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SOVIET UNION
August 24 – With the victory in Serafimovich, the Italian Savoia Cavalry made up of 600 men mounted a counter attack on the Isbuschenski steppe. The Russian’s comprised of 2,000 men with mortar and artillery support. One squadron attacked head on, while the other came behind the enemy lines on horseback and possessing only sabers. They completely catch the Soviets by surprise and overrun the Russian position.
Italian calvary gearing for an attack in Soviet Union
This was one of the last calvary attacks of World War II and resulted in the destruction of 2 Soviet battalions, another battalion forced to withdraw and the netting of 500 POW’s, 4 large artillery pieces, 10 Mortars, and 50 machine guns.
EGYPT
August 30 – Rommel loses 49 tanks in Alam el Halfa Ridge to the British.
A large Italian supply effort delivers Rommel 67 infantry battalions (39 being Italian), 536 guns (336 Italian), 515 tanks (281 Italian), 119 armored cars (72 Italian) and 777 aircraft (427 Italian). Since the 26th of May, Italian casualties amount to 9,568 and German casualties are 12, 430.
September 3 - Rommel receives another 2,450 casualties, lost 50 guns and 400 AFV’s. 10,000 tons of fuel has also been used up. Cavallero sees disaster around the corner. Rommel uses up all his fuel and reinforcements and adopts Marshall Graziani’s “Capisaldi” (strong points) used in 1940 for the very same reasons; too weak to attack, no resources for a mobile defense and an order not to retreat. A final stand is set for El Alamein.
MEDITERRANEAN
September 4 – Italian torpedo boat Polluce is sunk off Tobruk by British bombers.
ITALY
October 11 – Heinrich Himmler flies to Rome to visit Mussolini. The German government is very worried about the health of Mussolini. Himmler’s visit was to assess Mussolini’s health and the state of Fascism in Italy. Himmler later reports back to Hitler that if Mussolini remains alive, then so will the Fascist state.
MEDITERRANEAN
October 19 – Italian destroyer Giovanni Da Verazzano is sunk off Tripoli by British submarine HMS Unbending.
EGYPT (EL ALAMEIN )
October 23 – British 8th Army under command of General Montgomery attacks El Alamein. The 12 Italian and German divisions amounted to 80,000 men (53,000 of which were Italian). The Commonwealth forces amounted to 230,000 men divided among 10 divisions. The following table shows the superiority of the Allies in numbers. As far as the tanks are concerned, only the German Panzer IV (35 total) were equal to the Commonwealth’s American Sherman (252 total )and Grant (170 total) tanks.
| COMMONWEALTH | GERMAN | ITALIAN | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TROOPS | 230,000 | 27,000 | 53,000 |
| AIRCRAFT | 1,500 | 350 | 430 |
| ARTILLERY | 2,311 | 618 | 850 |
| TANKS | 1,230 | 210 | 280 |
October 23 – 29 – The British attack the sector defended by the Folgore Parachute Division. The Italian forces included 3,500 paratroopers, 1,000 Guastatori d’Africa, 80 artillery pieces and 5 tanks of German origin. The odds were 1:13 for men, 1:5 for Artillery and 1:70 for tanks. The Folgore prepared their defenses among a 15 kilometer barrier and realized they were the last defense before the rear of the Italo-German Army. The fighting lasted for one week and constituted four separate battles; the central sector on the 23rd, the northern sector near Naqb Rala on the 24th, the central sector again on the 24th and 25th, and the southern sector on the 25th, 26th and 29th. The British are thrown back after every attempt with a considerable loss of life and are ordered a stop any further initiatives on that front. Total dead, wounded or missing amount to 1,100 for the Folgore. Eventually General Montgomery’s forces claim victory over the Axis forces in El Alamein and Rommel orders the Folgore to withdraw on the 2nd of November, leaving their defenses still intact. Eventually, the remaining Folgore forces thin out during the difficult withdrawel through the desert. See Battle Map.
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