Bands (Italian Army irregulars)
Bands (Italian: Bande) was an Italian military term for irregular forces, composed of natives, with Italian officers and NCOs in command. These units were employed by the Italian Army as auxiliaries to the regular national and colonial military forces. They were also known to the British colonial forces as "armed Bands".
Characteristics
A Banda (singular) was approximatively company sized with 100 - 200 men. An individual member of a "band" was called a "Gregario".
Locally recruited bands were employed in the conquest of
While most Bande were recruited in the Italian colonies in Africa, many units bearing this designation were also created as
After the fall of
The Gruppo Bande Amahara has suffered 826 deaths and more than 600 injured from the beginning of WW2; it had no deserters and received the gold medal of hero Togni with enemy's congratulations, written on official reports of the British High Command (Il Gruppo Bande Amahara ha avuto 826 morti e più di 600 feriti dall’inizio della guerra, nessun disertore e la medaglia d’oro alla memoria dell’eroico Togni e gli ammirati elogi del nemico, nelle relazioni ufficiali dello Stato Maggiore Britannico.) Amedeo Guillet
See also
- Amedeo Guillet
- Dubats
- Eritrean Ascari
- Hamid Idriss Awate
- Zaptié
- Savari
- Italian Spahis
- Royal Corps of Colonial Troops (Italian)
- Ruga-Ruga, irregular troops in Eastern Africa, often deployed by western colonial forces.
Notes
- ^ AA.VV., "Impero Addio!", Fratelli Melita Editori, 1988
- ^ Irregular Bands in the Battle of Belet-Uen in Somalia (in Italian)