Italian Co - Belligerent Army The Italian Co - Belligerent Army ( Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano ) , or the Army of the South ( Esercito del Sud ) , was the army of the Italian Royalist forces fighting on the side of the Allies during World War II . The Italian Co - Belligerent Army was formed in southern Italy after the Allied armistice with Italy was declared on September 8 , 1943 ; King Victor Emmanuel III had dismissed Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister in July 1943 following the Allied invasion of Southern Italy , and had nominated Marshal of Italy ( Maresciallo d ' Italia ) Pietro Badoglio instead . The Italian soldiers of the Co - Belligerent Army no longer fought for Mussolini or for the Axis . Their allegiance was to King Victor Emmanuel and to the Allies . In many regards , the Italian Co - Belligerent Army was a reorganized version of the Royal Italian Army ( " Regio Esercito " ) . Formation . On 28 September 1943 , the Italian Co - Belligerent Army began when its first military unit was formed in tented reorganization camps near Lecce . Some of the first soldiers in this unit had just barely managed to escape internment by the Germans . In accordance with Royal Army Order 70 / V , the Italian First Motorized Combat Group ( " 1 • Raggruppamento Motorizzato " ) was created . The unit included elements of two divisions of the old Italian Royal Army : The 18 Infantry Division Messina and the 58 Infantry Division Legnano The First Motorized Combat Group had a strength of 295 officers and 5 , 387 men . The first action of the First Motorized Combat Group was in the Cassino sector at Monte Lungo . This action did much to remove the Allied distrust of the Italian soldiers fighting on their side . The unit suffered heavy casualties and performed well enough . Following service with the American 5th Army and re - organization , the First Motorized Combat Group was transferred to the Polish II Corps on the extreme left of the British 8th Army . Italian liberation corps . On 17 April 1944 , the formation ( now 22 , 000 men strong ) assumed the name Italian Liberation Corps ( " Corpo Italiano di Liberazione " , or CIL ) . The continuous influx of volunteers made it necessary to form further formations . The CIL was organized in two new divisions : The " Nembo " and the " Utili . " The " Nembo " Division was formed around the old Royal Army ' s parachute division of the same name . The " Utili " Division was formed around the First Motorized Combat Group and was named after its commander , General Umberto Utili . In early 1944 , a 5 , 000 man force of Italians fought on the Gustav Line around Monte Cassino and acquitted itself well . The Italians once again suffered heavy casualties . Italian Co - Belligerent Army from late 1944 to 1945 . After the battle of Filottrano ( July 1944 ) , Italian troops were sent to the rear lines to rest and re - train . In the meantime they were re - kitted with standard British / Commonwealth equipment including Battle Dress uniforms and helmets ( mostly new and not taken off corpses as hearsay sometimes has it ) . By early 1945 the CIL had outgrown itself . It was used as the nucleus for six separate Combat Groups ( " Gruppi di Combattimento " ) : " Cremona " , " Legnano " , " Friuli " , " Mantova " , " Piceno " , and " Folgore " . Each Combat Group was the equal to a weak division and was equipped with British uniforms , materiel and weapons . The established strength for each was 432 officers , 8 , 578 other rank , 116 field guns , 170 mortars , 502 light machine guns , and 1 , 277 motor vehicles . The Combat Groups were given the names of old Royal Army divisions and followed the component numbering system of the component regiments to some extent . These groups were attached to various American and British formations on the Gothic Line . The following is the " order of battle " of the Italian Co - Belligerent Army as of April 1945 Combat Groups . Each infantry regiment fielded three infantry battalions , a mortar company armed with British ML 3 inch mortars and an anti - tank company armed with British QF 6 pounder guns . The artillery regiments consisted of four artillery groups with British QF 25 pounder guns , one anti - tank group with British QF 17 pounder guns and one anti - air group armed with British versions of the Bofors 40mm gun . Auxiliary Divisions . In addition to the Combat Groups the Italian Co - belligerent Army included also a force of 8 Auxiliary Divisions ( " Divisioni Ausiliarie " , largely intended to perform labouring and second lined duties ) , around 200 , 000 men strong , largely employed by the Allies in various support and logistical activities , those auxiliary units were the following : On the whole the Italian Co - Belligerent Army made up 1 / 8 of the fighting force and 1 / 4 of the entire force of 15th Army Group of the Allied Forces . Internal Security Divisions . Not directly dependent from the Allied Headquarters in Italy the Co - Belligerent Army also deployed three Internal Security Divisions ( " Divisioni di Sicurezza Interna " ) for internal security duties : Italian Army . In 1946 , the Kingdom of Italy became the Italian Republic . In a similar manner , what had been the royalist Co - Belligerent Army simply became the Italian Army ( Esercito Italiano ) .