Army Liguria (''Armee Ligurien'', or LXXXXVII Army) was an army formed for the

National Republican Army The National Republican Army (Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano, or ENR) was the army of the Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI) from 1943 to 1945 that fought on the side of Nazi Germany during World War II. The E ...

(''Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano'', or ENR). The ENR was the national army of Italian dictator

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...

(''Repubblica Sociale Italiana'', or RSI). Formation of this RSI army started in 1943 and the army was disbanded in 1945. Army Liguria included several German units and its Italian units were sometimes transferred to German formations. Between November 1944 and February 1945, the formation was alternatively known as Army Group Liguria (''Armeegruppe Ligurien'') due to the subordination of 14th Army under it.

Formation

On 16 October 1943, the Rastenburg Protocol was signed with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and the RSI was allowed to raise four division-sized military formations. The four divisions—1st Italian "Italia" Infantry Division, 2nd Italian "Littorio" Infantry Division, 3rd Italian "San Marco" Marine Division, and 4th Italian "Monte Rosa" Alpine Division—were to ultimately total 52,000 men.

Service

In July 1944, the first of these divisions completed training and was sent to the front. Like the smaller RSI units—the

Black Brigades The ''Corpo Ausiliario delle Squadre d'azione di Camicie Nere'' (Italian: Auxiliary Corps of the Black Shirts' Action Squads), most widely known as the Black Brigades ( it, Brigate Nere), was one of the Fascist paramilitary groups, organized a ...

and the Decima Flottiglia MAS—the newly formed RSI divisions generally participated in anti-partisan activities. While there were exceptions, these divisions saw limited front line action. As the remaining divisions completed training, they were combined with German units and formed into Army Group Liguria. The RSI Minister of Defense,

Rodolfo Graziani Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli (; 11 August 1882 – 11 January 1955), was a prominent Italian military officer in the Kingdom of Italy's '' Regio Esercito'' ("Royal Army"), primarily noted for his campaigns in Africa before and durin ...

, commanded all Army forces of the RSI.

Order of battle

*Order of Battle for the LXXXXVII "Liguria" Army - 30 April 1945 ''The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan'', Hans Dollinger, Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 67-27047 ** LXXV Corps *** 5th German Mountain Division *** 2nd Italian "Littorio" Infantry Division *** 34th German Infantry Division ** Lombardia Corps ***

3rd Italian "San Marco" Marine Infantry Division Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

***134th German Infantry Brigade *** 4th Italian "Monte Rosa" Alpine Division The

1st Bersaglieri "Italia" Division First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

was attached to the 14th German Army.

Surrender

On 1 May 1945, Graziani ordered the RSI forces under his command to lay down their arms and Army Group Liguria ceased to exist. German General Heinrich von Vietinghoff signed the unconditional instrument of surrender for all Axis forces in Italy and his surrender took effect on 2 May.

References

{{Armies of the German Army

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Field armies of Germany in World War II

Formation

Service

Order of battle

Surrender

See also

References