Italian participation on the Eastern Front
Italian participation on the Eastern Front | |
---|---|
Part of the rivers | |
Result | Italian defeat |
- Giovanni Messe (CSIR)
- Italo Gariboldi
- 65,000 personnel ca. (CSIR)
- 230,000 personnel ca. (ARMIR)
- 455,000 personnel
- 1,170 tanks
- 590 military aircraft
- 1,792 dead and missing
- 7,858 injured
- 75,000 dead and missing
- 32,000 injured
The Italian participation on the Eastern Front represented the military intervention of the Kingdom of Italy in the Operation Barbarossa, launched by Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union in 1941. The commitment to actively take part in the German offensive was decided by Benito Mussolini a few months before the beginning of the operation, when he became aware of Adolf Hitler's intention to invade, but it was confirmed only in the morning of 22 June 1941, as soon as the Italian dictator was informed that same day the German armies had invaded the Soviet Union.
An expeditionary force quickly became operational, with three divisions, previously put on alert: called the "Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia" (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, CSIR), it arrived on the eastern front in mid-July 1941. Initially integrated into the 11th German Army and then in the 1st Panzer Army, the CSIR participated in the campaign until April 1942, when the needs of the front required the sending of two other Italian corps which together with the CSIR were reunited into the 8th Italian Army or "Italian Army in Russia" (Armata Italiana in Russia, ARMIR). Deployed to the south, in the Don river sector, the 8th Italian Army together with the 2nd Hungarian Army and the 3rd Romanian Army were assigned to cover the left flank of the German forces that were advancing towards Stalingrad at the time.
Rapid reversals at the front changed the course of the battle; after the
Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia
Constituted on 10 July 1941, the
CSIR's original commander, General Francesco Zingales, fell ill in Vienna during the early stages of transport to the Soviet Union. On 14 July 1941, Zingales was replaced by General Giovanni Messe.
The CSIR had three divisions: the
August 1941 – July 1942, CSIR Operations
The CSIR was sent to the
In its early encounters it was successful, taking a number of towns and cities and creating a favourable impression on its German allies.[5] Its most notable early victory came at the Battle of Petrikowka in September 1941, where the Italians encircled some sizable Red Army units, inflicting unknown combat casualties on them and capturing over 10,000 prisoners of war as well as significant numbers of weapons and horses.[6] Petrikowka was part of a larger independently-executed maneuver that opened the way for German armour and contributed to the encirclement of five Soviet divisions. The pincer movement was executed jointly between the Pasubio, Torino, and Celere divisions, which united at Petrikowka to block the Soviet exit route.[7] This cost them only 291 casualties of their own: 87 killed, 190 wounded, and 14 missing.[8] On 20 October, the CSIR together with the German XXXXIX Mountain Corps captured the major industrial center of Stalino (now Donetsk) after heavy resistance from the Soviet defenders. While the CSIR did not participate in the siege of Odessa, Italian troops assisted in the occupation of the Odessa area after the city fell on 16 October 1941. Units from the Pasubio motorised division attacked the neighboring city of Gorlovka on 2 November.[9]
The Capture of Gorlovka (a city of 120,000 inhabitants) was preceded by the "Pasubio" division carefully clearing out the minefields around the city's outskirts in the previous week. The "Duca d'Aosta" cavalry division meanwhile captured the industrial town of Rukovo after heavy fighting. On 2 November, the "Pasubio" division threatened Gorlovka from the west, while the "Duca d'Aosta" division threatened the southeast. The city's defenders included the Soviet 296th Rifle Division. The "Pasubio" division's 80th Regiment engaged in close house-to-house fighting with the defenders, while the 79th Regiment (supported by "Duca d'Aosta" artillery units) swept through the downtown district with little resistance. Soviet combat casualties were unknown, but about 600 soldiers were taken prisoner. The Soviet 296th Rifle Division withdrew, and fighting continued for the next few days as the Italians cleared enemy remnants from the city and the surrounding area.[10]
With the onset of winter, the CSIR units began consolidating their occupation zone and preparing defensive works. In the last week of December, the "Duca d'Aosta" division was hit with a fierce counterattack by Soviet forces. They managed to beat back the attacks long enough for the German 1st Panzer Army to provide back-up to their sector and subsequently defeat the Soviet offensive. The "Christmas Battle" grew in size and eventually consisted of several Soviet divisions, including the 35th and 68th Cavalry and the 136th Rifle Divisions. The Soviet offensive failed. In total, the Christmas Battle cost the Italians 168 dead, 715 wounded, and 207 missing; the Italians had defeated superior Soviet forces, which suffered over 2,000 dead, and had captured 1,200 prisoners, 24 76 mm guns and 9 AT guns as well as hundreds of machine guns and vehicles. Subsequently, forces from the First Panzer Army counterattacked and rolled backed the few Soviet gains.[11]
The CSIR subsequently weathered the 1941–1942 winter well in its relatively quiet occupation zone.[12] Up to this point, the CSIR had taken 8,700 casualties.[13]
Italian 8th Army or Italian Army in Russia
In July 1942, Mussolini scaled up the Italian effort on the Eastern Front and the CSIR became the 8th Italian Army. The 8th Italian Army was also known as the Italian Army in Russia (ARMIR). The ARMIR was subordinated to German General Maximilian von Weichs' Army Group B. His justifications were the Italian duty to fight Soviet Bolshevism and the requests by his German allies for additional forces, Operation Barbarossa having been longer and costlier than they expected. General Messe and many other traditional officers opposed further commitments to the Eastern Front, seeing it as of little importance and cautioning further subordination to Germany, but Mussolini overruled them.[14]
Italian General Italo Gariboldi took command of the newly formed ARMIR from General Messe. As commander of the CSIR, Messe had opposed an enlargement of the Italian contingent in Russia until it could be properly equipped. As a result, he was dismissed. Just prior to commanding the ARMIR, Gariboldi was the Governor-General of Italian Libya.
Mussolini sent seven new divisions to Russia for a total of ten divisions. Four new infantry divisions were sent and included: the
ARMIR Operations
The ARMIR advanced toward the right bank of the
The 3rd Division arrived on 30 July, by which time the 587th Regiment had been reduced to only a few hundred men. Initial Soviet strength in and around the area (including the towns of Bobrovskiy and Baskovskiy) was 3,000 men and 40 tanks, but was increased soon after the Italians arrived. On 30 July and 1 August, the Soviets attempted to stop the Italians as they were crossing the river to relieve the remnants of the 587th, but failed and lost several dozen tanks (primarily T-34s) in the process. The Soviets and Bersaglieri fought for the next two days, primarily in and around the town of Bobrovskiy, until 3 August, when the Soviets were forced back to their bridgehead at Serafimovich. The Italians then assaulted Serafimovich, which they took. Sporadic fighting continued around this area until 14 August. The 3rd Division's losses from 30 July to 14 August were 1,700 killed and 200 wounded; Soviet combat casualties are unknown, but the Italians reportedly took 5,800 Soviet troops prisoner and captured 10 artillery pieces.[19]
On 12 August, three Soviet divisions totaling about 30,000 troops and many tanks crossed the Don River to launch a counterattack on the Italian sector. They successfully took the
On 13 August, the Italian Army in Russia reached its assigned sector on the Don on the left flank of the Sixth Army’s XVII Corps. The II Corps had mounted a foot march of 1100 kilometers (on average 32 kilometres per day) during which supply problems and partisans had caused minor delays, but the Italians' advance had been mostly calm.[22]
Also on 24 August,
By late autumn 1942, the ARMIR was placed on the left flank of the
The situation for the German troops in Stalingrad remained stable until the Soviets launched
In October 1942, it was declared that all officers and men that had served in Russia since 13 December 1941 or earlier could ask for repatriation. The Germans estimated that around 60 per cent of the XXXV Corps’ infantry was substituted in October and December.[23]
Stalingrad and Little Saturn
The situation for the Italian troops along the Don River remained stable until the Soviets launched Operation Little Saturn on 16 December 1942. The aim of this operation was the annihilation of Axis troops along the Don and Chir River, mainly the Italian 8th Army.
The Soviet 63rd Army, backed by T-34 tanks and fighter-bombers, first attacked the weakest Italian sector. This sector was held on the right by the Ravenna and Cosseria infantry divisions. From the Soviet bridgehead at Mamon, 15 divisions—supported by at least 100 tanks—attacked these two divisions. Although outnumbered nine-to-one, the Italians resisted until 19 December, when ARMIR headquarters finally ordered the battered divisions to withdraw.[24] By Christmas both divisions were driven back and defeated after bloody fighting.
Meanwhile, on 17 December 1942, the Soviet 21st Army and the Soviet 5th Tank Army attacked and defeated what remained of the Romanians to the right of the Italians. At about the same time, the Soviet 3rd Tank Army and parts of the Soviet 40th Army hit the Hungarians to the left of the Italians.
The
On 14 January 1943, after a short pause, the
On 21 January, Italians caused a
On 26 January, after heavy fighting which resulted in the
Overall, about 130,000 Italians had been surrounded by the Soviet offensive. According to Italian sources, about 20,800 soldiers died in the fighting, 64,000 were captured, and 45,000 were able to withdraw.[27]
Aftermath
Since the beginning of the Italian campaign in Russia, about 30,000 Italians had been killed and another 54,000 would
Throughout 1943, Italy's fortunes worsened. On 25 July 1943,
Soon, competing Italian
Even after the evacuation of the Italian troops from Russia and even after the armistice in 1943, some ENR units remained on the Eastern Front fighting for the Axis. There were five specialized 'smoke cover' battalions defending the Baltic ports of Swinemünde, Gotenhafen, Pillau and Stettin, plus one at the Grossborn proving ground.[29] In addition, the 834th Field Hospital continued to operate in Russia, as well as the battalion "IX Settembre"; a small unit that fought alongside the Brandenburgers in East Prussia for a brief period.[30]
See also
References
Footnotes
- ISBN 978-88-04-59587-8.
- ISBN 978-88-7389-049-2.
- ISBN 978-88-420-7981-1.
- ^ Messe, 1947. Faldella, 1959. Mack Smith, 1979
- ^ Jowett, 2001, p. 10.
- ^ Rolf-Dieter Muller. "The Unknown Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht and Hitler's Foreign Soldiers". 27 March 2014. p. 73.
- ^ Scianna, p. 104.
- ^ "Le operazioni delle unità italiane al fronte russo (1941–1943)", Italian Army Historical Branch, Rome, 1993, p. 102.
- ^ Muller, 2014, p. 74.
- ^ Cloutier, Patrick. "Regio Esercito: the Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's wars, 1935-1943". 15 May 2013. pp. 140–141.
- ^ Bastian Matteo Scianna, "The Italian War on the Eastern Front", September 2019, p. 111.
- ^ Muller, 2014, p. 74.
- ISBN 978-1-4728-0471-6.
- ^ Scianna, p. 126.
- ^ Joseph, Frank. "MUSSOLINI'S WAR: Fascist Italy's Military Struggles from Africa and Western Europe to the Mediterranean and Soviet Union 1935–45." p. 148.
- ^ "US Military Review, Volume 28". Command and General Staff School, 1949, p. 86.
- ^ Romain Rainero, Antonello Biagini. "L'Italia in Guerra: Il 3o Anno, 1942". Commissione italiana di storia militare. 1993. p. 286.
- ^ Giulio Bedeschi. "Fronte russo: c'ero anch'io." Mursia, 1983. p. 287.
- ^ Cloutier, Patrick. "Regio esercito: the italian royal army in mussolini's wars, 1935–1943". 15 May 2013. pp. 140–141.
- ^ Paoletti 2008, p. 176
- ^ Aldo Valori. "La campagna di Russia". Roma, Grafica Nazionale Editrice, 1951. p. 473.
- ^ Scianna, p. 132.
- ^ Scianna, p. 145.
- ISBN 978-0-275-98505-9. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ Italian General Reported Killed, New York Times, 15 January 1943
- ISBN 978-0-8117-3510-0.
- ^ Italian Ministry of Defence, 1977b and 1978
- ^ Faldella, 1959. Mack Smith 1979
- ^ I reparti nebbiogeni della R.S.I. sul mar Baltico, [in:] Italiani in guerra 27.06.2018 [accessed Dec 12, 2020], Kazimierz Małkowski, Żołnierze włoscy w okresie międzywojennym i w czasie II wojny światowej w Gdyni, [in:] Zeszyty Gdyńskie 4 (2009), pp. 225-236
- ^ Jowett, 2001, p. 9.
Bibliography
- Faldella, Emilio. L'Italia nella seconda guerra mondiale. Cappelli Bologna 1959 (Italian)
- Jowett, Philip S. (2000), The Italian Army 1940–45 (1): Europe 1940–1943, Men-at-Arms No. 340, Oxford: Osprey, ISBN 978-1-85532-864-8
- Jowett, Philip. The Italian Army 1940–45 (3): Italy 1943–45. Men-at-Arms No. 353 Osprey, New York, 2001, ISBN 978-1-85532-866-2
- Mack Smith, Denis. Le guerre del duce. Laterza, Bari 1979 (Italian)
- Messe, Giovanni. La guerra al fronte Russo. Il Corpo di Spedizione Italian (CSIR). Milano 1947 (Italian)
- Michalopoulos, Dimitris & Tramonti, Luigi, "Cristianesimo Positivo e Campagna di Russia", Periodico Daily, 27 novembre 2018 (Italian)
- ISBN 978-88-8258-104-6
- Italian Ministry of Defence. Stato Maggiore Esercito. Ufficio Storico. Le operazioni del CSIR e dell’ARMIR dal Giugno 1941 all’ottobre del 1942. Roma, 1977 (Italian)
- Italian Ministry of Defence. Stato Maggiore Esercito. Ufficio Storico. L’8° Armata Italiana nella seconda battaglia difensiva del Don. Roma, 1977 (Italian)
- Italian Ministry of Defence. Stato Maggiore Esercito. Ufficio Storico. L’Italia nella relazione ufficiale sovietica sulla seconda guerra mondiale. Roma, 1978 (Italian)
Further reading
- Revelli, N. La strada del davai. Turin, 1966 (Italian)
- Valori, A. La campagna di Russia, CSIR, ARMIR 1941–43. Roma, 1951 (Italian)
- Hamilton, H. Sacrifice on the Steppe. Casemate, 2011 (English)