troina." Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 200, Lulu Press, 2013) ("The Germans were assisted by Lieutenant Colonel Gianquinto's 1st battalion of the 5th (Aosta) Infantry Regiment ...The 1st even managed to take forty American prisoners in one successful counterattack." The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Friedrich Von Stauffenberg, p.263, Stackpole Books )

2-8 August - The US 3rd Division's advance stalls in the face of determined resistance from the 29th Panzergrenadier Division and 26th 'Assieta' Division defending San Fratello Ridge, with the Italians allocated "the most exposed" section of the Axis position. ("Defending the collapsing bridgehead became a nightmare to the German command which, following the pattern of the North African campaign, had stationed an Italian division in the most exposed section of the line. This division, the Italian 26th division, was on the western approaches to Mount Etna." https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3 ... &dq=&hl=en Ring of Steel Thrown Around Foe In Sicily, St Petersburg Times, 4 August 1943)

The Axis defenders hold out for six days thanks in large part to the 25th Artillery Regiment of the 'Assietta'. ("The Axis units held their positions through several days of attack, much thanks due to Italian artillery support." The Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 202, Lulu Press, 2013)

3-6 August - The Italian commanders at Messina, Admiral Pietro Barone and General Ettore Monacci, evacuate 62,182 Italian defenders, 41 guns, 227 vehicles under the cover of 150 Italian and 168 German anti-aircraft guns, and thanks to the cruiser 'Scipione Africano' that had earlier on cleared the Straits of Messina and the real fears that the Italian Navy was preparing to intervene and clear the Straits of Messina in a suicide run. ("Lining either side of the Messina Straits were some 150 Italian anti-aircraft guns, and an estimated 168 of the Germans ... Some estimates put the total number of anti-aircraft guns closer to 500, and some pilots claimed the intensity of the flak was worse than that confronted by Bomber Command in raids on Germany's Ruhr region." The Decisive Campaigns of the Desert Air Force 1942-1945, Bryn Evans, p. 104, Pen and Sword, 2014) ("Word spread that the redoutable Littorio and Roma Battleships, accompanied by the Scipione, together with every other surviving Italian warship, were on their way to clear the Messina Channel in a suicide run." Mussolini's War: Fascist Italy's Military Struggles from Africa and Western Europe to the Mediterranean and Soviet Union 1935-45, Frank Joseph, p. 176, Casemate Publishers, 2010)

[carlodinechi]

BATTLE OF KASSERINE PASS THE BERSAGLIERI KICK OPEN THE US DEFENCES

19/20 February - While General Karl Bülowius's Kampfgruppe Schütte and Colonel Hans-Georg Hildebrandt's 21st Panzer Division fail in their attacks at Sbiba and Kasserine Pass, the 'Centauro' Armoured Division saves the day for the much frustrated Rommel, overruning the US 19th Combat Engineers Regiment (under Colonel Anderson Moore), 168th Regimental Combat Team (under Colonel Thomas Drake) and 51 Sherman tanks and 12 Fargo tank destroyers from the US 2/1st Armored Regiment (under Lieutenant Colonel Louis Hightower), capturing 2,450 Americans. The American casualties in killed, wounded and captured numbered over 5,000. The shocked American survivors would maintain throughout their lives that German Panzergrenadiers and Tigers had beaten them. ("Rommel returned to the railway station at Kasserine which briefly served as the combined command post of the German Africa Corps and the 10th Panzer Division, and ordered these two formations to take the Kasserine Pass. In the evening dusk Rommel observed, as he dictated for his diary, 'the exciting scene of the tank battle north of the pass'. He had special praise for the 7th Bersaglieri, who attacked fiercely and whose commander fell during the attack; they threw the American, British and French forces out of the pass ... " Stauffenberg: A Family History, 1905-1944, Peter Hoffman, p.171, McGill-Queen's Press, 2008) ("With the available German troops exhausted and still waiting for German reinforcements to arrive, Rommel now ordered the two battalions of the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment (XIV & XXII Battalions, +-1,000 Infantry) forward to the attack. The Italians dismounted from their trucks and backed up by their mortars and the available artillery made a frontal assault on the surrounding ridges. The regimental assault companies and the heavy weapons platoons were sent forward, attacking at several suspected weak points in the Allied defensive lines. A successful breach was made about noon in the frontline minefields and defensive positions and some 800 Bersaglieri infantry stormed forward through the captured frontline strong points." http://home.earthlink.net/~frenchgreg/id2.html 5th Bersaglieri Regiment CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL GROUP) ("The new commander of DAK Assault Group, General Bulowius, complimented them on their élan, which contributed significantly to Axis success. The Italian action was instrumental in breaking through the US positions and in opening up the road to Thala and Tebessa." Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts: Mussolini's Elite Armoured Divisions in North Africa, Ian Walker, p.?, Crowood Press, 2006) ("At 4:30 P.M., 20 February, Axis troops rolled through Kasserine Pass. A battalion of the Centauro Division headed west on the road to Tebessa ... The battlegroup from the 10th Panzer Division under Fritz von Broich followed the Centauro battalion into the pass but headed north following the branch road toward Thala." Exit Rommel: The Tunisian Campaign, 1942-43, Bruce Watson, p. 102, Stackpole Books, 2006) ("Axis forces also made a breakthrough on Highway 13, where the Italians of the Centauro Division spearheaded the attack. In the early morning hours, the Italians pressed their offensive, broke through the remains of the American line, and continued up Highway 13." http://web.archive.org/web/200901310232 ... thefox.htm Facing The Fox, Brian John Murphy, America in WWII, April 2006) (""The American collapse began in earnest by late morning. At 11:22 the 19th Engineers' commander, Colonel A.T.W. Moore, warned Stark by radio that enemy infantry and tanks were forcing the pass along Highway 13. An engineer major bellowed: "Forget about our equipment and just save your life." Artillery observers fled, explaining plausibly if ingloriously: "This place is too hot." Companies disintegrated into platoons, platoons into squads, squads into solitary foot soldiers chased to the rear by screaming meemies. Half an hour later, Moore radioed, "Enemy overrunning our C.P.," and bolted for high ground. He soon arrived at Stark's tent to announce that the 19th Engineers no longer existed." An Army At Dawn: The War in North Africa, Rick Atkinson, p.?, Henry Holt and Company, 2007) (Rommel, wanting an even heftier punch, ordered Kampfgruppe Gerhardt of the 10th Panzer Division, re-forming at Sbeitla, to Kasserine. Rommel especially wanted the battlegroup's motorcycle battalion for what seemed another race through the pass. He met the division's new commander, Major General Fritz von Broich, at 7 A.M. at DAK headquarters in Kasserine village. Von Broich immediately angered Rommel by telling him that he did not order the motorcycle battalion to the front. Instead, he wanted to save it for the pursuit after the breakthrough. Rommel barked back that he wanted the cyclists immediately. And Rommel was furious because von Arnim, in another display of petulance, decided to keep half of the 10th in the north, including the MK VI Tiger tank detachment, "for his own purposes." Yet, Rommel's new plan to penetrate the pass was a contrast to both the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion's first attempt to force a breakthrough at Kasserine and Hildebradt's failed attack at Sbiba Pass." Exit Rommel: The Tunisian Campaign, 1942-43, Bruce Watson, p. 90, Stackpole Books, 2006) ("... 2450 prigionieri validi contro 192: gli americani dimostrano che il loro ardore combattivo lascia a desiderare." DA TOBRUK AL EL ALAMEIN http://www.webalice.it/gptecc/file/AO.pdf)

[Urmel]

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

General word of warning to readers of this thread. I have found numerous errors in the posts by carlodinechi, which he is unwilling to correct even after they are being pointed out. Given that my expertise is for a small slice of the desert war, and I am not checking the remainder of his input, I would advise anyone reading this to treat it with extreme caution. carlodinechi is clearly not interested in historical accuracy.

[jwsleser]

Urmel

I certainly agree. Most of the information presented in this thread (and his other thread, ‘Italy at War Day By Day: 1940-1945’) is poorly sourced and lacks any rigor in research. When one uses period newspapers, news clips, and immediate post-war sources, then mixing them with some decent information to try to make questionable data appear valid is misrepresenting history to the reader. Such efforts are intellectually dishonest.

It is sad that in his attempts to ‘correct the years of anglo-centric bias’, he has made the Italian military appear pathetic. Rather than discussing the true successes of the military and honestly address its shortcomings, he feels forced to turn every allied hangnail into a great victory. In many ways he is mimicking the Italian propaganda during the war.

I reinforce the warning that the presentation of the information offered here attempts to create a fantasy Italian military that never existed.

Pista! Jeff

[carlodinechi]

I wonder why Libraries bother keeping newspapers and journals from the past and preserving them on microfilm? If it wasn't for the newspaper of WW2 I would still believe that German guns (instead of Italian guns) sunk HMS Sikh during Operation Agreement, etcetera.

But it's not just me who thinks like US Professor James J. Sadkovich and puts aside the Allied Official Histories of WW2 (in order to dig deeper and get to the truth) when re-examining the role of the Italian Armed Forces for historians until recently focus on the German operations and ignore the Italian forces as US Professors Loyd E. Lee and Robin D. S. Higham point out:

"Because many writers have uncritically repeated stereotypes shared by their sources, biases and prejudices have taken on the status of objective observations, including the idea that the Germans and British were the only belligerents in the Mediterranean after Italian setbacks in early 1941. Sadkovich questioned this point of view in 'Of Myths and Men' and 'The Italian Navy', but persistent stereotypes, including that of the incompetent Italian, are well entrenched in the literature, from Puleston's early 'The Influence of Sea Power', to Gooch's 'Italian Military Incompetence,' to more recent publications by Mack Smith, Knox and Sullivan. Wartime bias in early British and American histories, which focused on German operations, dismissed Italian forces as inept and or unimportant, and viewed Germany as the pivotal power in Europe during the interwar period. For a discussion of this, see Sadkovich, 'Anglo-American Bias and the Italo-Greek War.
Bias includes both implicit assumptions, evident in Knox's title 'The Sources of Italy's Defeat in 1940: Bluff or Institutionalized Incompetence?' and the selective use of sources. Also see Sullivan's 'The Italian Armed Forces.' Sims, 'The Fighter Pilot,' ignored the Italians, while d'Este in 'World War II in the Meditaranean' shaped his reader's image of Italians by citing a German comment that Italy's surrender was 'the basest treachery' and by discussing Allied and German commanders but ignoring Messe, whose 'Come Fini la Guerra in Africa' is an account of operations in Tunisia, where he commanded the Italian First Army, which held off both the U.S. Second Corps and the British Eighth Army. Like Young, whose 'Rommel the Desert Fox' created the Rommel myth, authors can appear biased because they echo sources that reflect the prejudices and assumptions of the period. Indeed, many of our unconscious assumptions about the war have been shaped by documentaries like 'Victory at Sea', by sophisticated propaganda like Frank Capra's wartime 'Why We Fight' films, and by Hollywood films, television programs, and popular fiction in general. Dependence on non-Italian sources compromised Murray's analysis of the Italian military in 'The Change in the European Balance of Power', it led Van Creveld to conclude in 'Supplying War' that Italians were "useless ballast," and it caused Fraser, 'And We Shall Shock Them', to dimiss Graziani as an anxiety-ridden procrastinator but praised Wavell as a fearless problem solver. Liddel Hart's German sources led him to conclude in 'The Generals Talk' that "Italian jealousy of the Germans" had helped save Egypt. Such conclusions later lead Mearsheimer to question Liddell Hart's objectivity, though Liddell Hart's history of British 'Tanks' and his concise 'History of the Second World War' remain useful, as do Jackson's 'The Battle for North Africa' and Lewin's 'Rommel' and 'The Life and Death of the Afrika Corps'."

(World War II in Europe, Africa, & the Americas, with General Sources: A Handbook of Literature and Research, Loyd E. Lee, Robin D. S. Higham pp. 142-143, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997)

[jwsleser]

Luke

I wonder why Libraries bother keeping newspapers and journals from the past and preserving them on microfilm?

Because it is part of the historical record. I can find a copy of Ptolemy's Apotelesmatika in libraries but that doesn't make it correct/valid.

The fact that you used such a defense demonstrates your approach to history.

The fact that you keep referring to Sadkovich demonstrates your own lack of research. Trying to make others believe that Sadkovich follows/agrees with your ideas is stretching reality.

The quote you provided is nice, but doesn't make any of what you have presented correct or good history.

Pista! Jeff

[Urmel]

The fact that you keep referring to Sadkovich demonstrates your own lack of research. Trying to make others believe that Sadkovich follows/agrees with your ideas is stretching reality.

The fact that he believes everyone who corrects him is doing this on the basis of the Allied histories tells me all I need to know.

[Urmel]

Robin D. S. Higham:

Like Young, whose 'Rommel the Desert Fox' created the Rommel myth,

Nonsense. Young did not create the myth. The myth existed from 1942 onwards in the desert, on both sides. See e.g. Montgomery's order on taking command on p.5 at this link, and note how he talks about defeating not the Germans, not the Axis, but Rommel.

Or this little snippet about how the German war reporting created that Rommel myth.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bbl ... lt&f=false

The idea that some anti-Italian bias created this myth after the war is just plain wrong.

[carlodinechi]

BATTLE OF GARFAGNANA (OPERATION WINTER STORM) 'MONTE ROSA' & 'SAN MARCO' DIVISIONS IN ACTION

US War Correspondent Sid Feder reporting on the Allied air power that halts the Italo-German drive:

"Strong Allied air and ground forces were thrown into battle today in an effort to halt the German assault on a six-mile front in the Serchio river valley, where American doughboys have been driven from the important road town of Barga in two days of fierce fighting. The Germans declared that the U.S. 92nd division had been knocked back "some kilometres", which evidently was aimed at the vital Allied supply port of Livorno (Leghorn) ... The Allied tactical air forces hurled the full fury of their bombs, cannon and machineguns against the attacking enemy, with well over 1,000 warplanes participating in the headlong strikes against troop concentrations, gun posts, occupied buildings and road junctions in the battle area. American Thunderbolt and Mustang fighters and Mitchell medium bombers were joined by British and South African Spitfires and Kittyhawks in the blistering assault. Many fires and explosions were seen around Barga and two towns in the immediate northwest, Castelnuovo and Gallicano."

(https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 1430&hl=en GERMANS PUSH AHEAD ON WEST COAST OF SICILY, The Lewiston Daily Sun, 29 December 1944)

13 December 1944 - Preparatory to the Italo-German counteroffensive, a hand-picked platoon slips past the US outposts at Vergemoli and Gallicano and attempts to blow up the concrete bridge at Farnaci. ("On 13 December, Vergemoli and the Gallicano area again received more heavy shelling. On that night, too, a small enemy patrol slipped past the guard to blow the concrete bridge across the Serchio at Farnaci. Demolition, however, was not properly effected and by morning, Engineers had repaired the bridge." Buffalo Soldiers in Italy, Hondon B. Hargrove, p. 58, McFarland, 2003)

26-31 December 1944 - As part of Marshal Rodolfo Graziani's Operation "Winter Storm", the RSI 'Monte Rosa' (Alpini) and 'San Marco' (Marine) Divisions under General Mario Carloni take on and overrun the US 92nd 'Buffalo' Infantry Division (commanded by General Edward Almond) in the Serchio Valley, with the Italians forming and commanding two out of the three Italo-German Spearheads involved and two Gebirgsjäger Battalions from the German Mountain Division coming under heavy criticism for their poor performance. ("Fornaci itself fell quickly, although the two German (in fact mostly Alsatian) battalions were heavily criticized for their sluggishness and lack of aggressiveness. " http://digilander.libero.it/lacorsainfi ... witter.htm WINTERGEWITTER Bastogne italiana)

27-28 December 1944 - The American commanders caught wrong-footed all along the 9 kilometre frontline, get the help they urgently require from 160 US P-47 Thunderbolts, Mustang fighters, Mitchell bombers, British Commonwealth Spitfires, Kittyhawks, and the Italo-German advance grinds to a halt. ("December 27th to 30th, USAAF aircraft strafed and bombed everything in sight. In the town of Camporgiano, even a hospital wherein German, Italian and American wounded were being treated was attacked by mistake. The few 20 mm and 88mm anti-aircraft guns could not stop the waves of Allied planes. " http://digilander.libero.it/lacorsainfi ... witter.htm WINTERGEWITTER Bastogne italiana)

Nevertheless, Italian rifle companies and platoons advance 10 kilometres or more and reach the outskirts of the Spa Town of Bagni Di Lucca ("Bagni di Lucca 18 km (11 mi) southeast of Barga" Fodor's Florence, Tuscany and Umbria: The Complete Guide with the Best of the Art Treasures and Hill Towns, p. 71, Fodor's, 1999), and the 'Monte Rosa", 'San Marco' and 'Italia' (Bersaglieri) Divisions successfully defend their forward positions in the Serchio Valley for several days, weeks or months. ("Nothing could dislodge the gains made by Operation Winsterstorm. These comprised a conquered wedge twenty kilometres wide and nine kilometres deep which stood largely intact throughout the rest of the war. In fact, its defenders continued fighting for days after Mussolini's death the following year." Mussolini's War, Frank Joseph, p. 198, Casemate Publishers, 2010) ("Still not routed, the Germans and their RSI allies thereafter successfully defended the 'Gothic line', running from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic Sea south of Bologna and the other gateways to the Po valley. That richest part of Italy was not liberated until the last days of the war in April 1945." Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Dictatorship, 1915-1945, R J B Bosworth,p. ?, Penguin, 2006)

Generals Mark Clark and Lucian Truscott would be at a loss, explaining that several crack German Gebirgsjäger Battalions had overrun the US 366th and 370th Infantry Regiments. ("It (92nd Division) did not come up to the test, and when the Germans struck down the Serchio Valley, the Regimental Commanders were unable to exercise sufficient control of their troops in an emergency." Buffalo Soldiers in Italy, Hondon B. Hargrove, p. 78, McFarland, 2003) ("The Germans launched several limited objective attacks in the Serchio Valley, with forces involving five or six battalion which struck the First Battalion, 370th Infantry and the Second Battalion, 366th Infantry, both of which "melted away"..." Buffalo Soldiers in Italy, Hondon B. Hargrove, p. 79, McFarland, 2003)

2 January 1945 - The Australian "Special Correspondent" from The Age Newspaper reporting from the US Frontline, reports that the Hilltop Town of Sommocolonia (lost during Operation 'Winter Storm') has been recaptured. (https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 7960&hl=en Defences Probed, The Age, 3 January 1945)

4 February 1945 - The 366th Infantry Regiment from the US 92nd Division recaptures the Town of Gallicano that was lost during Operation 'Winter Storm'.

28 February 1945 - In the protracted fighting in the Serchio Valley, American patrols report "long-range enemy machine gun and mortar fire between the Serchio valley and the Ligurian coast." (https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 5696&hl=en PATROL CLASHES FLARE IN ITALY, Spokane Daily Chronicle, 27 February 1945)