Info on Italian military high command

[ghost1275]

More specially, details on organization and operation of Commando Supremo (same as General Staff?) and the three service HQs (Supermarina, Superaereo, Superesercito). I couldn't find any useful info online after exhausting searching.
I am also interested to find out how was Regia Aeronautica organized at operational and tactical echelons. Did it form air fleet, air corps, wings, group, squadrons similar to that of the Luftwaffe or Allied air forces? What about Regia Marina? It fought mainly in the Med. Sea. Did it establish its own Mediterranean Fleet like the Royal Navy did?

[LColombo]

Comando Supremo, with just one "m".

The Regia Marina did not have a "Mediterranean Fleet", since its fleet was Mediterranean by definition. At the outbreak of the war the battlefleet was dividd into two Squadre Navali, which literally translate to "Naval Squadrons" but in practice was the equivalent of a British/American Fleet rather than a British Squadron (whereas the Italian equivalent of a Squadron was the Divisione Navale, literally "Naval Division").

At the outbreak of the war the 1a Squadra was composed of Naval Divisions V and VI (rebuilt WWI battleships), IX (Littorio-class battleships), I (Zara-class heavy cruisers), IV (Cadorna and Di Giussano-class light cruisers) and VIII (Duca degli Abruzzi-class light cruisers) and destroyer divisions (Squadriglie Cacciatorpediniere) VII, VIII, IX, XIV, XV, XVI. The 2a Squadra had the heavy cruiser Pola as flagship and was entirely composed of cruiser divisions: II (Di Giussano-class light cruisers), III (Trento-class heavy cruisers), VII (Montecuccoli-class light cruisers), plus destroyer divisions X, XI, XII and XIII. The 1a Squadra was based in Taranto and the 2a Squadra in various bases in southern Italy (Messina for the III Division, Palermo for the II, the VII changed base multiple times over a short time, Naples, Cagliari, Palermo).

Sometimes some divisions were transferred from one Squadra to the other, for instance the I Division to the 2a Squadra in the battle of Punta Stilo. In December 1940 the two Squadre were merged into a single Squadra Navale. By then the II Division had been dissolved following the loss of one of its cruisers, the other one being attached to the IV Division. The I Division was dissolved after the battle of Cape Matapan, the IV after the battle of Cape Bon, the III (I think) after the bombing of La Maddalena in April 1943.

There were also six local naval departments or commands and five overseas naval commands. The local commands/departments were Upper Tyrrhenian (Alto Tirreno), based in La Spezia; Lower Tyrrhenian (Basso Tirreno), based in Naples; Sardinia (Sardegna), based in La Maddalena; Sicily (Sicilia), based in Messina; Upper Adriatic (Alto Adriatico), based in Venice and with two subordinated commands (Pola and Quarnaro); Lower Adriatic and Ionian Sea (Basso Adriatico e Mar Ionio), based in Taranto and with a subordinated command in Brindisi.
These commands had torpedo boat squadrons and MAS squadrons at their disposal, as well as minesweeper flotillas and miscellaneous auxiliary ships. Also a couple of older destroyer squadrons (II and VI).

The overseas naval commands were Aegean Sea (Mar Egeo), based in Rhodes (but with main naval base in Leros); Albania, based in Durres; Libya (Libia), based in Tripoli; Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana), based in Massawa; Estremo Oriente (Far East), based in Tianjin. The Aegean command had the one destroyer squadron, one torpedo boat squadron, one MAS flotilla and two submarine squadrons at its disposal; the Libyan command had the old armored cruiser San Giorgio, one destroyer squadron, one torpedo boat squadron and two submarine squadrons; the East Africa command had two destroyer squadrons, a torpedo boat section, one MAS squadron and two submarine squadrons; the Far East command had one riverine gunboat and one sloop/minelayer/gunboat, the Albanian command only a handful of auxiliary ships.

Submarines were grouped under the Comando Squadra Sommergibili (Submarine Squadron Command – again, here “Squadron” meaning “Fleet” –), Maricosom, with headquarters in Rome. It was divided into Submarine Groups: I (based in La Spezia), II (based in Naples), III (based in Messina), IV (based in Taranto), V (based in Leros), VI (based in Tobruk), VII (based in Cagliari), VIII (based in Massawa). Each Submarine Group was composed of multiple Squadriglie Sommergibili (Submarine Squadrons).

In the summer of 1940 a new overseas/submarine command, Betasom, was created for submarines based in Bordeaux which participated in the battle of the Atlantic. Another one, Gammason, was later created in Gdynia (back then Gotenhafen) as a training base for Italian Atlantic submarine crews.

[ghost1275]

wow, thanks for the info I appreciate it

[DrG]

Within the "Stato Maggiore Generale" is activated the "Comando Supremo delle Forze Armate" ("Comando Supremo" in short) during wartime, with the operational command on the subject units.

The Comando Supremo, established on 30 May 1940, was a very small office, because under Marshal Badoglio it had a mere function of cohordination among the three Armed Forces and the Head of the Government, i.e. Mussolini, according to the Royal Decree n. 68 of 6 Feb. 1927.

The following was the organization of the Stato Maggiore Generale in June 1940 (these schemes indicate the ranks of the officers for each function and their number):

After the Greek campaign, Gen. Cavallero completely updated the Stato Maggiore Generale and the Royal Decree-Law n. 661 of 27 June 1941 gave it the command on the Comandi Superiori of the subject Armed Forces. Cavallero enlarged the organization, but I have not found a clear scheme of the new Stato Maggiore Generale. I only know that it was divided into three "Reparti":
- I "Operazioni" ("Operations");
- II (I don't know its functions);
- III "Ordinamento e addestramento" ("Regulations and training").
It comprised also several offices: Informations (the SIM - Servizio Informazioni Militari, initially it was the intelligence service of the Army, but since mid 1942 it coordinated the intelligence services of the Navy - SIS -, of the Air Force - SIA -, and the new intelligence service of the Army - SIE), Communications, Foreign Affairs, War Economy, etc.

With regards to the Regio Esercito, Regia Marina, Regia Aeronautica and Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN) I haven't found detailed organizational charts. I have only this about the Stato Maggiore della Regia Marina in 1943:

For the OOBs of the Italian Armed Forces in WW2 you can find many information online, but the best place to start is surely the marvellous site by Leo Niehorster. This is its page about Italy: http://niehorster.org/019_italy/__italy.htm.

[DrG]

An additional note: each Armed Force, as seen in the oragnizational chart for the Navy which I posted above, had its "Stato Maggiore" and, within it, a "Comando Superiore" ("High Command"). These Comandi Superiori were usually referred to by their telegraphic address (written fully capitalized), i.e.:
- Comando Superiore del Regio Esercito: SUPERSERCITO;
- Comando Superiore della Regia Marina: SUPERMARINA;
- Comando Superiore della Regia Aeronautica: SUPERAEREO.

The telegraphic address of the "Stato Maggiore Generale" was STAMAGE, instead. AFAIK the Comando Supremo was referred to merely by its name, without any specific acronym or telegraphic address.

[ghost1275]

Excellent info. I assume both of you are native Italian speakers? The word squadra can be translated into English as squadron, right? And yet in Italian Navy and Air Force, its usage is for much higher formation. Naval squadra is roughly equal to fleet or flotilla. Air squadra was the highest operational echelon of the Regia Aeronautica, the equivalent of USAAF numbered Air Force or Luftwaffe’s Luftflotte. Now beg the question, what is the Italian synonym for English word “squadron” in the sense of a flying squadron?

[LColombo]

The word squadra can be translated into English as squadron, right?

More or less, but I am not sure it can be a good translation since, military wise, it has different meanings in Italian and English. Outside of military terminology "squadra" means "team" (such as: squadra di calcio, football team). Also, the Italian word "squadrone" can be translated as "squadron". It defines a cavalry unit and in this case it is the equivalent of the English word (cavalry squadron, squadrone di cavalleria).

The problem of this translation is worsened by the fact that the Royal Navy and US Navy also sometimes use different terms to mean the same thing. For instance, during World War II the Royal Navy called a destroyer (or submarine) flotilla what the US Navy called a destroyer (or submarine) squadron, or division. Those were called in Italy squadriglie (both of destroyers or submarines), whereas flotillas (flottiglie) were groupings of two or more squadriglie.

So "squadron" may be roughly translated to two different Italian words, squadra and squadriglia, which have totally different meanings. A Squadra Navale is a fleet, a squadriglia is a British (destroyer or submarine) flotilla or a US (destroyer or submarine) squadron or division.

Likewise, an Italian divisione (division) of cruisers of battleships would directly translate to cruiser/battleship division for the US Navy, but cruiser or battleship squadron for the Royal Navy.

Now beg the question, what is the Italian synonym for English word “squadron” in the sense of a flying squadron?

I am a bit less sure, since my field is mostly the Navy rather than the Air Force, but that should be a squadriglia.

[ghost1275]

Within the "Stato Maggiore Generale" is activated the "Comando Supremo delle Forze Armate" ("Comando Supremo" in short) during wartime, with the operational command on the subject units.

The Comando Supremo, established on 30 May 1940, was a very small office, because under Marshal Badoglio it had a mere function of cohordination among the three Armed Forces and the Head of the Government, i.e. Mussolini, according to the Royal Decree n. 68 of 6 Feb. 1927.

The following was the organization of the Stato Maggiore Generale in June 1940 (these schemes indicate the ranks of the officers for each function and their number):
page_23.jpg
page_24.jpg
page_25.jpg

After the Greek campaign, Gen. Cavallero completely updated the Stato Maggiore Generale and the Royal Decree-Law n. 661 of 27 June 1941 gave it the command on the Comandi Superiori of the subject Armed Forces. Cavallero enlarged the organization, but I have not found a clear scheme of the new Stato Maggiore Generale. I only know that it was divided into three "Reparti":
- I "Operazioni" ("Operations");
- II (I don't know its functions);
- III "Ordinamento e addestramento" ("Regulations and training").
It comprised also several offices: Informations (the SIM - Servizio Informazioni Militari, initially it was the intelligence service of the Army, but since mid 1942 it coordinated the intelligence services of the Navy - SIS -, of the Air Force - SIA -, and the new intelligence service of the Army - SIE), Communications, Foreign Affairs, War Economy, etc.

With regards to the Regio Esercito, Regia Marina, Regia Aeronautica and Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN) I haven't found detailed organizational charts. I have only this about the Stato Maggiore della Regia Marina in 1943:
page_79.jpg

For the OOBs of the Italian Armed Forces in WW2 you can find many information online, but the best place to start is surely the marvellous site by Leo Niehorster. This is its page about Italy: http://niehorster.org/019_italy/__italy.htm.

The link is a godsend, thanks. According to the chart of Italian wartime leadership (http://niehorster.org/019_italy/_high-c ... italy.html), there is this "Supreme Commission of Defense" chaired by Mussolini. Are we talking about the Consiglio Supremo di Difesa? The same institution still exists today.

[DrG]

The "Commissione Suprema di Difesa" had functions similar to those of the following "Consiglio Supremo di Difesa", i.e. the definition of the top strategic matters for the nation, but it was centered on the Government and not on the Head of State (like today's Consiglio).
In short, the Commissione was composed by two organs: the Deliberative committee (with the same members of the Council of Ministries, with right of vote, and by the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, without vote) and the Consultive committees (one for each Armed Force, one for the mobilization of the civilian structure of the Fascist Party and one for the National Research Council).
The Deliberative commitee met once a year (the last time was in Feb. 1940), while the Consultive committees provided their support when required and their administrative activity was constant.

[DrG]

In case you were interested, this was the structure of the functions of the Italian top command since June 1941:

According to the chart above, the workflow was this:

1. The Head of the Government, the Military Intelligence Service (Servizio Informazioni Militari, SIM), the Ministries of each Armed Force or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provide information of political and military nature to the Chief of General Staff;
2. The Chief of General Staff, given these information, submits his proposals on military matters to the Head of the Government;
3. The Head of the Government states his directives to the Chief of General Staff;
4. The Chief of General Staff turns them into military directives to his subjects, i.e. the Chiefs of Staff of each Armed Force or the High Commanders of each of the overseas Armed Forces (Libya, Italian East Africa, Italian Egean Islands);
5. The Chiefs of Staff or High Commanders dispatch their executive orders to their subject units.

[ghost1275]

Speaking of Italian military strategy/preparation outside metropolitan Italy, why even bother to invade and occupy Ethiopia. Italian East Africa is geographically isolated from the Med. Sea and become vulnerable of naval and land blockade from UK.

[DrG]

Speaking of Italian military strategy/preparation outside metropolitan Italy, why even bother to invade and occupy Ethiopia. Italian East Africa is geographically isolated from the Med. Sea and become vulnerable of naval and land blockade from UK.

With full hindsight, now we know that only 3.5 years after the War of Ethiopia there has been WW2, but in 1936 this catastrophic event was far from sure.

Long story short: there was no other land to be colonized by Italy in Africa by 1935.

Long story less short: Italy had already attempted a conquest of Ethiopia in late XIX century, therefore the action of 1935 came not out of a vacuum. Yet, a war was not the sole and necessary outcome of Italo-Ethiopian relations. During the 1920's there had been several attempts, both by Italy and UK (which had also signed a pact partitioning Ethiopia into spheres of influence), to reach a useful and peaceful economic penetration of the country, but its local economy was extremely backward and its foreign commerce was mostly in the hands of the French (thanks to the Djibuti-Addis Abeba railway) for the logistical matters and of Japan for the Ethiopian import of goods, while its meager exports (coffea and leather) were more diversified. In the early Thirties the Italian and British paths started to diverge: the British gave up the idea of a large scale economic influence within Ethiopia, so decided to follow a different route. Negotiations between UK and Ethiopia reached an agreement for an exchange between the small port of Zeila, in British Somaliland near the border of French Somalia, to be ceded to Ethiopia, and the region of Haud (a part of Ethiopian Ogaden on the South of British Somaliland, apparently rich of minerals), to be ceded to UK. In this way, UK would have shared with France the control over Ethiopian foreign trade (Zeila, while ceded to Ethiopia, would have needed British capitals to be developed into a modern port, with a road connection to interior Ethiopia, and was so close to the Somaliland border to be under the menace of a British military action at every time, not to talk about the naval base of Aden) and would have gained Haud. But there was a problem with Ual Ual, an isolated village in the desert of Ogaden, of relative importance due to its wells, needed by local Somali nomads, occupied by a small Italian garrison since the Twenties, due to the acts of violence that often happened there among the shepherd, but in a territory claimed - with good reasons, even though the Somalia-Ethiopia border had never been identified on the terrain - by Ethiopia. This village was part of the region of Haud which Ethiopia had to cede to UK, so in 1934 an Ethiopian force, with a British geographic mission, approached it. After a stalemate, the Ethiopian force attacked the Italian garrison, causing an international incident which, even for today's standards, could not be accepted passively by Italy. The following crisis was used to prepare the Italian invasion, never planned up to that date but sometimes evaluated in theory in the preceding years by Mussolini. During the Italo-Ethiopian crisis and at the beginning of the war there were some covert negotiations between Italy, UK and France to reach a compromise (for example, Mussolini preferred to keep Haile Selassie as king of an Italian protectorate, with the direct annexion of Tigrè, Ogaden and a strip of territory connecting them, rather than a full annexion of Ethiopia, to avoid the problems of a long-term guerrilla in case of a full dissolution of the feudal Ethiopian Empire), but they all failed.

[DrG]

I have written this about Italo-Franco-British negotiations about Ethiopia more than 12 years ago (!): viewtopic.php?p=1238991#p1238991

This map, from Edesme Robertson, "Mussolini as Empire Builder. Europe and Africa, 1932-1936", shows the so called "Red Line" (Ji-jigga -Wardair- Damot), i.e. the part of the new border between Ethiopia and British Somaliland agreed by the two powers in the Spring of 1934. Note that Gerlogubi was occupied by Ethiopian forces in May 1934 for the first time, up to that date it was a sort of no-man's land.
The dashed line representing the border between Ethiopia and Italian Somalia is often used, but it was not the border accepted by Italy, which, in the relatively imprecise maps that I have seen, ran more or less along the Wardair-Damot line (you can zoom this map by the National Geographic from 1935: https://www.natgeomaps.com/hm-1935-africa or this map by De Agostini from 1914: https://picclick.it/Carta-geografica-an ... id=1&pid=1).

[ghost1275]

Again thanks for all the info. I am an aficionado of fine Italian cuisine (or more precisely American Italian food, LOL) while my wife is really into Italian designer brands the likes of Fendi, Prada, etc. On our only trip we to Italy, some one pickpocketed 200 Euro cash from us in Rome :roll:

[DrG]

You are welcome.
Now, if you let me a little joke, it seems that you have quite a peculiar liaison with Italy: out of three things that you have mentioned (Italo-American cusine, fashion design, pickpockets in Rome), two aren't Italian at all. I let you guess which ones.