Italian Army in Russia
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The Italian Army in Russia ( it, Armata Italiana in Russia; ARMIR) was an army-sized unit of the
Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...
which fought on the Eastern Front during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
between July 1942 and April 1943. The ARMIR was also known as the 8th Italian Army and initially had 235,000 soldiers.


Formation

In July 1942, the ARMIR was created when 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 194 ...
decided to scale up the Italian effort in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. The existing
Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia During World War II, the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (''Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia'', or CSIR) was a corps-sized expeditionary unit of the ''Regio Esercito'' (Italian Army) that fought on the Eastern Front. In July 1942 the ...
(''Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia'', or CSIR) was expanded to become the ARMIR. Unlike the "mobile" CSIR which it replaced, the ARMIR was primarily an infantry army. A good portion of the ARMIR was made up of mountain troops (''
Alpini The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operatio ...
''), which were ill-suited to the vast, flat expanses of southern Russia. Like the CSIR, the ARMIR included an Aviation Command (''Comando Aereo'') with a limited number of fighters, bombers, and transport aircraft. This command was part of the ''
Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...
'' ( lit. "Royal Air Force") and was also known as the ''Corpo Aereo Spedizione in Russia'' ("Air Expeditionary Corps in Russia"), under the command of General Enrico Pezzi. The ARMIR was subordinated to German
Army Group B Army Group B (German: ') was the title of three German Army Groups that saw action during World War II. Operational history Army Group B first took part in the Battle of France in 1940 in Belgium and the Netherlands. The second formation of ...
(''Heeresgruppe B'') commanded by General
Maximilian von Weichs Maximilian Maria Joseph Karl Gabriel Lamoral Reichsfreiherr von und zu Weichs an der Glon (12 November 1881 – 27 September 1954) was a field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Born into an aristocratic family, Weichs ...
. In February 1943, after its near destruction during the
Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...
, Mussolini disbanded what was left of the Italian 8th Army and the surviving Italian troops were unceremoniously brought home from Russia.


Composition

Mussolini sent seven new divisions to Russia for a total of ten divisions. Four new infantry divisions were sent: the 2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca", the 3rd Infantry Division "Ravenna", the
5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" The 5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" ( it, 5ª Divisione di fanteria "Cosseria") was an infantry Division (military), division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Cosseria was named for the Battle_of_Montenotte, Battle of Cosseria f ...
, and the 156th Infantry Division "Vicenza". In addition to the infantry divisions, three new alpine divisions made up of
Alpini The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operatio ...
were sent: the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina", the 3rd Alpine Division "Julia", and the 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense". These new divisions were added to the 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta",
9th Infantry Division "Pasubio" The 9th Infantry Division Pasubio ( it, 9ª Divisione di fanteria "Pasubio") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Pasubio was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning it had some motorized tran ...
, and 52nd Infantry Division "Torino", which were already in Russia as part of the CSIR. The 8th Italian Army was organized into three corps: * II Army Corps (
Giovanni Zanghieri Giovanni Zanghieri (24 December 1881 – 5 October 1959) was an Italian Lieutenant General who served during the Second World War from 1940 to 1943. Biography Zanghieri was Commandant of the Central Artillery School between 1934 and 1937 and th ...
), ** 2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca" ( Carlo Pellegrini), ** 3rd Infantry Division "Ravenna" ( Francesco Du Pont), **
5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" The 5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" ( it, 5ª Divisione di fanteria "Cosseria") was an infantry Division (military), division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Cosseria was named for the Battle_of_Montenotte, Battle of Cosseria f ...
( Enrico Gazzale) * XXXV Army Corps (
Giovanni Messe Giovanni Messe (10 December 1883 – 18 December 1968) was an Italian field marshal and politician. In the Second World War, he was captured in Tunisia, but made chief of staff of the Italian Co-belligerent Army after the armistice of Septemb ...
- replaced 1942.11.01 by
Francesco Zingales Francesco Zingales (1884-1959) was a general in the Royal Italian Army during World War II. Biography Francesco Zingales fought in World War I on the Isonzo Front. In 1939 he had become commander of the 10th Motorised Division Piave, but saw no ...
), ** 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" ( Ettore de Blasio), **
9th Infantry Division "Pasubio" The 9th Infantry Division Pasubio ( it, 9ª Divisione di fanteria "Pasubio") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Pasubio was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning it had some motorized tran ...
( Guido Boselli), ** 52nd Infantry Division "Torino" ( Roberto Lerici), * Alpine Corps (
Gabriele Nasci Gabriele Nasci (3 October 1887, Venice – 12 April 1947) was a general of the Alpine Corps in the Royal Italian Army. Biography Gabriele Nasci fought in the First World War. Between the two World Wars, he was commander of the 2nd Alpine Div ...
). ** 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" (
Luigi Reverberi Luigi Reverberi (Cavriago, 12 September 1892 – Milan, 22 June 1954) was an Italian general during World War II. Biography Reverberi attended the Military Academy of Modena and graduated as Second Lieutenant; with this rank he fought in L ...
), ** 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" ( Umberto Ricagno - POW), ** 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" ( Emilio Battisti - POW) * Under direct command of the 8th Army ** 156th Infantry Division "Vicenza" ( Etelvoldo Pascolini - POW), primarily utilized behind the front on "lines of communications" duties, security and anti-
partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...
and to act as a reserve. In addition to the ten divisions, the 8th Italian Army included * 298th German Division * 62nd German divisions (later being sent to
Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...
), * a Croatian volunteer
legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...
, * three legions of Italian
Blackshirt The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Nation ...
volunteers ('' Camicie Nere'', or CC.NN.). By November 1942, the 8th Italian Army had a total of 235,000 men in twelve divisions and four legions. It was equipped with 988 guns, 420 mortars, 25,000 horses, and 17,000 vehicles. While the Italians did receive 12 German Mk. IV tanks and had captured several Soviet tanks, there were still very few modern tanks and anti-tank guns available to the ARMIR. The few tanks that were available still tended to be obsolete Italian models. Both the L6/40 light tanks (armed with a turret-mounted 20 mm
Breda Model 35 The Breda 20/65 mod.35 (''"Breda 20 mm L/65 model 1935"''), also simply known as 20 mm Breda or Breda Model 35, among other variations, was an Italian anti-aircraft gun produced by the Società Italiana Ernesto Breda of Brescia company ...
gun) and the 47 mm anti-tank guns (''
Cannone da 47/32 M35 The Cannone da 47/32 mod. 1935 was an Italian artillery piece that saw service during World War II. It was originally designed by Austrian firm Böhler, and produced in Italy under license. The ''Cannone da 47/32'' was used both as an infantry ...
'') were out of date when Italy declared war on 10 June 1940. Compared to what the
Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...
had available to them in late 1942 and early 1943, Italian tanks and anti-tank guns could be considered more dangerous to the crews than to the enemy. Moreover, as was the complaint of General Messe with the CSIR, the ARMIR was seriously short of adequate winter equipment. Infantry small arms were also often inadequate or even useless. Rifles and machine guns were terribly prone to jamming. The
Carcano Carcano is the frequently used name for a series of Italian bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating military rifles and carbines. Introduced in 1891, this rifle was chambered for the rimless 6.5×52mm Carcano round (''Cartuccia Modello 1895''). It ...
rifle and the
Breda 30 The ''Fucile Mitragliatore Breda modello'' 30 was the standard light machine gun of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. Design The Breda 30 was rather unusual for a light machine gun. It was fed from a fixed magazine attached to the ri ...
light machine gun had to be kept for a long time on a source of heat to work properly in extreme climatic conditions, and thus were often not capable of firing in the midst of battle. Incidentally, these last two weapons were considered the deadliest among the Italian arsenal. The heavy
Breda M37 The Mitragliatrice Breda calibro 8 modello 37 (commonly known as the Breda mod. 37 or simply Breda 37) was an Italian Medium machine gun produced by Breda and adopted in 1937 by the Royal Italian Army. It was the standard heavy machine gun for t ...
proved to be a slightly more reliable machine gun, though having an excessive weight and very slow rate of fire. The old belt-fed Fiat 14 was also seen in small numbers, but was obsolete. The praised high-quality
Beretta 38A The MAB 38 (''Moschetto Automatico Beretta Modello 1938''), ''Modello'' 38, or Model 38 and its variants were a series of official submachine guns of the Royal Italian Army introduced in 1938 and used during World War II. The guns were also used ...
submachine guns were extremely rare, and given only in small numbers to specialized units, such as the
Blackshirt The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Nation ...
legions, some tank crews or
Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...
military police. Italian paratroopers in North Africa were equipped exclusively with this weapon, and gave outstanding combat results. There was total absence of any portable anti-tank weapon, thus making hand grenades, machine guns and mortars the last resort against Soviet armour. Hand grenades rarely detonated or detonated unpredictably. The
Brixia Model 35 The Brixia Model 35 was an Italian small-sized, rapid firing light mortar (weapon), mortar of World War II. The Brixia Modello 35 was used to provide light supporting fire to the infantry companies. It was issued at battalion level, with each batt ...
45mm mortar bombs had an inadequate explosive charge and fragmented poorly, and larger 81mm mortars modello 35 were rare. The Aviation Command of the ARMIR had a total of roughly 64 aircraft. The ARMIR had the following aircraft available to it: Macchi C.200 “Arrow" (''Saetta'') fighter, Macchi C.202 “Lightning" (''Folgore'') fighter, Caproni Ca.311 light reconnaissance-bomber, and Fiat Br.20 “Stork" (''Cicogna'') twin-engined bomber.


Commander

Italian General
Italo Gariboldi Italo Gariboldi (20 April 1879 – 3 February 1970) was an Italian senior officer in the Royal Army (''Regio Esercito'') before and during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by German dictator Adolf Hitler for his l ...
took command of the newly formed ARMIR, instead of General
Giovanni Messe Giovanni Messe (10 December 1883 – 18 December 1968) was an Italian field marshal and politician. In the Second World War, he was captured in Tunisia, but made chief of staff of the Italian Co-belligerent Army after the armistice of Septemb ...
. As commander of the CSIR, Messe had opposed an enlargement of the Italian contingent in Russia until it could be properly equipped. As a result, he was overruled by Mussolini and the CSIR was expanded without his further input.
Just prior to commanding the ARMIR, Gariboldi was the
Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
of
Italian Libya Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica ...
. He was criticized after the war for being too submissive to the Germans in
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
. Messe remained commander of the 3 initial divisions of the CSIR, which was renamed XXXV Army Corps, but was subordinate to Gariboldi. He was replaced by
Francesco Zingales Francesco Zingales (1884-1959) was a general in the Royal Italian Army during World War II. Biography Francesco Zingales fought in World War I on the Isonzo Front. In 1939 he had become commander of the 10th Motorised Division Piave, but saw no ...
in November 1942.


Main operations

In late summer 1942, after participating in the conquest of eastern
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, the highly-mobile riflemen (''
Bersaglieri The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Army, which ...
'') of the ARMIR eliminated the Soviet bridgehead at Serafimovič on the Don river. Then, with the support of German tanks, the Garibaldi troops repelled a Soviet attack during the first defensive battle of the Don. Finally the ARMIR faced ''
Operation Little Saturn Operation Little Saturn was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in Don and Chir rivers region in German-occupied Soviet Union territory in 16–30 December 1942. The success of Operation Uranus, launch ...
'' in December 1942. The aim of this Soviet operation was the complete annihilation of the Italian 8th Army, as a result of the operations related to the
Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...
. On 11 December 1942 the Soviet 63rd Army, backed by
T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...
tanks and fighter-bombers, first attacked the weakest Italian sector. This sector was held on the right by the Ravenna and Cosseria infantry divisions. Indeed, from the Soviet bridgehead at Mamon, 15 divisions—supported by at least 100 tanks—attacked the Italian Cosseria and Ravenna Divisions, and although outnumbered 9 to 1, the Italians resisted until 19 December, when ARMIR headquarters finally ordered the battered divisions to withdraw. Only before Christmas both divisions were driven back and defeated, after heavy and bloody fighting. Meanwhile, on 17 December 1942, the Soviet 21st Army and the Soviet 5th Tank Army attacked and defeated what remained of the Romanians to the right of the Italians. At about the same time, the Soviet 3rd Tank Army and parts of the Soviet 40th Army hit the Hungarians to the left of the Italians. This resulted in a collapse of the Axis front, north of Stalingrad: the ARMIR was encircled, but for some days the Italian troops were able—with huge casualties—to stop the attacking Soviet troops. The Soviet 1st Guards Army then attacked the Italian center which was held by the 298th German, the Pasubio, the Torino, the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta, and the Sforzesca divisions. After eleven days of bloody fighting against overwhelming Soviet forces, these divisions were surrounded and defeated and Russian air support resulted in the death of General Paolo Tarnassi, commander of the Italian armoured force in Russia. On 14 January 1943, after a short pause, the 6th Soviet Army attacked the divisions of the Alpine Corps. These units had been placed on the left flank of the Italian army and, to date, were still relatively unaffected by the battle. However, the Alpini’s position had turned critical after the collapse of the Italian center, the collapse of the Italian right flank, and the simultaneous collapse of the Hungarian troops to the left of the Alpini. The
Julia Division Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e. ...
and Cuneense Division were destroyed. Members of the 1 Alpini Regiment, part of Cuneese Division, burned the regimental flags to keep them from being captured. Part of the Tridentina Division and other withdrawing troops managed to escape the encirclement. On 26 January 1943, the Alpini remnants breached the encirclement and reached new defensive positions set up to the west by the
German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
. Many of the troops who managed to escape were frostbitten, critically ill, and deeply demoralized: for practical purposes, the Italian Army in Russia did not exist anymore by February 1943. Officially, ARMIR losses were 114,520 of the original 235,000 soldiers Alfio Caruso. ''Tutti i vivi all'assalto'', Longanesi, 2003,


See also

* "
Italiani brava gente "Italians, the good people" ( it, Italiani brava gente) is a phrase coined by historians to refer to Italian popular beliefs about the allegedly limited, even non-existent, participation of Fascist Italy and the Royal Italian Army in the Holocau ...
" *
Charge of the Savoia Cavalleria at Isbuscenskij The Charge of the "Savoia Cavalleria" at Izbushensky was a clash between the Italian cavalry Regiment "Savoia Cavalleria" (3rd) and the Soviet 812th Rifle Regiment ( 304th Rifle Division) that took place on August 24, 1942, near the hamlet (khuto ...
*
Royal Italian Army during World War II This article is about the Royal Italian Army (''Regio Esercito'') which participated in the Second World War. The Royal Italian Army was reformed in 1861 and existed until 1946. The Royal Army started with the Italian unification, unification of ...
*
Italian participation on the Eastern Front The Italian participation on the Eastern Front represented the military intervention of the Kingdom of Italy in the Operation Barbarossa, launched by Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union in 1941. The commitment to actively take part in the German ...
*
Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union is the narrative of POWs from the Italian Army in Russia (the ARMIR and CSIR) and of their fate in Stalin's Soviet Union during and after World War II. Characteristics Over 60,000 Italian prisone ...
*
List of military equipment of Germany's allies on the Eastern front This is a list of military equipment of Germany's allies on the Balkan and Russian fronts (1941–1945). Other weapons were used for training or national defense purposes in capitals and main cities. This article presents a comprehensive list o ...
* Light Transport Brigade (Independent State of Croatia) Armies with the Italian 8th Army and
Army Group B Army Group B (German: ') was the title of three German Army Groups that saw action during World War II. Operational history Army Group B first took part in the Battle of France in 1940 in Belgium and the Netherlands. The second formation of ...
at
Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...
: * German 2nd Army * German 6th Army * German 4th Tank Army * Hungarian 2nd Army * Romanian 3rd Army *
Romanian 4th Army Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...


References


Sources

* * Jowett, Philip S. ''The Italian Army 1940–45 (1): Europe 1940–1943''. Osprey, Oxford – New York, 2000. *


Further reading

* Hamilton, H. ''Sacrifice on the Steppe.'' Casemate, 2011 (English) {{Authority control Italy–Soviet Union relations Field armies of Italy in World War II Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1943 Military units and formations of the Soviet–German War