The 202nd Coastal Division () was an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

division of the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army () (RE) 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 Manfredo Fanti signed a decree c ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Royal Italian Army coastal divisions were second line divisions formed with reservists and equipped with second rate

materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

. Recruited locally, they were often commanded by officers called out of retirement.Jowett p 6

History

The division was activated on 15 November 1941 in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

by reorganizing the II Coastal Sector Command. The division was assigned to XII Army Corps, which was responsible for the defense of the western half of the island of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. In January 1942 the division moved its headquarter to

Castelvetrano Castelvetrano () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. The archeological site of Selinunte is located within the municipal territory. The municipality borders with Campobello di Mazara, Mazara del Vall ...

. The division was responsible for the coastal defense of the coast between

Marsala Marsala (, ; ) is an Italian comune located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth largest in Sicily.The town is famous for the docking of Giuseppe Garibal ...

and

Sciacca Sciacca (; ; , , , or ) is a town and (municipality) in the province of Agrigento on the southwestern coast of Sicily, southern Italy. It has views of the Mediterranean Sea. History Thermae was founded in the 5th century BC by the Greeks, as ...

. On 10 June 1943 the 202nd Coastal Division ceded some of its units to the newly formed 230th Coastal Division, which took over responsibility for the coast between Marsala and

Mazara del Vallo Mazara del Vallo (; is a city and in the province of Trapani, northwestern Sicily, Italy. It lies mainly on the left bank at the mouth of the Mazaro river. It is an agricultural and fishing centre and its port gives shelter to the largest fi ...

, leaving the 202nd with the responsibility for the coast between Mazara del Vallo and Sciacca. The 202nd Coastal Division fought against units of the American Seventh Army after the allies landed on Sicily on 10 July 1943. By 24 July 1943 the division had been severely decimated and was therefore officially declared lost due to wartime events.'

Organization

* 202nd Coastal Division ** 124th Coastal Regiment *** CCCLXXVI Coastal Battalion *** CCCLXXXVI Coastal Battalion *** DXLIII Coastal Battalion ** 142nd Coastal Regiment *** CCCLXXVII Coastal Battalion *** CDXVIII Coastal Battalion *** CDXXVII Coastal Battalion *** CDLXVI Coastal Battalion *** CDXC Coastal Battalion ** 62nd Coastal Artillery Regiment *** LVI Cannons Group ( 105/32 heavy field guns) *** LXXXVIII Coastal Artillery Group ( 149/35 heavy guns) *** CXVIII Coastal Artillery Group ( 105/28 cannons) *** CLXXII Coastal Artillery Group ( 105/28 cannons) ** 63rd Coastal Artillery Regiment *** LV Cannons Group ( 105/32 heavy field guns) *** CXLI Coastal Artillery Group ( 75/27 mod. 06 field guns) *** CXLIII Coastal Artillery Group ( 149/35 heavy guns)) *** CLVII Coastal Artillery Group ( 149/19 mod. 37 howitzers) ** CIX Machine Gun Battalion *** 509th Machine Gun Company *** 637th Machine Gun Company *** 638th Machine Gun Company *** 645th Machine Gun Company ** 120th Mixed Engineer Platoon ** 124th Mixed Engineer Platoon ** 202nd

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 poli ...

Section ** 161st Field Post Office ** Division Services Attached to the division: *

Armored Train An armoured train (Commonwealth English) or armored train (American English) is a railway train protected with vehicle armour, heavy metal plating and which often includes railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns, and autocannons. So ...

76/3/T, in

(4x 76/40 mod. 16 naval guns, 4x 20/77 Scotti anti-aircraft guns)

Commanding officers

The division's commanding officers were: * Generale di Brigata Mario Badino Rossi (15 November 1941 - 4 September 1942) *

Generale di Divisione Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps g ...

Luigi Sibille Luigi Sibille (Cesana Torinese, 1 September 1884 – 21 October 1964) was an Italian general during World War II. At the outbreak of the war he commanded the 1st Libyan Division, also known as the "Sibille Division". Biography In 1904 he en ...

(5 September 1942 - 31 March 1943) * Generale di Brigata Gino Ficalbi (1 April 1943 - 24 July 1943)

References

* * {{Italian Divisions World War II Infantry divisions of Italy in World War II Coastal divisions of Italy