On 21 June 1940 (one day before the French surrender) the “Tridentina” division began to advance with other Italian units into Southern France. The division was then sent to Albania, where it sustained heavy losses in the Italian attack on Greece. As the German Wehrmacht came to the aid of the beaten Italian armies in Albania in April 1941 through the invasion of Yugoslavia the “Tridentina” was sent repatriated for rest and refit.