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Mobile Cavalry (Celere) Divisions
The major cavalry/Bersaglieri operations at the end of the war (WWI) against a collapsing enemy in difficult terrain had been very successful. This final campaign had been the one that greatly influenced Italian planners. The main components of the Celere divisions were two horsed cavalry regiments and one cyclist Bersaglieri regiment. The cavalry regiments were virtually mounted infantry. The Bersaglieri regiment had collapsible bicycles and could be truck-borne if necessary. The artillery regiment had two motorized batteries and one pack battery. The division included a light tank squadron. This semi-motorized division was designed primarily for warfare in terrain, which, though mountainous, permitted the use of such units in a reconnaissance, exploitation or support role. Armament was sacrificed to this end, and the division was not designed for defense. There were three Celeri divisions. They were never used as envisioned. There was a Celeri corps during the invasion of Yugoslavia, but it was kept in reserve. Later one division was sent to the Soviet Union, one was robbed of its mobile artillery and kept in Yugoslavia in an anti-partisan role, and one was in the process of conversion to an armored division. Not very favorable results for an organization formed with such high hopes.
Armored Divisions
The Italians originally planned to have armored brigades as their largest armor units, but study of the successful German panzer divisions encouraged them to form divisions. The armored division, as designed before the war, was a mixture of light and medium tanks. It was incapable of more than light assault. The Italian armored division changed radically in composition under German influence, with improved tanks; the introduction of self-propelled guns and heavier divisional supporting weapons.
Composition – The armored division had a headquarters, one tank regiment of three battalions, a truck-borne Bersaglieri regiment, one support and antitank battalion, one artillery regiment (six batteries, two of which was self propelled.), one mixed engineer battalion, one supply section, and one medical section. 6 AD’s were planned; only 2 and part of a third were formed. Planned for deployment in Alps, France, and Yugoslavia, the divisions went to N. Africa and Soviet Union. The armored divisions have often been misread. The one campaign for which they had really prepared, that against Yugoslavia, the divisions were relatively successful. In the other campaigns the Italians fought for losing causes. The armored divisions were the only mechanized elements of a barely motorized army. They were lost fighting to support units that were hopelessly out of date on a modern battlefield. It was not the failure of mechanization that doomed the armored divisions, but the political-industrial failure to create at least a motorized army. Italy had neither the industrial base nor the raw materials to be a major power in modern industrial war.
Airborne Divisions
Despite the fact that the Italians had experimented with parachutes just at the end of WWI, the Italian military kept a skeptical attitude towards the practicality of deploying large airborne units on the rough terrain, which constitutes the largest part of Italian territory. On the other hand, airdrops were seen as means to infiltrate recon and sabotage teams behind enemy lines. German successes, and the planned invasion of Malta, brought about a rethinking and formation of airborne divisions consisting of a headquarters, two parachute infantry regiments, a parachute artillery regiment, a parachute Guastatori battalion, and a signal company.
Two divisions saw service; one more was forming. The Air Force had “Loreto Battalion” and later formed the “Arditi Distruttori” airborne assault battalion. It was later reconstituted as the “Assault Regiment Duci d’ Acosta.” The airborne divisions were used as ordinary infantry.
Air Landing Divisions
The concept was for an infantry division to be specially trained and equipped for transportability in aircraft. They were to disembark on airfields that had been secured by airborne troops. The 80th “La Spezia” air landing division was the only infantry division so trained, and like the Italian airborne divisions, it was formed with the sole aim of taking part in the invasion of Malta. As this invasion never took place, the division ended up on the frontline, fighting as ordinary infantry, and came to an end in Tunisia.
Coastal Divisions
The Italian Coastal divisions were hurriedly organized during 1943, when the Axis troops in Africa were being crushed by the Allies, and an Allied invasion had to be expected at any time. They were organized by grouping the troops of the Coastal Brigade sectors, some 80 Blackshirt battalions, 50 territorial battalions, and a hodge-podge of other units together. Some were given naval gun elements to defend critical sectors of the Italian coast. There was no uniform organization, and as a consequence of their hodge-podge nature, low-quality equipment and low morale, they fought badly. Most saw no combat, however, as the armistice was reached before the Allies got anywhere near them. There were 26 such divisions.
Depot Divisions
The Italian Depot divisions were much like the German Field Training (Feldersatz) divisions. They were composed of the replacement battalions of the active regiments. They trained while being used for garrison duty, mostly in Yugoslavia. This is likely why, in addition to having low priority in equipment, they did so poorly against the partisans there. The 8th “March” Training division was formed to consolidate replacements for the 8th Army, that campaigned in the USSR. There were 10 such divisions.
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