The 207th 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 VII 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

Agrigento Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading cities during the golden ...

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

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 ...

and Punta Due Rocche to the East of

Licata Licata (, ; , whence or ''Plintis''), formerly also Alicata (), is a city and ''comune'' located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River (the ancient ''Himera''), about midway between Agrigento and Gela. It is a major se ...

. The division fought against units of the American Seventh Army after the allies landed on Sicily on 10 July 1943. By 16 July 1943 the division had been severely decimated and was therefore officially declared lost due to wartime events.

Organization

* 207th Coastal Division, in

** 138th Coastal Regiment *** CCCLXXX Coastal Battalion *** CCCLXXXVIII Coastal Battalion *** CDXV Coastal Battalion *** CDXVII Coastal Battalion *** CDXX Coastal Battalion ** 139th Coastal Regiment, in

*** LXII Replacements Battalion *** CDXIX Coastal Battalion *** CCCXC Coastal Battalion ** 12th Coastal Artillery Regiment *** XXXV Coastal Artillery Group (3x 105/28 and 1x 75/27 mod. 06 batteries) *** CXLV Coastal Artillery Group (2x 105/28 and 1x 75/34 mod. S.F. batteries) *** CLX Coastal Artillery Group (2x 149/35 and 1x 105/27 mod. 06 batteries) *** CCXXIII Coastal Artillery Group (2x 100/22 mod. 14/19 batteries) ** CIX Machine Gun Battalion *** 510th Machine Gun Company *** 516th Machine Gun Company ** 207th

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 ** 164th Field Post Office ** Division Services Attached to the division: * 177th

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 Ferrero La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Ar ...

Regiment ** DXXV Bersaglieri Battalion (raised by the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment) ** DXXVI Bersaglieri Battalion (raised by the 6th Bersaglieri Regiment) ** DXXVII Bersaglieri Battalion (raised by the

2nd Bersaglieri Regiment The 2nd Bersaglieri Regiment () is an inactive unit of the Italian Army last based in Legnano in Lombardy. The regiment is part of the army's infantry corps' Bersaglieri speciality and was last operationally assigned to the Armored Brigade "Centa ...

) * CIV Anti-tank Battalion ( 47/32

anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...

s) * CCXXIII Artillery Group (joined the 12th Coastal Artillery Regiment when it was assigned to the division) * LXXXVIII

Guardia alla Frontiera The Guardia alla Frontiera (GaF) (transl. "border guard"), was an Regio Esercito border guard created in 1937 who defended the 1,851 km of northern Italian frontiers with the "Vallo Alpino Occidentale" (487 km with France), "Vallo Alpino ...

Artillery Group (attached until the 12th Coastal Artillery Regiment joined 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 ...

120/3/S, in

Porto Empedocle Porto Empedocle () is a town and ''comune'' in Italy on the coast of the Strait of Sicily, administratively part of the province of Agrigento. It was named after Empedocles, a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of the city of Akragas (p ...

(4x 120/45 Mod. 1918 naval guns, 4x 20/77 Scotti anti-aircraft guns) * Armored Train 76/1/T, in

(6x 76/40 Mod. 1916 naval guns, 4x 20/77 Scotti anti-aircraft guns) * Armored Train 76/2/T, in

(4x 76/40 Mod. 1916 naval guns, 4x 20/77 Scotti anti-aircraft guns)

Commanding officers

The division's commanding officers were: *

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 ...

Antonio Calierno (15 November 1941 - 30 November 1942) * Generale di Brigata Ottorino Schreiber (1 December 1942 - 11 July 1943) * Generale di Brigata Augusto De Laurentiis (12 July - 16 July 1943,

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

)

References

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