| MEDITERRANEAN
January 7 - Italian torpedo boat Clio sinks Free French submarine Narval off
the coast of Tobruk, Libya.
Free French submarine Narval was also reported sunk 35°03 North and 11°53 East off Tunisia, between 13 and 16 December, 1940. The wreck lies not far from the italian torpedo boat La Farina.~ Additional commentary courtesy Jean-Louis Maurette(jean-louis.maurett(@)libertysurf.fr)
SUDAN
January - The Duke of Aosta orders the abandonment of Gallabat and Kassala and moves his
50,000 man army to more rugged ground in Agordat and Barentu east of Kassala.
MEDITERRANEAN
January 10 - Italian torpedo boat Vega is sunk off Pantelleria by British destroyer
HMS Hereward
|
Italian wartime poster. "Shut up! He who does not shut up is a traitor." |
ERITREA
January 12 - The Duke of Aosta sends Elite Savoia Grenadiers to defend Keren.
ETHIOPIA/SUDAN BORDER
January 20 - Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Ethiopia under the protection of the British.
LIBYA
January 22 - Tobruk, Libya is taken from the Italians by British and Australian forces.
Italian coastal defense ship San Giorgio is scuttled off Tobruk by the Italian crew.
San Giorgio was cited for its bravery at maintaining its position and bombing advancing
Commonwealth forces, halting them for 11 hours.
January 24 - Considered the first real "armored clash" is spawned at Mechili. The Italian
Special Armored Brigade destroys 15 British tanks and pursue the the British for an additional
20 kilometers before losing communication with the home base and turning back. They then destroy
another 6 tanks from a British counterattack. O'Connor orders a two week halt to bring in fresh
supplies after his 70 cruisers are reduced to 50, and 120 light tanks reduced to 95. He considers
this force to small to attack the 57 M13/40's and 25 L3/35's of the Italian Brigade.
Playfair vol.1 p.353: States the British 4th Armoured Brigade at Mechili lost one cruiser tank and six light tanks. After the action the British counted 8 Italian medium tanks destroyed and one captured. The action had no effect on O'Connor's operations – indeed, the British perception was that they had an opportunity to destroy the Italian armour, and wished to increase their pursuit. However, O'Connor's advance was stopped four days later by heavy rain and running out of petrol.
The Regimental History of 3rd Hussars states that the light tanks were knocked out by the Italians only after they had broken down first. These figures are confirmed in the War Diaries of 3rd Hussars and 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.~ Additional commentary courtesy Paul (goldwood(@)paradise.net.nz)
ERITREA
January 27 - 2 Indian Divisions under Major General Platt attack Agordat and 2 Indian Infantry
Brigades attack Barentu.
January 31 - After 3 days of heavy fighting, the Italian Army withdraws to the Keren Plateau.
At this point, the Duke of Aosta, in command at Addis Ababa, has only 67 aircraft available for
combat in all East Africa. Fuel and supplies are at an all time low, and infantry could only be moved
on foot. But in North Africa, the Italians bring in more and better tanks and no longer use them in a
haphazard way as the Maletti Group and Brigata Corazzata Speciale (Special Brigade Unit). They are
now grouped in organic armored and motorized divisions and the M13/40's prove very effective when used
"en masse". Italy now has in North Africa their first company of motorized cars with RECAM
(Reparto Esplorante di Corpo d'Armata di Manovra - Reconnaissance Unit of the Army Mobile Corps).
ERITREA
February 3 - The British attack Keren with a force of 30,000 against 23,000 Italians made
up of 3 Brigades of Colonial Levies and 3 Brigades of Savoia Grenadiers. After attacks and
counterattacks, the Italians were able to push the Indian Infantry Brigade back. Then the Scottish
attacked and were also repelled by the Italians. Finally, on March 27, the British were able to
push the Italian forces back from Keren after 7 weeks of fighting. In this battle, 3,000 Italians
die and 500 British die with 3,000 wounded.
LIBYA
February 5 - British strike in Libya south of Gebel el Akhdar, encircling what is left
of the Italian 10th Army.
ITALY
February 9 - British naval forces bombard Genoa and Livorno.
LIBYA
February 12 - By mid February, the British have taken a total of 115,000 Italian POW's,
845 guns and the destruction of 380 light and medium Italian tanks. The British
had also managed to destroy 200 of the 564 Italian aircraft. The British,
on the other hand, have lost 80% of their vehicles and all their "I' tanks
as well as most of their light and cruiser tanks. British loses amounted
to 2,000 troops, 1 in 25 troops that engaged the Italians were killed.
Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli, Libya with a Panzer
and Motorized Infantry Division. He assumes command of the Deutsches Africa
Korps. and receives assistance from the Fliegerkorps X and long range aircraft
from Sicily to fight the exhausted British. The German 5th Light Division
includes 9,300 Germans, 130 tanks, 111 guns and 2,000 vehicles (80 German
aircaft are also included).
The Italian "Ariete" and "Trento" Divisions arrive
as well. The "Ariete" is composed of 6,949 men, 163 tanks , 36 field guns,
61 anti-tank guns and the Brescia Infantry Division. Rommel has 100,000 Italians,
7,000 Italian trucks supplying munitions to the front, 1,000 Italian guns
and 151 Italian aircaft.
ETHIOPIA
February 19 - South African troops capture Jumbo after heavy fighting with Italian forces.
In 3 hours, Italian Artillery fire over 3,000 shells.
February 25 - A motorized Nigerian Brigade
reaches the outskirts of Mogadishu, Italian Somaliland. Italian cruiser
Armando Diaz is sunk off Tripoli by British sub HMS Upright.
LIBYA
End of February - The British are stretched to the limit
logistically and Wavell is advised not to attack Tripoli. The Commonwealth
supply lines are tethered and the troops are exhausted. Commonwealth equipment
is depleted and forced to use Italian armor. The front is now 650 miles long
March 6 - General Nasi smashes through a Ethiopian
battalion near Burye with only 12,000 remaining troops.
| MALTA
March 8 - 152,000 pounds of bombs fall on Malta via Axis planes
BRITISH SOMALILAND
March 16 - Royal Navy begins pounding installations in Berbera , the city was already abandoned
by Italian soldiers. Berbera is regained by the British later that day.
ALBANIA
March 17 - Italian torpedo boat Andromeda is sunk off Albania by British bombers. |
A Malta town after Axis bombing. |
BATTLE OF CAPE MATAPAN
March 27 - The pressure to disrupt British supply lines in Eastern Mediterranean resulted
in Admiral Iachino to set sail towards east of Crete with the flag ship Vittorio Veneto,
4 escort destroyers, the heavy cruisers Trieste, Trento, and Bolzano.
East of Sicily, they were joined by 3 heavy cruisers, Zara, Pola, and Fiume
along with 2 light cruisers from Brindisi. They were promised full aerial support
by both the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe. Neither Air Force provided
these ships with air cover and they were soon spotted by a Sunderland
reconnaissance plane flying from Malta. The British dispatched the
Warspite, battleships Barham and Valiant, the carrier
Formidable and escorting destroyers to the same heading as the Italian
force.
The battleships never were in range of each other, but Formidable's aircraft began bombing
Iachino's fleet once in range. The Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto was hit by torpedoes,
but was still operational. The cruiser Pola was hit and immobilized by a Swordfish
bomber and left behind as the Italian squadron turned about.. Admiral Iachino then sent 2 heavy
cruisers with escorting destroyers back to pick up survivors. The next day, the heavy cruisers and
escorting destroyers, along with the Pola, were sunk as the British lay waiting. As the
British tried saving the survivors on the 29th, the Luftwaffe appears and they are forced to abandon
the rescue operation. An Italian hospital ship was then dispatched to the scene to pick up other
survivors. This was devastating loss to the Italian fleet, which never engaged the enemy ships, but
forced to fight against British naval aircraft.and radar. Italy had neither, and the Battle of
Cape Matapan proved the effectiveness of these British assets.
GREECE
March 28 - Italian ships attack British convoys in Greece. See also Battle of Cape Matapan.
Italian torpedo boat Antonio Chinotto sinks after hitting a mine near Sicily.
March 29 - See Battle of Cape Matapan.
March 31 - British cruiser HMS Bonaventure is sunk off Crete by Italian submarine smg.
Ambra.
ERITREA
April 1 - Italian civil authorities in Asmara surrender to the British. In total,
the British forces were able to take 40,000 prisoners of war and destroy 6 Italian divisions
in 3 months. Italian destroyer Leone runs aground off Eritrea and is scuttled
by its crew to prevent it from being captured by the British.
April - Operation Hercules is developed
by Italian and German commanders. Malta was a strategic point for British
convoys which supplied Commonwealth forces in Africa. The invasion of Malta
would take form in the landing of three Italian parachute battalions and
one German parachute division and bombarded by both Italian and German aircraft.
After the capture of Malta, Rommel would drive the Axis forces into Egypt.
LIBYA
March - April - Italian logistics, under Colonels Santamaria and Montemurro, comprised
the major work of pursuing the British forces. Rommel moves to the front
with his Headquarters on April 3. Italian military leaders in Africa counsel
Rommel of the need to beef up the 5th Light, "Ariete", "Trento", "Trieste"
and 15th Light Panzer Divisions to full strength before conducting any offensive
movements. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Armed Forces High Command) also
believed that Rommel may try to advance too far.
As feared, Rommel underestimated the need of supplies in this Desert War. Italian logistics had a severe time trying to maintain
supplies and Rommel left some units strung out 1,000 kilometers.
April 3 - Italian destroyers Daniel Manin and Nazario Sauro are sunk off Eritrea
by British bombers. The destroyers Pantera, Tigre and Cesare Battisti are
scuttled near Massaua.
April 4 - Italian torpedo boat Giovanni Acerbi is sunk near Massaua by British bombers.
YUGOSLAVIA
April 6 - 28 Italian Divisions and 320 Italian aircraft, in conjunction with German
motorized divisions, invade Yugoslavia and Greece. Italians capture some Yugoslav warships.
MASSAUA
April 8 - The last Italian warship in East African waters, the torpedo boat Vincenzo
Giordano Orsini, is scuttled by its crew prior to the British entering the harbor.
TUNISIA COAST
April 15 - A convoy of 3 Italian destroyers and 5 merchant ships were engaged by the British
14th Flotilla which included the Mohawk, Nubian, Jervis
and Janus. In this battle, all 5 merchant ships were sunk as well
as 2 of the Italian destroyers, the Luca Tarigo and Baleno.
In an act of bravery, the Italian destroyer Luca Tarigo, attempted
to take on the entire British 14th Flotilla alone. A British shell eventually
hit the Tarigo's bridge, blowing the leg off the captain, Commander
Pietro de Cristofero. With his leg crudely bandaged, he continued to exchange
fire with the British warships until he died of loss of blood. The crew continued
to fight on without him and managed to place the Tarigo between the
British ships and the convoy. An ensign of the Tarigo managed to launch 3
torpedoes, sinking the HMS Mohawk before getting her steering gear
destroyed and having the deckhouses go up in flames. The Luca Tarigo
finally settled to the bottom of the sea after being hit numerous times.
YUGOSLAVIA
April 17 - Yugoslavia surrenders to Axis forces.
MEDITERRANEAN
April 21 - British naval forces bomb Tripoli.
LIBYA
April 22 - Rommel finds it increasingly difficult to capture the British. He places the blame
on Italian units, especially the 'Ariete" Division. However, it was the German
5th Light Division who became overwhelmed by British Matildas on April 22
and refused to attack. It was theTrento division, according to German accounts,
who "erased" the British success against Rommels positions in late April.
Rommel, glorified by British propaganda as a military
genius because of recent British military defeats, begins to deprive Italians
of captured goods, fail to include Italians in information exchange for a
joint strategy, and destroys the chain of command of Axis African forces
by continually seeking Hitler's intrusion to avoid Italian superiors.
German and Italian commands disobey Rommels order
to advance to Marsa Matruh, citing it best to protect the flanks by taking
Siwa and Jarabub to the south. German air force warns Rommel that they would
be unable to support a further advance.
April 24 - Italian torpedo boat Simone
Schiaffino sinks after hitting a mine off Tunisia.
| GREECE
April 30 - The
Italian 2nd Battalion paratroopers are embarked from Lecce on SM-82's and
tasked in seizing Cefalonia. Zante and Itaca was given to the Italian
paratroopers to reinforce the garrison of all the Ionian archipelago. Italian
paratroopers seize the islands without firing a shot and the operation is
a full success. Greece surrenders to Germany and Italy. |
Italian soldiers patrol near the Acropolis in Athens |
LIBYA
April 30 to May 4 - Axis forces attack Tobruk . It is reported
that 740 Italians and 658 Germans die. Rommel allows his German units to
rest and orders the Italian Brescia, Ariete and Trento Divisions to contain
the British counter-attacks. Axis supply lines are now stretched 700
miles.
Rommel further alienates Italian and German units
by giving recaptured Italian guns to the Germans at Bardia. He then quickly
criticizes Italian supply efforts.
MEDITERRANEAN
May 1 - British submarine HMS Usk is sunk off the coast of Sicily by Italian
destroyers
May 3 - Italian torpedo boat Canopo
is sunk off Tripoli by British bombers.
May 4 - Italian torpedo boat Giuseppe La
Farina sinks after hitting a mine.
ETHIOPIA
May 5 - Five years to the day, Emperor Haile Selassie triumphantly returns to Addis Ababa
in an Italian Alfa Romeo limousine.
MEDITERRANEAN
May 13 - Italian torpedo boat Pleiadi sinks British submarine HMS Undaunted
off the coast of Tripoli, Libya.
HALFAYA PASS
May 15 - British forces receive forewarning of a possible threat by Italian forces when action
in Colonel O'Connor's Squadron C of 4 RTR lose 7 out of 10 Matilda tanks
by Italian 47/32 guns. Axis casualties include 592 Italians and 685 Germans.
Liddell Hart, author of "The Tanks" writes:
"The defences consisted of the typical low stone walls
and sangars favoured by the Italians and, in fact, on the stony ground little
else was possible....The garrison was almost entirely Italian and after a
short but firm resistance-chiefly Italian gunners, who were always stout
opponents - the tanks got right on to the objectives and signaled the Scots
Guards on, and the Pass was in our hands. Many of the Italian officers were
still in pajamas and many of the troops were still cooking breakfast. The
guns of the enemy, however, had taken a good toll on our tanks. The Matildas,
with their slow speed over obstacles like low walls, form an easy mark as
they rear up offering their underneath to the waiting gunners."
| GIBRALTAR
May 15 - The 1st Flottiglia Mas is forced to scrub an attack on Gibraltar. Junio Borghese,
from the Italian submarine Scire, cancels the mission due to adverse
weather conditions and malfunctioning human torpedoes.
YUGOSLAVIA
May 18 - Italy creates the Kingdom of Croatia in partitioned Yugoslavia. |
Capitano Junio Borghese "The Black Prince" |
AEGEAN SEA
May 20 - Italian torpedo boat Curtatone sinks after hitting a mine.
CRETE
May 21 - Italian destroyer Carlo Mirabello sinks after hitting a mine off Greece.
May 27 -28 - The British are ordered to evacuate
Crete. In the 3 day battle of the seas, the Italo-German forces were able
to sink 2 cruisers, 4 destroyers and one battleship. Two cruisers and 4
destroyers were damaged severely. During this battle, the Decima Flottiglia
Mas maneuvered six Explosive Motor Boat (EMB) through the mines and antipersonnel
nets of Suda Bay and sunk the British cruiser HMS York, two tankers
and a steamer
SOVIET UNION
June 22 - Mussolini
is informed by letter that Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet
Union, is in progress. Mussolini is outraged. He could not understand how
a decision that drastic could be made without his approval. Nevertheless,
he insists on helping the Germans and pledges Italian troops to the operation.
June 26 - Mussolini reviews 60,000 of the best
Italian troops being shipped to Ukraine in support of Operation Barbarossa.
Italian infantry gaining ground in
Russia
For the next couple of months, the Italians proved
victorious in the Russian campaign under Giovanni Messe .
They were able to drive hundreds of miles into Russia and capture the Dneiper
and Bugs River along with the German command.
NORTH AFRICA
July - The 1st
Carabinieri Parachute battalion is sent to the North African front and placed
under the disposal of the "Motocorazzato" Army Corps.
| MALTA
July 25 - The Decima Flottiglia Mas is ordered to
strike Malta. Italian naval auxiliary ship Diana, carrying 8 small
EMB's, and 2 Torpedo Boats each towing a Maiale leave the port of Augusta,
Sicily for the surprise attack. The plan was to attack the convoy ported
in Grand Harbour, while one Maiale attacks any submarine ported in Fort Manoel
and the other was to blast through the defenses of Grand Harbour, which would
create a breech for the EMB's to sink the convoys. This was all to occur
with a simultaneous attack by the Regia Aeronautica to cause disorder. This
plan was destined to fail from the start. The first thing to go wrong was
that the Auxiliary ship Diana was spotted on radar 20 miles of the
coast of Malta. The second problem was that the air attack by the Regia
Aeronautica was concluded to early, much before the Maiale's were in position
to strike. This early strike only caused the defenders of Malta to be more
alert. Nevertheless, the plan continued. |
Decima Flotiglia MAS |
The Diana put her EMB's
overboard, and they, along with the motorboats, navigated towards the Grand
Harbour. Major Teseo Tesei and Chief Diver Pedretti manned the human torpedo
Maiale's.
The first explosion occurred at the foot of St. Elmo.
This caused the waters to be illuminated by search lights as the Royal Malta
Artillery opened fire. The viaduct to the Grand Harbour was then destroyed
by another explosion by either Tesei's warhead or by a EMB that managed to
enter the Harbour after the first explosion. This inadvertently closed the
entrance to the Harbour, but at this point, the Italian attack no longer
had the element of surprise. The remaining EMB's raced to the Harbour to
do as much damage as possible, but all were managed to be sunk by artillery
from shore. Major Teseo Tesei and Chief Diver Pedretti were never seen again.
July 30 - Italian torpedo boat Achille
Papa sinks British submarine HMS Cachalot off Malta.
ITALY
August 7 - Bruno
Mussolini, Benito's son, dies while in a training flight on a P108 Bomber
in Pisa, Italy. Mussolini never fully recovers from the loss of his son.
SOVIET UNION
August 26 - During
Mussolini's visit to Ukraine to review his troops, General Messe informs
Mussolini that his soldiers lack proper arms and few vehicles with even less
fuel. He also notes that the Germans were reluctant to share supplies, yet
were quick to criticize Italian failures due to supply problems. His troops
began suffering from the Russian cold weather and needed warmer uniforms.
Mussolini shrugs him off and tells him to make do with what he has.
Italian paratrooper with a 14mm Radom mod., Polish a/t rifle.
LIBYA
September 14-16 - A poorly executed raid by Rommel, forces his 21st Panzer Division to run
out of fuel. The RAF commence bombing the exposed German units. Rommel again
places his German units out of fire and orders the Italians to guard the
flanks.
Logistics becomes a nightmare for the Italians with
two Germans Divisions consisting of 7,000 vehicles and 8,500 vehicles for
Seven Italian Divisions.
GIBRALTAR
September 20 -
The Decima Flottiglia Mas is able to complete its second attempt at attacking
ships ported in Gibraltar. Human Torpedoes successfully sink 2 tankers Fiona
Shell and Denby Dale and the British H.M.S. Durban. The
pilots and divers successfully escape by swimming to Spanish shores.
SOVIET UNION
October - Italian
troops advance rapidly in the Soviet Union, sometimes up to 250 miles a week.
At one point, the Italian military was strung out in a 500 mile line.
MEDITERRANEAN
October 14 - Italian torpedo boat Pleiadi is sunk off Tripoli by British bombers.
October 20 Aldebaran and Altair sink after hitting a minefield in the
Aegean.
LIBYA
November - Under Erwin Rommel, the Afrika Corp now consisted of the 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions
and 2 Italian Corps numbering 6 Divisions. They also had 400 tanks, although
150 were obsolete Italian vehicles.
November 9 - Italian destroyers Fulmine
and Libeccio are sunk by British Force K off Tripoli.
November 18 - Rommel dismisses Italian warnings
of a possible British attack and destroys Italian reconnaissance photo's
revealing a massive increase in British vehicles and men. Rommel states the
Italian warnings as "excessive Latin nervousness". Luckily for Rommel, Ettore
Bastico convinces Rommel not to deploy his armored units around Tobruk. Gastone
Gambara and Fedele de Giorgis place the Ariete, Trieste and Savona Divisions
on alert.
BIR EL GOBI
| November 19 - British attack Axis forces at Bir El Gobi.
Ariete's 146 M13/40's take the brunt of the attack and stop the British advance.
The Ariete deploy in three battalion sized formations with twenty four 75/27's,
thirty 47/32's, twelve 105/28's and seven 102/35's. The Ariete with 73 guns
and 137 tanks, engaged the 28 pdrs. and 158 Crusaders of the XXII Armoured
Brigade of the British. The XXII lose 55 tanks at Bir El Gobi and spend the
next two days in the Allied rear regrouping. The 21st Panzer also managed
to destroy 23 of the IV Armoured Brigades tanks. Over the next few days,
the Ariete attack the XXII and IV Armoured Brigade and by November 23, the
Ariete, Trieste and Savona account for more than 200 British tanks destroyed
along with roughly 200 British vehicles. The Bologna, Trento and Pavia Divisions
contained Tobruk. Because of the independent actions of the Italian and German
subordinate, Rommel was saved from disaster. |
Ten Nino De Totto attack patrol paratroopers (X° Reggimento Arditi Paracadutisti) |
Playfair vol.II p.40 states the 22nd Armoured Brigade lost 25 out of 136 tanks at El Gubi on 19th November. They did not spend the next two days in the allied rear regrouping. The next day, on the 20th November, 22nd Armd Bde joined 4th Armoured Bde in a battle at Gabr Saleh with 15th Panzer Division. On 21st November they pursued DAK to Sidi Rezegh, and on the 22nd November the 22nd Armoured Brigade was virtually destroyed in battle with DAK at Sidi Rezegh.~ Additional commentary courtesy Paul (goldwood(@)paradise.net.nz)
El DUDA
November 26-27 - The 9th "Trieste" Regiment of Bersaglieri
encounter the Freyberg's troops in El Duda. Official New Zealand history
of war reports:
"The Bersaglieri Regt. fought with much greater
determination than is usually found among the Italian troops and the numbers
of their dead and the positions in which they lay showed that they had kept
their guns in action to the last."
November 28 to December 4 - Italians troops
are engaged in heavy fighting with British Commonwealth forces around Tobruk
and Sidi Rezegh
December 1 - Italian destroyer Alvise Da
Mosto is sunk by British Force K off Tripoli
BIR EL GOBI
December 4 -7 - Another successful engagement by Italian
forces in Bir El Gobi, when the battalion of Giovanni Fascisti maul the XI
Indian Brigade, destroying 100 tanks. Norrie's troops, who had an overwhelming
advantage in every area, failed to concentrate their actions against the
Italians causing one arm of the Italian battalion, the "Giovanni Fascisti"
to block the actions of his corps and inflicted heavy casualties on one of
his brigade The Giovanni Fascisti engaged the British army corps for 4 days
and severely damaging the IV Armoured Brigade. The IV Armoured Brigade had
to retreat 20 miles in order to reorganize. This forced Ritchie to abandon
his intent to attack Rommels southern flank and trap his forces in Gabr Saleh.
"Giovani Fascisti" Regiment volunteer. The 1st and 2nd Battalions
of this Reggiment stopped the 11th Indian Brigade, the 4th Armored Brigade
and the 1st S.A division from the period of December 2nd to the 7th,
1941, protecting the back of DAK saving the Italo-Geman
army.
Michael Carver, author, writes of the Italian
parachute division at Bir El Gobi:
"...The "Folgore" parachute division "gave a very good
account of itself" and that it was "the best of the Italian divisions" should
not be taken as simply a random observation."
December 5 - Rommel orders a general retreat
and "forgets" to notify the Trieste and Ariete Division, forcing them to
fight through the British Commonwealth IV Armoured Brigade and the 7th Support
Group to rejoin the retreating German forces. Rommels hasty retreat cost
the Italian Ariete and Trieste Divisions greatly, however, their determination
to fight through the surrounding British gave the Ariete and not DAK, the
first major tank battle of North Africa and accounted for another 100 British
Commonwealth armored vehicle losses at Alam Hamza.
ITALY
December 8 - A group of the Sezione Prelevamento (Withdrawal Section)
of Italian Army intelligence (SIM Servizio Informazioni Militari) lead by
Maj. (Carabinieri) Talamo break into the U.S. embassy
in Rome and steal a code book known as the "Black Code". They photograph
the codes and put it back in the safe. These photos were used to decipher
top-secret messages sent from Cairo to Washington D.C. about British strength
and weaknesses in Africa. This discovery was what gave Rommel the early successes
in the desert war.
The Black Code was always managed by the Italians, who gave the Germans only
the decyphred messages in regards to actions in northAfrica
Note: Maj. Talamo died March 22nd, 1944 shot by Germans at Fosse Ardeatine
December 11 -
Mussolini declares war on the United States of America. His speech was short,
he knew the Italian people were uneasy about a war with America. Most Italians
had relatives there and hoped to one day come to America to live the "American
Dream".
Italian torpedo boat Alcione is sunk off Crete
by British sub HMS Truant.
MEDITERRANEAN
December 13 -
Italian cruisers Alberico Da Barbiano and Alberti Di Giussano are
sunk off Tunisia by British destroyers.
AFRICA
Mid December - British Commonwealth forces commence the big offensive action known as
"Crusader". The Italian Carabinieri Parachute battalion joins the battle
against the Commonwealth forces with the other Italo-German forces and charged
to protect the "Ariete" Division, which was withdrawing after a successful
attack of British armored forces. Although the amount of Italian 75 mm guns
in North Africa remained the same as it was in 1940, the Italians had doubled
the amount of 100/17 guns to 24 and added twelve 88/55's, giving each Division
60 guns for a 10:1 ratio of artillery to battalion compared to the 6:1 it
had during Graziani's first attacks from Libya. Coupled with Rommel's German
Forces, the Axis war machine had doubled the firepower of what Graziani had
available in 1940.
MEDITERRANEAN
December 17 - First battle of Sirte ends indecisively.
December 18 - Force K, the British Flotilla
assigned to protect Malta and its shipping, hits an Italian moored minefield
20 miles east of Tripoli. The cruiser HMS Neptune and destroyer HMS
Kandahar are sunk, the cruiser HMS Aurora is badly damaged
and the cruiser HMS Penelope is slightly damaged. The site of the
stricken ships limping back to the Grand Harbour brought a sense of fear
into the Maltese people, who depend on the protected convoys to survive.
AFRICA
December 18-20 - The Carabinieri Parachute battalion repeatedly
engage the British Commonwealth forces at the Eluet el Asel fork in the Cerenaic
Djebel. After holding the violent attacks of the British forces, the Carabinieri
Parachute battalion get the order to withdraw and shoot their way out of
an encirclement with a brave attack near Lamluda fork along the Balbia road.
They finally reached the Italian lines after suffering 35 dead and 251 missing.
For their bravery and sacrifice, the Carabinieri Parachute battalion's Flag
of Arm was decorated with the silver medal to the military valor.
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT
| December 19 - The H.M.S. Valiant and H.M.S.Queen
Elizabeth, while moored in the port of Alexandria, are critically damaged
by explosions under their keels planted by Human Torpedo's operated by Italian
frogmen of the Decima Flottiglia MAS. The damage was so great that these
two ships were deemed unseaworthy. Along with the Battleships, the tanker
Sagona and the British Destroyer Jervis were also severely
damaged. Two Italian frogmen are captured, Lt. Luigi Durand de la Penne and
Lt Bianchi. They refused to divulge any information until moments before
the explosion (because they were being interrogated right above the area
of the keel where the explosion was to occur). This attack, which neutralized
the ability of the British to oppose the Italian Regia Marina with its
battleships, allowed deeply needed convoys to supply Axis forces in Africa. |
Painting of the Human Torpedo entering the defenses of the port of Alexandria |
LIBYA
December 28 -
CAM (Corpo d'Armata di Manovra - Mobile Army Corps) joins the DAK in attacking
the XXII Armoured Brigade. "Trieste" Division captures key documents in a
British Command Tank.
AUCHINLECK NOTES OF JANUARY, 1948
The partial successes of Italy's armored division,
the "Ariete", at Bir Gobi on November 19, Sidi Rezegh on November 23, El
Duda on December 1 and Alam Hanza on December 15 caused Auchinleck to write
in his journal :
"The Italian M-13 tanks which, as a result of the
previous campaign, we had inclined to dismiss as valueless, fought well,
and had an appreciable effect on the
battle."
Sources:Battle Maps Credit to Afrika Korps; Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War Two; Campaign Book, No. 1; Major K.J. Macksey, M.C.
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Pietro Compagni. Editrice Mili e Italiano-Serie "De Bello" 09
