Italian war in Soviet Union, 1941-1943

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Italy began its involvement in Operation Barbarossa, the German war in the Soviet Union, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered an Italian military contingent be prepared for the Eastern Front. Mussolini did this despite Adolph Hitler's lack of enthusiasm.

From 1941 to 1943 the Italians maintained two armies to fight in the war in the Soviet Union. The first Italian army was called the Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia (CSIR or Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia). The second, larger Italian army was called the Italian 8th Army. This larger Italian army was also called the Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia (ARMIR or Italian Army in Russia) and it subsumed the CSIR.

Contents 1 The Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia 2 August 1941- July 1942, CSIR Operations 3 The Italian 8th Army or Armata Italiana in Russia 4 July 1942-November 1942, ARMIR Operations 5 November 1942-February 1943, Operation Little Saturn 6 Aftermath 7 See Also 8 References 9 External Links

[edit] The Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia

Constituted on 10 July 1941, the Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia (CSIR or Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia) arrived in Russia between July and August of 1941. The CSIR was initially subordinated to German General Eugen Ritter von Schobert’s 11th Army. On 14 August 1941, the CSIR was transferred to the control of German General Ewald von Kleist’s Panzer Group 1. On 25 October 1941, Panzer Group 1 was redesignated as the 1st Panzer Army. The CSIR remained under von Kleist’s command until 3 June 1942 when it was subordinated to German General Richard Ruoff’s 17th Army.

The CSIR's original commander, Italian General Francesco Zingales, fell ill in Vienna during the early stages of transport to Russia. On 14 July 1941, Zingales was replaced by Italian General Giovanni Messe.

The CSIR was comprised of three divisions: the Torino 52nd Truck-Moveable Infantry Division, the Pasubio 9th Truck-Moveable Infantry Division, and the Principe Amedeo Duca d' Aosta (Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta) 3rd Celere (Fast) Division. Torino and Pasubio were known as "truck-moveable" divisions. What this meant in practice was that an assortment of commercial vehicles with company logos intact were pressed into service. The Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Fast Division was a combination of traditional saber wielding horse cavalry and motorized units. Much of the division's artillery was horse-drawn. The Bersaglieri (elite riflemen) in this unit often made use of motorcycles or bicycles.

The CSIR fielded about 62,000 men in total. The units of the CSIR were primarily lightly armed infantry, horse cavalry, and Bersaglieri. The Torino and Pasubio divisions were composed of two infantry regiments and a regiment of artillery. The The Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Fast Division was composed of four regiments. Those regiments were: the 3rd Dragoons Savoia Cavalry Regiment, the 5th Lancers Novara Cavalry Regiment, the 3rd Fast Artillery Regiment, and the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment. As can be seen, the units of the CSIR represented a mixed lot and they were transported by truck, by horse, by car, by motorcycle, by bicycle, or, as was the case all too often, by foot.

While the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Division did include a small number of obsolete light tanks (Fiat L3 or Fiat L6/40), self-propelled anti-tank guns (Semovente 47/32), and anti-tank guns (Cannone da 47/32 M35), there was nothing in the Italian arsenal which was sent to Russia with the CSIR that was able to effectively counter the numerous and technically superior Soviet T-34/76 tanks.

The CSIR was placed under the command of the 11th German Army.^[1]

[edit] August 1941- July 1942, CSIR Operations

Contact was first made with the enemy in August 1941. It was made against withdrawing Russian troops between the Bug and Dniestr rivers. Subsequently, the CSIR was attached to German General Ewald von Kleist’s Armoured Corps and was employed in the assault on the city of Stalino (now Donetsk) and occupying the neighbouring towns of Gorlowka and Rikovo (20 October - 2 November 1941). On Christmas day 1941, the Soviets launched a strong attack against the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Division (“the first battle of Christmas”). It was repelled with heavy losses. CSIR casualties (killed, wounded and missing), from July 1941 to July 1942, amounted to 15,500 men.^[2]

[edit] The Italian 8th Army or Armata Italiana in Russia

Army Group B (Generaloberst Maximilian Freiherr von und zu Weichs an der Glon)

In July 1942, Mussolini scaled up the Italian effort on the Eastern Front and the CSIR became the 8th Italian Army. The 8th Italian Army was also known as the Armata Italiana in Russia (ARMIR or Italian Army in Russia). The ARMIR was subordinated to German General Maximilian von Weichs' Army Group B.

Mussolini sent a seven new divisions to Russia for a total of ten divisions. Four new infantry divisions were sent: the Sforzesca 2nd Infantry Division, the Ravenna 3rd Infantry Division, the Cosseria 5th Infantry Division, and the Vicenza 156th Infantry Division. In addition to the infantry divisions, three new mountain (or Alpini) divisions were sent: the Tridentina 2nd Alpini Division, the Julia 3rd Alpini Division, and the Cuneense 4th Alpini Division. These new divisions were added to the Torino, Pasubio, and Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta divisions already in Russia.

The 8th Italian Army was organized into three corps. The Torino, Pasubio, and Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta divisions became the XXXVth Army Corps. The Sforzesca , Ravenna, Cosseria, and Vicenza divisions became the IInd Army Corps. The Tridentina, the Julia, and Cuneense divisions became the Mountain Corps. The Vicenza Division was primarily utilized behind the front on "lines of communications" duties.

The 8th Italian Army was also known as the Armata Italiana in Russia (ARMIR or Italian Army in Russia). In addition to the Italian divisions, the ARMIR included the 298th and 62nd German divisions (the latter being sent to Stalingrad), a Croatian volunteer Legion, and three Legions of Camicie Nere (Italian Blackshirt fascist volunteers). By November 1942 the ARMIR had a total of 235,000 men in twelve divisions and four legions. It was equipped with 988 guns, 420 mortars, 25,000 horses, 64 aeroplanes, and 17,000 vehicles. There were still very few tanks. Moreover, the ARMIR was seriously short of adequate winter equipment.

Italian General Italo Gariboldi took command of the newly formed ARMIR from General Messe. 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 dismissed. Just prior to commanding the ARMIR, Gariboldi was the Governor-General of Libya. He was criticized after the war for being too submissive to the Germans.

[edit] July 1942-November 1942, ARMIR Operations

The ARMIR advanced toward the right bank of the Don River which was reached by July 1942. In August, the Bersaglieri troops of the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Fast Division removed the Soviet bridgehead at Serafimovic. In the same month, they repelled a concerted Soviet attack with the support of German tanks (the “first defensive battle of the Don”).^[3]

[edit] November 1942-February 1943, Operation Little Saturn

By late autumn 1942, the ARMIR was placed on the left flank of the German 6th Army between Hungarian and Romanian forces. The German 6th Army was then investing Soviet General Vasily Chuikov's 62nd Army in Stalingrad. The Italian line stretched along the River Don for more than 250 km from the positions of the Hungarian 2nd Army in Kalmiskowa to the positions of the Romanian 3rd Army in Veshenskaja. Veshenskaja is a village 270 km northwest of Stalingrad. The Italians threw up a thin screen along the river. No trench lines had been dug nor effective defensive positions set up. Heavy snow and severe frost were hampering troop movements.

The situation for the German troops in Stalingrad remained stable until the Soviets launched "Operation Uranus” on 19 November 1942. The aim of this operation was the complete encirclement and isolation of the German 6th Army. To accomplish this, the Soviets struck at the weak Romanian armies to the north and south of Stalingrad. The Soviets planned Operation Uranus as a double envelopment. The twin attacks smashed through portions of the Romanian Third Army and the Romanian Fourth Army and successfully met at Kalach four days after the operation began.

The situation for the Italian troops along the Don River remained stable until the Soviets launched "Operation Saturn” on 11 December 1942. The aim of this operation was the annihilation of the Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, and German positions along the Don River. The first stage of Operation Saturn was known as Operation Little Saturn. The aim of this operation was the complete annihilation of the Italian 8th Army.

The Soviet 63rd Army, backed by T-34 tanks, first attacked the weakest Italian sector. This sector was held on the right by the Ravenna and Cosseria infantry divisions. Both divisions were driven back and defeated.

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.

The Soviet 1st Guards Army then attacked the Italian center 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.

On 14 January 1943, after a short pause, the 6th Soviet Army attacked the Alpini divisions of the Italian Mountain Corps. These divisions had been placed on the left flank of the Italian army and 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 their left. Most of the Julia and Cuneense divisions were destroyed. The Tridentina Division and other withdrawing troops managed to escape the encirclement. After heavy fighting cultimating in the Battle of Nikolajewka (26 January 1943) the Alpini remnants breached the encirclement and reached new defensive positions set up to the west by the Wehrmacht. But by this time the only unit with some fighting force still operating was the Tridentina division, who led the final assault at Nikolajewka, and the escapees were frostbitten, critically ill and deeply demoralized. When they were evacuated to Italy, the Fascist regime tried to hide them from the populace, such was their appearance after surviving the Russian Front hell.

Overall, about 130,000 Italians had been surrounded by the Soviet offensive. According to Italian sources, about 20,800 soldiers died in the fighting, 64,000 were captured, and 45,000 were able to withdraw.^[4]

[edit] Aftermath

Since the beginning of the Italian campaign in Russia, about 30,000 Italians had been killed and another 54,000 would die in captivity. By the end of February 1943, the rout of the ARMIR was complete. Mussolini then withdrew what remained of his 8th Army from Russian soil. The Italian forces in Russia had been reduced to less than 150,000 men. 34,000 of these were wounded. The disaster in Russia was a fierce blow to the power and popularity of the dictator. Both sank as the gloomy news soon reached the public in Italy. Survivors blamed the fascist political elite and the Army Generals. The survivors said they both had acted irresponsible by sending a poorly prepared, ill-equipped, and inadequately armed military force to the Russian front. The German commanders were accused of sacrificing the Italian divisions, whose withdrawal was supposedly delayed after the Soviet breakthrough, in order to rescue their own troops.^[5]

Throughout 1943, Italy's fortunes worsened. On 25 July 1943, Benito Mussolini and his fascist government were put out of power. On 8 September 1943, a new Italian government led by Pietro Badoglio and King Victor Emmanuel III had Italy crossing over to the Allies.

[edit] See Also

• Military history of Italy during World War II
• Battle of Stalingrad

[edit] References

1. ^ Messe, 1947. Faldella, 1959. Mack Smith, 1979
2. ^ Messe,1947. Italian Ministry of Defence, 1977a
3. ^ Italian Ministry of Defence, 1977a. Valori, 1951
4. ^ Italian Ministry of Defence, 1977b and 1978
5. ^ Faldella, 1959. Mack Smith 1979

• Faldella, Emilio. L'Italia nella seconda guerra mondiale. Cappelli Bologna 1959 (Italian)
• Mack Smith, Denis. Le guerre del duce. Laterza, Bari 1979 (Italian)
• Messe, Giovanni. La guerra al fronte Russo. Il Corpo di Spedizione Italian (CSIR). Milano 1947 (Italian)
• Italian Ministry of Defence. Stato Maggiore Esercito. Ufficio Storico. Le operazioni del CSIR e dell’ARMIR dal Giugno 1941 all’ottobre del 1942. Roma, 1977 (Italian)
• Italian Ministry of Defence. Stato Maggiore Esercito. Ufficio Storico. L’8° Armata Italiana nella seconda battaglia difensiva del Don. Roma, 1977 (Italian)
• Italian Ministry of Defence. Stato Maggiore Esercito. Ufficio Storico. L’Italia nella relazione ufficiale sovietica sulla seconda guerra mondiale. Roma, 1978 (Italian)
• Valori, A. La campagna di Russia, CSIR, ARMIR 1941-43. Roma, 1951 (Italian)

[edit] External Links

• Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia (CSIR) (Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia), by Shawn Bohannon.
• Armata Italiana in Russia (ARMIR) ((Italian Army in Russia), by Shawn Bohannon.