58th Infantry Division Legnano

The 58th Infantry Division Legnano was an Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II.

History

The Legnano was first formed as an infantry division on 8 February 1934. Initially it consisted of the 7th Infantry Regiment Cuneo, the 8th Infantry Regiment Cuneo, the 67th Infantry Regiment Palermo, and the 27th Artillery Regiment. On 24 March 1939 the division was divided into the 6th Infantry Division Cuneo and the 58th Infantry Division Legnano. After this split, the Legnano fielded the 67th Infantry Regiment Palermo, the 68th Infantry Regiment Palermo, and the 58th Artillery Regiment.

In 1940 the division remained in Fenestrelle as a reserve force during the Italian invasion of southern France. After the Italian invasion of Greece in October 1940 became bogged down under stiff Greek resistance, the Legnano division was dispatched to Albania in January 1941 to augment the Italian forces coming under pressure from a Greek counteroffensive.

In November 1942 the division participated in the occupation of Vichy France and remained afterwards in France on occupation duty. In August 1943 the division returned to Italy - first to Bologna and then to Brindisi in the southern region of Apulia. After allied forces had landed on the Italian peninsula and an [Armistice of Cassibile|armistice between Italy and the Allies]] had been signed, the division stayed loyal to the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III, who fled with the royal court from Rome to Brindisi.

On 26 September 1943 the division formed the Italian 1st Motorized Group, which was to aid in the Allied war effort. The 1st Motorized Group consisted of the following units:

• 1st Motorized Group Command (formed with the men of the 58th Infantry Division Legnano Command Group)
  • 67th Infantry Regiment Palermo
    • I Battalion/67th Infantry Regiment
    • I Battalion/93rd Infantry Regiment (from the 18th Infantry Division Messina)
    • LI Bersaglieri Training Battalion
  • V Anti-tank Battalion (newly formed)
  • V Anti-tank Battalion (newly formed)
  • 11th Motorized Artillery Regiment (from the 104th Motorised Division Mantova)
  • Engineer Company

In the next months the division lost all its units, which were needed on the front lines. On 17 February 1944 the division was deactivated after its last units had joined other units. On 24 September 1944 the I Brigade of the Italian Liberation Corps (Corpo Italiano di Liberazione, or CIL), was renamed as Legnano Combat Group. The Combat Group consisted of the 68th Infantry Regiment Palermo, the 11th Motorized Artillery Regiment, the elite IX Assault Battalion and the Special Infantry Regiment, which consisted of the remnants of the 3rd Alpini Regiment and 4th Bersaglieri Regiment. The Combat Group was equipped with British weapons and materiel.

The Legnano entered the front as part of the Polish II Corps on the extreme left of the British 8th Army near the river Idice and was tasked with liberating Bologna.

Order of battle

• 67. Palermo Infantry Regiment
• 68. Palermo Infantry Regiment
• 58. Artillery Regiment
• 58. Mortar Battalion
• 58. Anti-Tank Company
• 58. Engineer Battalion
• 61. Medical Section
• 163. Motor Transport Group
• 18. Carabinieri Section
• 19. Carabinieri Section
• 240. Carabinieri Section
• 104. Bersaglieri Company ^{[nb 1][2]}

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

References

• Paoletti, Ciro (2008). A Military History of Italy. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-98505-9. 
• Jowett, Phillip. The Italian Army 1040–45 (3): Italy 1943–45. Osprey Publishing, Westminster. ISBN 978-1-85532-866-2. 
• Mollo, Andrew. The Armed Forces of World War II. Crown Publishing, New York. ISBN 0-517-54478-4.