The Libyan Division was a formation of colonial troops raised by the Italians in their colony in Libya. It participated in the invasion of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The formation was reorganized into the 1st Libyan Division by the beginning of Italy's entry into World War II. In September 1940, the 1st Libyan Division, together with its sister-division 2nd Libyan Division, participated in the Italian invasion of Egypt. By December, the division was dug in at Maktila and was forced to surrender during

Operation Compass Operation Compass (also ) was the first large British military operation of the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) during the Second World War. British metropolitan, Imperial and Commonwealth forces attacked the Italian and Libyan forces of ...

Origins

Following the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

of 1911-12, Italy occupied the coastal zones of the twin provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, constituting modern Libya. The Italians continued to face very strong opposition from the Senussi, especially in Cyrenaica. From the beginning the Italian Army made use of the former Turkish organised Arab gendarmerie as auxiliaries, augmenting them with regular colonial units recruited amongst the indigenous peoples of Libya. By 1913 these comprised seven battalions of infantry, three squadrons of savari cavalry, one squadron of meharistes (camel troops), a mountain artillery battery and a section of camel artillery."Le Uniformi Coloniali Libiche 1912-42" Piero Crociani 1980 By the 1930s the Libyan units had been brought together into the " Royal Corps of Libyan Troops" comprising infantry, cavalry, artillery, motorised troops and support services. A battalion of Libyan parachutists was raised shortly before World War II, the first force of this kind to be created in Africa. Libyans also served in zaptie (carabinieri), Sahariani (desert troops) and spahi (irregular cavalry) units

Order of Battle 3 October 1935

Libyan Division - Guglielmo Nasi * 1st Libyan Infantry Regiment ** II Libyan Battalion ** III Libyan Battalion * 2nd Libyan Infantry Regiment ** IV Libyan Battalion ** V Libyan Battalion * 3rd Libyan Infantry Regiment ** VIII Libyan Battalion ** IX Libyan Battalion * X Libyan Battalion * 1st Libyan Artillery Regiment

References

{{Italian colonial empire Divisions of Italy in World War II Libya in World War II Italy–Libya relations Divisions of Italy of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Italian Libya