| 25 Semi-Motorised Division Bologna | |
|---|---|
Bologna Division insignia |
|
| Active | 1939–1943 |
| Country | Regno d'Italia Kingdom of Italy |
| Branch | Regio Esercito Royal Italian Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Motorised infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Part of | Italian XXI Infantry Corps |
| Garrison/HQ | Naples |
| Nickname | Bologna |
| Engagements | World War II |
The 25 Semi-Motorised Division Bologna (Italian: 25 Divisione Autotrasportabile "Bologna") was an Semi-Motorised Infantry[nb 1] division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was stationed in Tripolitania and was sent to Libya for the Italian invasion of Egypt. It fought in North Africa until it was destroyed in the Second Battle of El Alamein.
Garrisoned in Naples, it was made up almost entirely of Neapolitans.
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The sector manned by the Bologna Division on the Tobruk perimeter consisted of several strongpoints manned by infantry and artillery units, all surrounded by minefields. On 21 November 1941, the Bologna repulsed a British attempt to approach their positions as part of Operation Crusader. That morning, the division was attacked by British forces (2nd/King’s Own, 2nd/Black Watch, 2nd/Queen’s and 4th RTR with Matilda tanks) and the attackers overran part of the Bologna, but the attacks were largely defeated by the division[2] with the help of German 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion. In summing up the experience of the 2nd Battalion the Black Watch in the attack, the Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War wrote that "The superlative élan of the Black Watch in the attack had been equalled by the remarkable persistence of the defence in the face of formidable tank-and-infantry pressure."[3] On 23 November, the Bologna Division again withstood a determined attack from Tobruk aimed at penetrating into the area of Sidi Rezegh, and bought sufficient time to allow the Pavia Division to mount a counter-attack and defeat the British assault, as a German narrative recorded:[4]
"After a sudden artillery concentration the garrison of Fortress Tobruk, supported by sixty tanks, made an attack on the direction of Bel Hamid at noon, intending at long last unite with the main offence group. The Italian siege front around the fortress tried to offer a defence in the confusion but was forced to relinquish numerous strong points in the encirclement front about Bir Bu Assaten to superior enemy forces. The Italian "Pavia" Division was committed for a counterattack and managed to seal off the enemy breakthrough."
The Bologna's front now extended some 8 miles, and on November 25, the division was assaulted by 50 British tanks and forced to withdraw some distance, although not before the German Böttcher Group had inflicted severe losses on the British tanks. The British advance was halted by the timely arrival of reinforcements in the form of a Bersaglieri battalion of the Trieste Division.[5][6]
The Bologna's defenders were gradually pushed back to the "Leopard strongpoint", covering their retreat with mines and machine-gun nests, but by the end of the month the Tobruk breakout was judged a success among British commanders.
Despite the German 90th Light Division pulling out of the Tobruk sector on 4 December,[7] the Bologna Division held out until the night of 8-9 December when trucks were finally assigned to give them some support.
However, it was to take a further assault led by the Polish Carpathian Brigade (SBSK), supported by tanks and artillery, before the siege of Tobruk was finally lifted on the morning of December 10.
In July 1942, the Bologna Division was summoned from Gazala to reinforce the Alamein front, marching 400 miles, being reviewed by Mussolini on the way. On the night of 25-26 August, the Bologna came under heavy artillery attack and the New Zealand 28th Battalion, under the cover of darkness, breached part of the perimeter, but lost 25 killed, wounded and captured in the action. The attacking Maoris later reported that there were 100 Italian, dead, wounded and captured during the attack. During the Battle of Alam el Halfa, the Bologna and German 433rd Infantry Regiment attacked several Indian, South African and New Zealand units on Ruweisat Ridge, and managed to capture Point 211, but the attackers was later driven back by counterattack.[8]Cyril Falls, a noted military historian, later wrote an article about the Italo-German counterattack:
In the centre of the British front a good Italian division, the Bologna, delivered a strong attack on the Ruweisat Ridge, and a considerable counter-attack was required to expel it from the footing it gained.[9]
In the first attack on Ruweisat Ridge, during the Second Battle of Alamein, the Bologna Division supported by two battalions of the German Ramcke Parachute Brigade achieved some success, taking 40 prisoners.
Private Sid Martindale, 1st Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, wrote about 25th Bologna Infantry Division, which had taken the full weight of the British armoured attack:
The more we advanced the more we realized that the Italians did not have much fight on them after putting up a strong resistance to our overwhelming advance and they started surrendering to our lead troops in droves. There was not much action to see but we came across lots of burnt out Italian tanks that had been destroyed by our tanks. I had never seen a battlefield before and the site [sic] of so many dead was sickening.[10]
Bologna and the remainder of Trento Division tried to fight their way out of Alamein and marched in the desert without water, food, or transport before surrendering exhausted and dying from dehydration.[11] It was reported that Colonel Dall'Olio, commanding Bologna, surrendered saying, "We have ceased firing not because we haven't the desire but because we have spent every round." In a symbolic act of final defiance no one in Bologna Division raised their hands. Harry Zinder of Time magazine noted that the Italians fought better than had been expected, and commented that for the Italians:
It was a terrific letdown by their German allies. They had fought a good fight. In the south, the famed Folgore parachute division fought to the last round of ammunition. Two armoured divisions and a motorised division, which had been interspersed among the German formations, thought they would be allowed to retire gracefully with Rommel's 21st, 15th and 19th [sic][nb 3] light. But even that was denied them. When it became obvious to Rommel that there would be little chance to hold anything between El Daba and the frontier, his Panzers dissolved, disintegrated and turned tail, leaving the Italians to fight a rear-guard action.[12]