24th Infantry Division Pinerolo

24th Infantry Division Pinerolo

24th Infantry Division Pinerolo Insignia
Active 1939–1943
1952–1961
Country  Kingdom of Italy
 Italy
Branch  Royal Italian Army
Type Infantry
Size Division
Garrison/HQ Chieti
Nickname(s) Pinerolo
Engagements World War II
Insignia
Identification
symbol
Identification
symbol		 Pinerolo Division collar insignia

The 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II.

History

After the end of World War I the Pinerolo Brigade moved to Abruzzo and was garrisoned in the city of Chieti. In 1926 the brigade gained the 255th Infantry Regiment Arezzo and changed its name to XXIV Infantry Brigade. Along with the 18th Artillery Regiment the brigade formed the 24th Territorial Division in Chieti. In 1934 the division and brigade gained the name Gran Sasso and were forthwith known as 24th Infantry Division Gran Sasso and XXIV Infantry Brigade Gran Sasso. In 1935 the division was sent to Eritrea and participated in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The division operated in the Tigray Region and fought in the Battle of Shire.

In 1939 the brigade lost the 255th Infantry regiment and was renamed 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo. This binary division consisted of only two infantry regiments (13th and 14th) and the 18th Field Artillery Regiment. In 1940 the Pinerolo took part in the Italian invasion of France. In January 1941 the division arrived in Albania stabilize the crumbling Italian front during the Greek counteroffensive in the Greco-Italian War.

On 18 January 1941 the division was in Berat and entered the approaching front near Këlcyrë. The division fought defensive battles for the next month ending with the defense of Tepelenë. The division participated in the Italian Spring Offensive, and participated in a small offensive towards Ohrid in Macedonia during the German-led Invasion of Yugoslavia.

In June 1941 the division transferred to Larissa in Thessaly to suppress the growing Greek Resistance. During its time in Thessaly the Pinerolo division committed the Domenikon Massacre against Greek civilians. the division continued on anti-partisan duty until the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces of 8 September 1943. In the confusion after the armistice the division was the only one in continental Greece to refuse German demands to surrender. While the Piemonte, Forlì, Modena, Casale and Cagliari divisions surrendered to the inferior German forces the Pinerolo defended Larissa against German attacks and then retired towards the Pindus mountain range where it joined the Greek People's Liberation Army in fighting the Germans.

After the war on 15 April 1952 the Italian Army raised the Pinerolo Infantry Division again, however on 1 September 1962 the division was reduced to brigade and it has been active as such since then. (see Pinerolo Mechanized Brigade)

The remnants of the division were repatriated to Italy in March 1945.

Order of battle

Second Italo-Abyssinian War

Greco-Italian War

September 1943

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Each Army Division in the Ethiopian Campaign had a Pack-Mules unit of 3000 mules and three Regimental Trucks units (20 light trucks each).
  2. ↑ 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.[2]
Citations
  1. ↑ Wendal, Marcus. "Italian Army". Axis History. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  2. ↑ Paoletti, p 170

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