italian collars

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Brescia and Marche divisions' collars patches:

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Now, some cavalry units set up (or transformed) during the war.
On July 15, 1942, the Lancieri di Montebello Exploration Armored Group was established in Ferrara. At the time of the armistice, it consisted of:
• Regimental Command
• Command squadron (4 armored cars, 1 connection platoon, services, garage)
• 1st Squadrons’ Group, Group command (4 armored cars, connection platoon, services, garage), 1st Armored Squadron (17 armored cars), 2nd Armored squadron (17 armored cars), 3rd Motorcyclist Squadron (86 motorbikes, 10 submachine guns)
• 2nd Squadrons’ Group, Group command (4 self-propelled 47/32 vehicles, garage), 4th Motorized squadron (90 motorcycles, 10 machine guns), 5th Squadron self-propelled 75/18 (12 self-propelled), 6th Self-propelled squadron of 47/32 (12 Propelled)
• 3rd Training Group, 20 anti-aircraft squadron (12 pieces), ferris wheel hoop squadron (12 assault boats, various pneumatic material for the passage of waterways)
In the fighting against the German paratroopers Montebello had 5 dead and 13 wounded officers, equal to 60% of the officers, and 15 dead and 68 ncos’ and lancers wounded, equal to 20% of the troops.
With order 0061220/3 of February 20, 1943, the Army General Staff ordered the establishment of the Cavalleggeri motorized Regiment of Lucca, at the depot of the Vittorio Emanuele II Armored Regiment in Bologna, as a mobilization center, under the command of the Defense territory of Bologna. During bthe first decade of August 1943 Lucca reached the assigned employment area (Manziana-Bracciano-Monterosi-Olgiata) and took over the Vittorio Emanuele II regiment, with the following line up: regiment command, with special units (command squadron, motorcyclist squadron) and self-propelled squadron) in Trevignano; 2nd airborne group (with Vittorio Emanuele II's 8th self-propelled squadron, a Montebello's armored platoon, a 100/22 battery of the 135th artillery regiment) in Manziana; 3rd group (with 6th self-propelled squadron Vittorio Emanuele II, a Lucca armored platoon, a 100/22 battery of the 135th artillery regiment) in Monterosi; 1st group, at the disposal of the commander of the divisional reserve, at the Olgiata (at km. 20 of the Via Cassia). The force was: 92 officers, 134 non-commissioned officers, 2,092 troops. At the dawn of 9 September 1943 fighting began with the 3th Panzergrenadier division arriving from the Viterbo area, at the price of 21 dead, 42 wounded (including 1 official) and about 180 missing. German losses were also noticeable.
The armored regiment Lancieri of Vittorio Emanuele II, ordered on three Squadrons’ Groups, had three squadrons for each Squadrons’ Group; each squadron (equivalent to a company) consisted of 2 self-propelled platoons M42 assault guns 75/18 mm. (10 vehicles) and one of M15/42 tanks (5 vehicles plus two command tanks), for a total of 10 self-propelled assault guns M42 and 7 tanks M15 / 42. In this way, each Squadrons’ Group deployed a total of 30 self-propelled assault guns M42 and 21 tanks M15/42. Obviously not all squadrons were at full capacity.
These three regiments constituted the 135th Armored Division Ariete II (heir of the Ariete armored division destroyed in North Africa) assigned to the northern defense of Rome. This was the composition of the division in April 1943:
• Command of the V armored brigade for the division Ariete II (Gen. B. Dardano Fenulli from April 1, 1943)
• Armoured Recon Group (R.E.Co.) Lancieri of Montebello
• 10th Armored Regiment Lancieri of Vittorio Emanuele II
• 16th Motorized Regiment Cavalleggeri of Lucca
• 135th Armored Artillery Regiment
• 235th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
• CXXXV Self-propelled Tank Destroyer Battalion
• X Complements’ Group
• CXXXV Engineers’ Mixed Battalion
• 135th Medical Section
• 135th Supply Section
A small historical digression: the total number of Italian forces available for the defense of Rome amounted to a total of 88,137 men, 124 tanks, 257 self-propelled vehicles, 122 Saharan armored cars and trucks and 615 artillery pieces. It was a complex of heterogeneous but numerous composition and quality forces including well equipped units (such as the Ariete II and the Sassari) or solidly framed (like the Granatieri of Sardegna or the 10th Assault Regiment) which, if used in a decisive and unitary way, could have validly opposed the German forces present in the area. This consideration makes it possible to dispel some comfortable post-war legends, since the Germans could field only two divisions with a total of 25,033 men, 71 tanks, 54 self-propelled, 196 armored cars and armored vehicles, and 165 pieces of artillery. The German units therefore constituted an unevenly arranged whole, with the concentration of almost all the heavy equipment north of Rome, framed in a not yet optimal quality division, and a high quality division but with only light armaments in the south.

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I continue with the units involved in the defense of Rome:

136th Armoured Division Centauro II (obtained by partial purifying the 1st M blackshirts armored division after the July 25 coup)
The units were initially modified only through the name change. Subsequently a real purge was carried out which the Germans observed with ill-concealed suspicion. The additional components, constituted by the XIX armored battalion and by the 18th armored recon bersaglieri regiment were assigned to the division only in the imminence of the proclamation of the armistice of 8 September 1943 and were never concretely integrated in the divisional structure.

HQ and Command Company
Military Police Company (Carabineers)
Traffic Control Unit
306th Military Post Office
Divisional Transport Unit

131st Armoured Infantry Regiment:
Armoured Group Leonessa:
1st Armoured Company (12 Panzer IV Ausf. G)
2nd Armoured Company (12 Panzer III Ausf. N)
3rd Assault Gun Company (12 Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. G)
XIX Armoured Battalion (M15/42)

Legionary Motorized Regiment (former M Battalions’ Groups Tagliamento - LXIII, LXXIX, XLI battalions, and Montebello – VI, XXX, XII battalions)

136th Armoured Artillery Regiment (former Raggruppamento Artiglieria Valle Scrivia with two mechanized groups of three batteries, each with four flak 88/56)

136th Engineers’ Battalion:
Road Works, Carpentry, Construction and Fortification Company
Telegraph Company
Radio Operator Company
Photoelectricians Section

18th Bersaglieri Regiment (R.E.Co. – Armoured Recon Group):
HQ and Command Platoon
LXVIII Bersaglieri Battalion:
HQ and Command Platoon
1st Armored-cars Company (AB 41)
2nd Tank Company (L6/40)
3rd Tank Company (L6/40)
4th Motorcycle Company
LXIX Bersaglieri Battalion:
HQ and Command Platoon
5th Assault Guns Company (L40 - 47/32 mm.)
6th Anti-aircraft Company (motorized mod. 35 - 20/65 mm.)

Divisional Services: Medical Unit, Supply Unit, Commissioners’ Office

Actually, on September 8, 1943 the 18th Bersaglieri Regiment was still on the transfer trains. The full LXIX battalion, half-3rd L6 tank company and the 4th motorcycle company were still in Florence. The other units, scattered in the area north of Rome, joined the Armored Division "Ariete II" in the defense of the capital. From the penultimate train, on which the regimental command company and the services traveled, the Bersaglieri landed in Bassano in Teverina near Orte on the afternoon of the same day, rejoining the others in Settecamini. When (in the evening) the news of the armistice signed with the allies arrived, the units in Florence participated in the first clashes against the Germans and, after unloading the vehicles from the train, on the afternoon of September 9, 1943 they took part in the fighting against the Germans in Futa Pass. The units that were in the outskirts of Rome on the night of September 9, 1943 barred the access to the main-town from Tivoli, colliding with the Germans the next morning. The 18th RECO bersaglieri from the morning of 10 September was theoretically framed in the "Ariete II" which had lost the R.E.Co. "Montebello", destroyed by the Germans in the fighting for the defense of the capital. In the afternoon there were serious clashes at Porta San Sebastiano, Porta San Paolo and at the Archaeological Walk. Retired to Settecamini, the 18th Reco Bersaglieri suffered an air attack by German JU 87 and on the morning of 11 September, after the commander was wounded in combat, the unit was disbanded, after sabotaging its vehicles.

The 103rd Piacenza Infantry Division (mot.) was created on March 15, 1942, with the 111th and 112th Infantry Regiments and the 37th Artillery Regiment. In the second decade of July 1943 the Division moved to the Lazio region, south of Rome with the task of the coastal defense from the mouths of the Garigliano to Ardea. On the date of the armistice it received without any warning the impact of the German paratroopers and after some combats it was overcome and dissolved.

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In order to complete the picture, the XVII Army Corps, in charge of the Southern Tuscany and Lazio coastal defense, was constituted, as well as by the Piacenza infantry division, by:

220th Coastal Division, deployed between Orbetello and Fiumicino:
HQ and Command Company
111th Coastal Infantry Regiment
152nd Coastal Infantry Regiment
Squadrons' Group of Genova Cavalry
CCCXXV Coastal Infantry Battalion
CVIII Coastal Artillery Group

221th Coastal Division, deployed between Fiumicino and Anzio:
HQ and Command Company
4th Coastal Infantry Regiment
8th Coastal Infantry Regiment
Squadrons’ Group of Savoy Cavalry
Sabaudia Artillery School
Torre Olevola Coastal Artillery School
Gaeta Coastal Artillery School

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Some collar patches (colours according to Viotti's book):

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Some nice visors:

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Some images of the regulation on uniforms of 1931. There were obviously a lot of additions and variations in the following years up to the 1940 document that I have already posted:

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Some uniforms according to Gibellini and others various shots. A clarification: the officer in the middle wears the special summer riding uniform.

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the charm of the uniform

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Sergeant officer artillery cadet:

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Angileri in colours:

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Some Others photographs. I start with Finance Guard (I particularly like the last one that shows some personnel performing checks along a caravan route in East Africa):

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Army and a single Air Force:

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Army, MVSN and a single policeman:

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Alpine infantry, Royal Carabineers and colonial troops (I like specially the portrait of the coastal unit medical officer):