156th Infantry Division Vicenza

156th Infantry Division Vicenza

156th Infantry Division Vicenza Insignia
Active 1942
Country Italy Regno d'Italia
Kingdom of Italy
Branch Regio Esercito
Royal Italian Army
Type Infantry
Size Division
Nickname(s) Vicenza
Engagements World War II

The 156th Infantry Division Vicenza was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. The Vicenza was formed in January 1942 as a garrison division. It was then sent to the Eastern front, as part of the Italian Army in Russia to act as a reserve, behind the front on "line of communications", rear area security and anti-partisan duties. Then in July 1942, it was sent into the front line, where it was overrun and destroyed in the Soviet offensive of December 1942-January 1943.[1][2]

Order of battle

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ↑ An Italian Infantry Division normally consisted of two Infantry Regiments (three Battalions each), an Artillery Regiment, a Mortar Battalion (two companies), an Anti Tank Company, a Blackshirt Legion of two Battalions was sometimes attached. Each Division had only about 7,000 men, The Infantry and Artillery Regiments contained 1,650 men, the Blackshirt Legion 1,200, each company 150 men.[3]
Citations
  1. 1 2 Marcus Wendal. "Italian Army". Axis History. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  2. ↑ " The Julia Division, which had come to Russia with 16,000 men and 4,000 mules, had fought very well and had never been overrun, and had gone home with 3,200 men and forty mules. The Tridentina had a surviving strength of 6,500 men, the Cuneense only 1,600, and the Vicenza which had been in the rear most of the time counted only 1,300 survivors." The Forgotten Axis: Germany's Partners and Foreign Volunteers in World War II, J. Lee Ready, p. 248, McFarland, 1987
  3. ↑ Paoletti, p 170
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