The divisions of the army of the R.S.I. 1943-1945 – Vol. 2


Book Description

The goal that we have set ourselves with this series of two volumes, written by four hands, is to give an overall picture of the Divisions formed by the Army of the R.S.I. on the departments employed in the fight against the partisans by the Republican National Army, starting from the last months of 1943, offering a purely military point of view, free from judgments of any kind. The intention to “continue the war” had always been present since the beginning of autumn 1943 in the military authorities of the Social Republic. In the course of talks, three Mussolini and Hitler agreed to form a new fascist army, which, in the intentions of the Fuhrer, was to be composed of an army of 10/15 Divisions. In reality only 4 were planned and formed by the Republican National Army: 1st Bersaglieri Division “Italia”, 2nd Grenadiers Division “Littorio”, 3rd Marine Infantry Division “San Marco”, 4th Alpine Division “Monterosa”. This second volume is dedicated to the “San Marco” Division, which operated in Liguria and Garfagnana, against the Allies, until the end of the conflict, and to the “Monterosa” Alpine Division.




The divisions of the army of the R.S.I. 1934-1945


Book Description

The goal we have set ourselves with this series of four volumes, written in four hands, is to give an overall picture of the Divisions formed by the Army of the R.S.I. to the departments used in the fight against the partisans by the Republican National Army, starting from the last months of 1943, offering a purely military point of view, free from judgments of any kind. The purpose of "continuing the war" had always been present since the beginning of autumn 1943 in the military authorities of the Social Republic. During talks between three Mussolini and Hitler it was agreed to form a new fascist army, which, in the intentions of the Fuhrer, was to be made up of an army of 10/15 divisions. In reality, only 4 were planned and formed by the Republican National Army: 1st Bersaglieri Division "Italy", 2nd Grenadiers Division "Littorio", 3rd Marine Division "San Marco", 4th Alpine Division "Monterosa". This first volume is dedicated to the Division “Italy”, which operated on the southern front in Garfagnana, against the Allies, until the end of the conflict.




The Divisions of the Army of the R.S.I. 1943-1945 - Vol. 1


Book Description

This first volume is dedicated to the Division "Italy", which operated on the southern front in Garfagnana, against the Allies, until the end of the conflict.




The Italian Army 1940–45 (3)


Book Description

Immediately after the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, Mussolini was deposed and the new Italian government switched sides. The German occupying forces swiftly freed Il Duce and ruthlessly disarmed the Italian Army; and from then until the end of the war in April 1945 Italian troops fought on both sides - with the forces of the new Fascist 'Salo Republic', in the Allied 'Co-Belligerent Forces', and in the Partisan movement. This period of bitter struggle saw the appearance of many new units and a wide range of interesting uniforms, described and illustrated in this final part of Philip Jowett's comprehensive three-volume series.




Italy and the Second World War


Book Description

Italy in the Second World War: Alternative Perspectives stems from the necessity to write an important page of Second World War history, by focusing on the Italian war experience, which has been overshadowed in international research by the attention given to its senior Axis partner. Drawing extensively on material from Italian and international archives, a team of Italian and international historians, led by Emanuele Sica and Richard Carrier, offers a broad-ranging volume on the war seen through the lens of Italian soldiers and civilians, and populations occupied by the Italian army. Contributors are: Luca Baldissara, Cindy Brown, Federico Ciavattone, Nicolò Da Lio, Paolo Fonzi, Francesco Fusi, Eric Gobetti, Federico Goddi, Andrea Martini, Niall MacGalloway, Amedeo Osti Guerrazzi, Paolo Pezzino, Matteo Pretelli, Nicholas Virtue.




Bersaglieri's Units of the Italian Social Republic


Book Description

The general disarray caused by the Armistice on 8th September 1943 had immediate repercussions on the Bersaglieri units, both present in the Peninsula and abroad. The Bersaglieri, however, were among the first to reorganize and take up arms again, both in the South, where at the end of September 1943 the LI Battalion of Bersaglieri was included in the First Motorized Grouping, both in the North, where in a short time the Bersaglieri Battalion "Mussolini", the Bersaglieri Regiment "Luciano Manara" and the 3rd Volunteer Regiment were formed.




World War II Partisan Warfare in Italy


Book Description

When Italy surrendered in 1943, it sparked a resistance movement of anti-German, anti-fascist partisans. This book explores the tactics, organizational structure and equipment of the brave Italian resistance fighters. Beginning with low-level sabotage and assassinations, the groups continued to grow until spring 1944 when a remarkable, unified partisan command structure was created. Working in close co-ordination with the Allies, they received British SOE and American OSS liaison teams as well as supplies of weapons. The German response was ferocious, and in autumn 1944, as the Allied advance stalled, the SS and Italian RSI looked to eradicate the partisans once and for all. But when the Allies made their final breakthrough in the last weeks of the war the partisans rose again to exact their revenge on the retreating Wehrmacht. From an expert on Italian military history in World War II, this work provides a comprehensive guide to the men and women who fought a desperate struggle against occupation, as well as the German and Italian fascist security forces unleashed against them.




Italian Blackshirt 1935–45


Book Description

This book documents the experiences of the Italian armed Fascist militia, the Camicie Nere (Blackshirts), from the Italian–Ethiopian war of 1935–36, through the Spanish Civil War to the end of World War II. It explores their origins, development, recruitment, training, conditions of service, uniforms and equipment, battle experience, political and ideological motivation. The Blackshirt legions were raised under army control from 1928, and were employed in 1933 in Libya in counterinsurgency operations against the Senussi tribes; from 1935 in Italy's war against Ethiopia; and during the Spanish Civil War. Following the outbreak of World War II, the Blackshirts fought in North Africa, Greece, Croatia, on the Eastern Front and finally in Italy itself following the Allied invasion.




The armored units of the Royal Army and the Armistice – Vol. 2


Book Description

The Armistice of 8 September 1943 caught the Italian armored units, both Tank units and Cavalry, scattered not only on the national territory, but also abroad. Similar to what had happened to all the Armed Forces, not even they were immune to the storm that had been unleashed and even from these units the reactions to Badoglio’s tragic announcement were the most disparate. Through an accurate analysis, in the pages of this book we will analyze how the armored units behaved in those tragic moments, in a synthesis that until now has never been proposed. The units that opposed the attacks brought by the Germans, although in need of armaments, fought for reasons of desperation, in a war that was now lost, and for a touch of military pride. For this reason it is necessary to retrace the events of those days, in order to pay homage to the fallen and to all those who did their duty to the end. The second volume recounts the events that took place in Rome, after the cessation of hostilities, the heroic episodes of Resistance which occurred in Piombino, Parma, Piacenza and Sardinia, without forgetting what happened to the armored units outside the national borders. The text concludes with the discussion of the (failed) attempts to reconstitute armored units with the co-belligerant Royal Army and the contribution made by the Tankers to the liberation struggle.