Italian participation on the Eastern Front

The Italian participation in the Eastern Front of World War II began after the launch of Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) on 22 June 1941. Barbarossa was the German war against the Soviet Union. To show solidarity with the Germans, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered a contingent of the Italian Royal Army to be prepared for the Eastern Front and, by early July, an Italian force was in transport. Mussolini did this despite the lack of enthusiasm shown by German dictator Adolf Hitler.

From 1941 to 1943, the Italians maintained two armies to fight in the war against the Soviet Union. The first Italian army was called the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, or CSIR). The second, larger Italian army, which subsumed the CSIR, was called the Italian 8th Army. This larger Italian army was also called the Italian Army in Russia (Armata Italiana in Russia, or ARMIR).

The Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia

Constituted on 10 July 1941, the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, or CSIR) arrived in southern Russia between July and August of 1941. The CSIR was initially subordinated to German General Eugen Ritter von Schobert’s 11th Army. On 14 August 1941, the CSIR was transferred to the control of German General Ewald von Kleist’s Tank Group 1. On 25 October 1941, Tank Group 1 was redesignated as the 1st Panzer Army. The CSIR remained under von Kleist’s command until 3 June 1942 when it was subordinated to German General Richard Ruoff’s 17th Army.

The CSIR's original commander, Italian General Francesco Zingales, fell ill in Vienna during the early stages of transport to Russia. On 14 July 1941, Zingales was replaced by Italian General Giovanni Messe.

The CSIR was comprised of three divisions: the Torino 52nd Truck-Moveable Infantry Division, the Pasubio 9th Truck-Moveable Infantry Division, and the Principe Amedeo Duca d' Aosta (Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta) 3rd Celere (Fast) Division.

August 1941- July 1942, CSIR Operations

In August 1941, as part of the German 11th Army, the CSIR made its first contact with the enemy. Contact was made with the withdrawing Russian troops between the Bug River and Dniestr River. Radio Berlin reported on 22 August 1941 "that the Italian units in the Southern Ukraine had captured 5,000 Russians." (Nazis Say Crisis Looms in Russia; Report Signs of Defense Flaws -- Steady Progress Claimed in Three Sectors, The New York Times, August 23, 1941)

Subsequently, before the 11th Army joined the Romanian Army in the siege of Odessa, the CSIR was attached to German General Ewald von Kleist’s Tank Group 1. Between 20 October and 2 November 1941, Kleist employed the CSIR in the assault on the city of Stalino (now Donetsk) and in occupying the neighbouring towns of Gorlowka and Rikovo.

"Two infantry battalions of the Pasubio Division broke through the Soviet line in the Donets Basin yesterday after two days of hard fighting in a blizzard and intense cold and forced the Russians to fall back toward Voroshilovgrad, 100 miles north of Rostov, on the Donets River," Radio Rome Said on 15 November 1941. "The Russians rushed reinforcements from the north and east until they had amassed four divisions to halt the Italian advance," the Italian communique said, "but the Italians continued to push ahead." Radio Rome said on 15 November 1941. (The New York Times, November 16, 1941)

General Hugo de Torelli, commander of the Pasubio Division was killed in Southern Russia as he lead his division in an attempt to break through the Russian lines.

On Christmas day in 1941, the Soviets launched a strong attack against the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Division (“the first battle of Christmas”). Berlin radio reported that the Soviet attack "along the Donets River had been repulsed with heavy losses" and that "Italian and Slovak troops had participated in the defence." (Nazis Report Fierce Fights; italian and Slovak troops Said to Help Stem Russians, The New York Times, December 27, 1941) From July 1941 to July 1942, CSIR casualties (killed, wounded, and missing) amounted to 15,500 men.

While the CSIR was detached from the German 11th Army during the siege of Odessa, elements of the Italian army did assist with the occupation of the area around Odessa after the city fell to the Romanians and Germans on 16 October 1941.

The 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 (Armata Italiana in Russia, or ARMIR). The ARMIR was subordinated to German General Maximilian von Weichs' Army Group B.

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. He was criticized after the war for being too submissive to the Germans.

Mussolini sent seven new divisions to Russia for a total of ten divisions. Four new infantry divisions were sent and included: The Sforzesca 2nd Infantry Division, the Ravenna 3rd Infantry Division, the Cosseria 5th Infantry Division, and the Vicenza 156th Infantry Division. In addition to the infantry divisions, three new mountain (or Alpini) divisions were sent and included: The 2nd Alpini Division Tridentina, the 3rd Alpini Division Julia, and the 4th Alpini Division Cuneense. These new divisions were added to the Torino, Pasubio, and Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta divisions already in Russia.

July 1942-November 1942, ARMIR Operations

The ARMIR advanced toward the right bank of the Don River which was reached by July 1942. In August, the highly-mobile elite riflemen (Bersaglieri) troops of the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Fast Division eliminate the Soviet bridgehead at Serafimovich. In the same month, with the support of German tanks, the Bersaglieri repelled a Soviet attack during the first defensive battle of the Don.. "On the Don front", the German High Command announced that, "Italian troops repelled several Red Army attacks, partly in hand-to-hand fighting".

November 1942-February 1943, Operation Little Saturn

Main articles: Battle of Stalingrad, Operation Wintergewitter, and Battle of Nikolajewka

By late autumn 1942, the ARMIR was placed on the left flank of the German 6th Army between Hungarian and Romanian forces. The German 6th Army was then investing Soviet General Vasily Chuikov's 62nd Army in Stalingrad. The Italian line stretched along the River Don for more than 250 km from the positions of the Hungarian 2nd Army in Kalmiskowa to the positions of the Romanian 3rd Army in Veshenskaja. Veshenskaja is a village 270 km northwest of Stalingrad. The Italians threw up a thin screen along the river. No trench lines had been dug nor effective defensive positions set up. Heavy snow and severe frost were hampering troop movements.

The situation for the German troops in Stalingrad remained stable until the Soviets launched "Operation Uranus” on 19 November 1942. The aim of this operation was the complete encirclement and isolation of the German 6th Army. To accomplish this, the Soviets struck at the weak Romanian armies to the north and south of Stalingrad. The Soviets planned Operation Uranus as a double envelopment. The twin attacks smashed through portions of the Romanian 3rd Army and the Romanian 4th Army and successfully met at Kalach four days after the operation began.

The situation for the Italian troops along the Don River remained stable until the Soviets launched "Operation Saturn” on 11 December 1942. The aim of this operation was the annihilation of the Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, and German positions along the Don River. The first stage of Operation Saturn was known as Operation Little Saturn. The aim of this operation was the complete annihilation of 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. Both divisions were driven back and defeated.

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 Soviet 1st Guards Army then attacked the Italian center which was held by the 298th German, the Pasubio, the Torino, the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta, and the Sforzesca divisions. After eleven days of bloody fighting against overwhelming Soviet forces, these divisions were surrounded and defeated and Russian air support resulted in the death of General Paolo Tarnassi, commander of the Italian armoured force in Russia.

On 14 January 1943, after a short pause, the 6th Soviet Army attacked the Alpini divisions of the Italian Mountain Corps. These units had been placed on the left flank of the Italian army and, to date, were still relatively unaffected by the battle. However, the Alpini’s position had turned critical after the collapse of the Italian center, the collapse of the Italian right flank, and the simultaneous collapse of the Hungarian troops to the left of the Alpini. The Julia Division and Cuneense Division were destroyed. Members of the 1 Alpini Regiment, part of Cuneese Division, burned the regimental flags to keep them from being captured. Part of the Tridentina Division and other withdrawing troops managed to escape the encirclement.

On 26 January 1943, after heavy figting which resulted in the Battle of Nikolajewka, the Alpini remnants breached the encirclement and reached new defensive positions set up to the west by the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer). But, by this time, the only operational fighting unit was the Tridentina Division and even it was not fully operational. The Tridentina Division had led the final breakout assault at Nikolajewka. Many of the troops who managed to escape were frostbitten, critically ill, and deeply demoralized.

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. When the surviving Italian troops were eventually evacuated to Italy, the Fascist regime tried to hide them from the populace, so appalling was their appearance after surviving the "Russian Front."

Aftermath

Since the beginning of the Italian campaign in Russia, about 30,000 Italians had been killed and another 54,000 would die in captivity. By the end of February 1943, the rout of the ARMIR was complete. Mussolini then withdrew what remained of his 8th Army from Russian soil. The Italian forces in Russia had been reduced to less than 150,000 men, and 34,000 of these were wounded. The disaster in Russia was a fierce blow to the power and popularity of the dictator. Both sank as the gloomy news soon reached the public in Italy. Survivors blamed the Fascist political elite and the Army Generals. The survivors said they both had acted irresponsibly by sending a poorly prepared, ill-equipped, and inadequately armed military force to the Russian Front. The German commanders were accused of sacrificing the Italian divisions, whose withdrawal was supposedly delayed after the Soviet breakthrough, in order to rescue their own troops.

Throughout 1943, Italy's fortunes worsened. On 25 July 1943, Benito Mussolini and his Fascist government were put out of power by King Victor Emmanuel III. On 8 September, the new Italian government led by the King and Marshal Pietro Badoglio signed an armistice with the Allies.

See also

• Military history of Italy during World War II
• Battle of Stalingrad
• List of Italian fighter aces of World War II
• Italian war prisoners in Soviet Union 1942-1954

References

• Faldella, Emilio. L'Italia nella seconda guerra mondiale. Cappelli Bologna 1959 (Italian)
• 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)
• 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)
• Valori, A. La campagna di Russia, CSIR, ARMIR 1941-43. Roma, 1951 (Italian)

External links

• Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia (CSIR) (Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia), by Shawn Bohannon.
• Armata Italiana in Russia (ARMIR) ((Italian Army in Russia), by Shawn Bohannon.