12th Infantry Division Sassari The 12th Infantry Division " Sassari " was an Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II . History . After the end of World War I the Italian Army disbanded all brigades raised during the war with the exception of the " Sassari " Infantry Brigade and three further brigades , which also had distinguished themselves during the war : " Liguria " , " Arezzo " and " Avellino " . The brigade moved to Trieste as part of the 12th Infantry Division " Timavo " ' . In 1926 the brigade gained the 12th Infantry Regiment " Casale " and changed its name to XII Infantry Brigade . Along with the 34th Artillery Regiment the brigade were the only units of the 12th Division . In 1939 the brigade lost the 12th Infantry regiment and was renamed 12th Infantry Division " Sassari " . This binary division consisted of only two infantry regiments ( 151st and 152nd ) and the 34th Field Artillery Regiment . To increase the weak strength of the division in 1941 the division was joined by the 73rd Blackshirt Assault Legion " Boiardo " , a battalion sized militia unit of the Italian Fascist Party . As part of the Italian V Corps the division remained in Istria on garrison duty until 6 April 1941 when Axis forces began the invasion of Yugoslavia . The first Yugoslav cities to fall were Prezid and Čabar on 12 April , followed Novi Lazi and Borovec on 14 April . On 19 April the division reached Delnice , the following day Knin . For the next two years the divisios command remained in Knin , while the divisions units were continuously employed in anti - partisan operations : in Šibenik , Brod na Kupi , Gračac , Petrovac and Drvar . The heaviest fighting occurred during July 1942 when the division tried to clean the Velebit mountains from partisan forces . In March 1943 , after the Battle of the Neretva , the division transferred to Rome to aid in the defense of the city in case of an Allied attack . During this time the division was reorganized along the lines of the Mod . 43 reform of the Italian Army and was augmented with the XII Mortar Battalion and the XII " Semovente " Battalion which was equipped with 24 Semovente 75 / 18 self - propelled gun s . In total the division fielded 14 , 500 troops , 24 Semovente and 80 artillery pieces . After the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces of 8 September 1943 the division found itself fighting Italy ' s former allies the Germans and along with the 21st Infantry Division " Granatieri di Sardegna " and 135th Armored Division " Ariete II " the " Sassari " defended Rome for two days . On 10 September 1943 the remnants of the " Sassari " joined the 21st Infantry Division " Granatieri di Sardegna " and the 8th Cavalry Regiment " Lancieri di Montebello " and hundredths of civilian volunteers at Porta San Paolo for a last stand . Civilians at Porta San Paolo included communist leader Luigi Longo , lawyer Giuliano Vassalli , writer Emilio Lussu , unionist leader Vincenzo Baldazzi , Mario Zagari , retired Air Force generals Sabato Martelli Castaldi and Roberto Lordi , and 18 year old future partisan leader Marisa Musu . The future Italian president Sandro Pertini brought a detachment of Socialist resistance fighters to Porta San Paolo and around 12 : 30 the Catholic Communist movement arrived with further reinforcements including famed actor Carlo Ninchi . However by 17 : 00 the Germans broke the line of the Italian defenders , who had suffered 570 dead . Soon after the Italian military units surrendered to the Germans as the flight of the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III from Rome had made further resistance senseless . However the Italian soldiers handed thousands of weapons over to the civilian population , which was quick to form an organized resistance movement in the city of Rome . In 1988 the Sassari Mechanized Brigade was formed , which continues the tradition of the " Sassari " Division . Commander . General Giacomo Castagna