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Engineers
A. Under Italian doctrine, engineers were considered to be technical, rather than combat, troops. Engineer functions were conventional: work communications zones, erect of obstacles, clearance of obstacles, laying of minefields, water supply, and supply of engineer materials, Also, in the Italian army, the providing of signal communications and the supplying of hydrogen for captive balloons were engineer functions.
B. The success of the German Assault Engineers encouraged the formation of Assault Pioneers known as “Guastatori” (destroyers). These forces were organized into battalions. They were patterned after similar German units and the Assault Engineer School at Civitavecchia was organized by a German engineer, a Col. Steiner, in Mar ’40. The attacks by pioneers (Guastatori) were nearly always carried out at dawn, the objective having been approached during the night. Assault engineers were used against tanks at night. Personnel did not lay mines but were trained in removing them should they impede their progress.
Camouflage
A. General-The Italians placed great emphasis on artificial camouflage and installations garnished with natural materials tied into the natural surroundings.
B. Field Camouflage-a. in Italian field camouflage, canvas, raffia, shavings and similar materials were colored with a spray gun, which was both quick and convenient as compared with the usual paintbrush method. This field spraying was done with compressed air in a special blower. The compressed air was furnished from a Shoulder-portable compressor of from compressed air tanks, periodically filled. Machine guns were camouflaged by being covered with wire netting stretched over a frame of iron rods.
C. Various devices-Individual nets—Individual camouflage nets were 1 to 80 m. square, with reinforced edges furnished with buttons and garnished with strips of sisal material colored with three shades of green and tow of maroon. Metal net supports-The metal frames for overhead cover were made in two sizes , with spans of 1.50m or 4 to 5 meters. Both types collapsed into compact bundles. Simulative cloaks- The simulative cloak was used by the Italian Army as an aid for the combatant who had to remain on observation duty or was required to advance under the eye of the adversary. A man disguised by such a cloak became invisible, even on barren ground and so could accomplish his mission unmolested, even at a short distance from the enemy. The cloak was easily made by the Italian soldier and was frequently produced even with improvised materials by the combatant himself. It consisted of a rectangular piece or burlap 1.8m long and 1.5m wide. The rectangle was folded along a line and sewn along the upper edge to form a hood easily worn by the soldier without hindering his freedom of movement. To blend readily with the surroundings, the cloak was covered with hay, grass, straw, etc, depending on what was available in the particular region, and on what background was to be imitated. This cloak could be used to conceal telegraph-line guards, men stationed near roads, liaison men, etc.
Supply
In an effort to keep the combat divisions “slim and agile” a centralized “Intendenza” at Army level was given almost all of the few trucks available. The theory was to replenish Corps, Divisions, and even Regiments from the rear forward. The ‘War of Rapid Decision’ was totally divorced from existing Italian capabilities. The supply organization functioned adequately in slow-moving or static actions, but failed to support swift movement. Even mere relocation of a unit could sometime disrupt its supply chain. Supply was over centralized at army level, leaving forward units at the mercy of the vagaries of the Intendenza.
Organization
HIGHER UNITS
ARMY GROUP AND ARMY Organization of army groups and armies varied considerably but the number of corps in an army rarely exceeded four. Army troops included heavy artillery and mechanized field artillery, mining, sound ranging, metrological and survey units.
ARMY CORPS Corps were composed of two to four infantry divisions, one motorized machine gun battalion (eventually to be expanded to a regiment.) one artillery regiment, one engineer regiment, one chemical company, one flame-thrower company, one chemical mortar battery, one medical company, one supply company, a motor transport center. Theoretically each corps had reconnaissance groups attached to it…motorized, infantry, and Air Force Reconnaissance Groups. These seldom materialized. Some army corps had tank battalions attached, and special units, such as Alpini, Bersaglieri, etc.
Divisions
The Italian army showed a great deal of imagination in tailoring divisions for special uses. Much of this effort failed to reach fruition because events overtook the organizations before they could be accomplished.
Infantry Divisions
a. Adoption, on the eve of the war, of the Divisione Bineria increased peacetime strength from 70+ to 90+ divisions. This resulted only in an increase of slots and staffs, not an increase of combat power. Mussolini also liked his numbers. He bragged of an army of “eight million bayonets.” It apparently never occurred to him that more that bayonets might be needed. Only two divisions of grenadiers retained the old three-regiment organization. A staff study claimed, “A single motorized division, even for defense and occupation missions has the capability of four infantry divisions while it eats only one fourth as much and requires only a fourth as much transport from Italy.
b. The concept was born of the Ethiopian War and was called “binary” owing to the incorporation of only two infantry regiments instead of the old three-regiment organization. A Fascist Militia legion of two battalions was attached to some infantry divisions partly to increase the number of infantry in the division and partly to include Black Shirt troops with regular Army units. The legion was, however, described as an independent unit to be used as shock troops. During the Albanian campaign the weakness of the binary division became evident. Divisions that had suffered heavy losses had to be reformed with whatever infantry was available, sometimes even by merging with another division.
c. The table of organization of an infantry division provided for two reserve battalions. In practice, however, reinforcement was from reserve units, which were held under GHQ to the theater of operations for allotment to units as required, or from the depot of the division.
d. The table of organization called for a 81mm mortar battalion of 27 81mm mortars (three companies of 9 mortars each).
e. A few divisions were given machine-gun battalions.
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