Royal Italian Army ( 1940 – 46 ) This article is about the Italian Royal Army ( Regio Esercito ) which participated in World War II . The Italian Royal Army was reformed in 1861 and lasted until 1946 . The Royal Army started with the unification of Italy ( " Risorgimento " ) and the formation of the Kingdom of Italy ( " Regno d ' Italia " ) . It ended with the dissolution of the monarchy . The Royal Army was preceded by the individual armies of the various independent Italian states and was followed by the Italian Army ( " Esercito Italiano " ) of the Italian Republic ( " Repubblica Italiana " ) . Organization of the Army . The Italian Army of World War II was a " Royal " army . The nominal Commander - in - Chief of the Italian Royal Army was His Majesty King Vittorio Emanuele III . As Commander - in - Chief of all Italian armed forces , Vittorio Emanuele also commanded the Royal Air Force ( " Regia Aeronautica " ) and the Royal Navy ( " Regia Marina " ) . However , in reality , most of the King ' s military responsibilities were assumed by the Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini . Below Mussolini was the Supreme Command ( " Comando Supremo " ) . The Supreme Command featured an organic staff which functioned through its defense ministries and through its various high commands . The defense ministries were based on function and included a Ministry of War , a Ministry of the Admiralty , and a Ministry of the Air . The high commands were based on geographic regions and included Army Group West , Army Group Albania , Army Group East Africa , Army Group Aegean , and Army Group Libya . Below the Army Group were armies . Armies were typically composed of two or more corps , along with separate units directly commanded at the army level . The corps were then typically composed of two or more divisions , along with separate units directly commanded at the corps level . The division was the basic formation of the Italian Royal Army . On 10 June 1940 , the army had 59 infantry divisions , three National Security Volunteer Militia ( " Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale " , or MVSN ) divisions , five high mountain ( " alpini " ) divisions , three mobile ( " celere " ) divisions , two motorized divisions , and three armored divisions . In addition , there were estimated to be the equivalent of about nine divisions of frontier guard troops . There were also numerous colonial formations at or near the division level composed of troops from Italian Libya and Italian East Africa . Impressive on paper , most Italian divisions did not have the full complement of men or materials when war was declared in 1940 . The armored divisions had lightly armed " tankettes " instead of tanks . Binary infantry division . After a reorganization in 1938 , Italian infantry division was known as " binary " division ( " divisione binaria " ) . This is because Italian infantry divisions were based on two regiments instead of the three that prevailed prior to the reorganization . By comparison , German divisions had three infantry regiments . In addition to the two infantry regiments , the Italian infantry division included an artillery regiment , a mortar battalion , an engineer battalion , and a pack gun company . The division also had some division - level services and could have a division - level reserve infantry battalion . The typical infantry regiment was composed of three rifle battalions . However , some regiments had as many as five battalions . By design , each regiment had 24 heavy machine guns , 108 light machine guns , 6 81 mm mortars ( " Mortaio da 81 / 14 Modello 35 " ) , 54 45 mm mortars ( " Brixia Model 35 " ) , and 4 65mm Infantry Guns ( " Cannone da 65 / 17 " ) . The divisional artillery regiment typically had 36 field pieces by design . There was a horsedrawn battery of 12 100 mm howitzers . There was a horsedrawn battery of twelve 75 mm guns . And there was a pack horse mounted battery of 12 75 mm howitzers . In addition to the field pieces , there was a mechanized troop of eight 20 mm anti - aircraft guns . Much Italian artillery was obsolete and far too reliant on horse transport . The mortar battalion typically had 18 81 mm mortars and the pack gun company had 8 47 mm anti - tank guns . From 1 March 1940 , an MVSN Legion of two battalions was attached to most infantry divisions . This was to increase the manpower available to each division and also to include Fascist troops . Alpini division . The personnel for the mountain ( " Alpini " ) divisions was drawn from Italy ' s mountainous Alpine region and tended to be of superior quality . In addition to being well trained for mountain warfare , they were expert in the handling of pack artillery . The mountain divisions differed from a standard infantry division in that each regiment had its own artillery , engineering , and ancillary services associated with the regiment on a permanent basis . This made each regiment of a mountain division relatively self - supporting and capable of independent action . By design , a mountain division consisted of a divisional headquarters , two mountain infantry regiments , an artillery regiment , a mixed engineer battalion , a chemical warfare company , two reserve mountain infantry battalions , and divisional services . The divisional headquarters included an anti - tank platoon . Each mountain infantry regiment included its own headquarters company , with a platoon of flamethrower s . Each regiment also included three mountain infantry battalions and regimental services . At full strength , the firepower for a mountain infantry regiment was 27 heavy machine guns , 81 light machine guns , 27 45 mm mortars , 12 81 mm mortars , and 27 flamethrowers . The artillery regiment was split between the two infantry regiments . Each regiment was provided with a battalion of 75 mm howitzers . All were transported on pack animals . Armoured division . At the beginning of the war , the armoured divisions were filled with L3 tankettes and , as a result , were incapable of providing the armoured spearhead that the German tank ( " panzer " ) formations could . Initially , a total of about 100 " medium " M11 tanks were available . But , while these vehicles were an improvement over the L3s , they were still more like " light " tanks . In addition , they were poorly designed ( main armament in a " fixed " position ) , far too few , too under - gunned , too thinly armoured , too slow , and too unreliable to make a difference . By design , an armoured division included one tank regiment , one artillery regiment , one highly - mobile infantry ( " Bersaglieri " ) regiment , a divisional support and a mixed engineer company . The tank regiment could have between three and five tank battalions . At full strength , each battalion had 55 tanks . Once sufficient numbers of the M13 / 40 tanks and its upgrades were available , Italian armored divisions began to possess some offensive capability . The Italians also developed several self - propelled 75 mm gun s on the M13 platform when the evolution in tank artillery made the 47mm gun obsolete . Like the dreaded German 88 mm gun , the Italians learned that a 75 mm anti - aircraft gun ( " Cannone da 75 / 46 C . A . modello 34 " ) or a 90 mm anti - aircraft gun ( " Cannone da 90 / 53 " ) made for a lethal " anti - tank " gun . While always in short supply , 57 of the 90 mm guns were ordered to be mounted on heavy trucks ( " Autocannoni da 90 / 53 " ) to enhance mobility . 48 guns were mounted on a M14 / 41 tank chassis as Tank Destroyer 90 / 53 ( " Semovente 90 / 53 " ) . Libyan division . In 1940 , Italy had several divisions in Italian North Africa composed of troops native to Libya commanded by Italian officers . In many ways the Libyan divisions followed the make - up of a standard binary infantry division . Each Libyan division had two colonial infantry regiments . Each infantry regiment had three infantry battalion and an Guns company ( 4 65 / 17 mm I - Guns ) . The Libyan divisions also had an integral colonial artillery regiment and colonial engineering battalion . A typical Libyan division fielded 7 , 400 men ( including 900 Italians ) . The artillery regiment by design included 24 65 mm , 12 75 mm , and 12 100 mm guns . The " Maletti Group " ( " Raggruppamento Maletti " ) was an " ad hoc " unit composed of Libyan troops transported in trucks and was commanded by the unit ' s namesake , General Pietro Maletti . This partly motorized unit took part in the Italian invasion of Egypt in September 1940 and in the defense of the Nibeiwa Camp in December 1940 during Operation Compass . In addition to 2 , 500 Libyan troops in 6 battalions , the Maletti Group included a colonial artillery element and 2 coy of armor : 12 M11 medium tanks and 14 L3 tankettes . " North Africa " division . During 1942 , attempts were made to increase both the firepower and the mechanization available at the divisional level . As a result , a new " North Africa 1942 " ( " Africa settentrionale 1942 " , or A . S . 42 ) type division was developed . Similar to a standard infantry division , an " A . S . 42 " type division still had two infantry regiments , an artillery regiment , a mixed engineer battalion , a medical section , and a supply section . But the infantry regiments could vary greatly because the basic units making up the regiment were now an expandable company . The artillery regiment sometimes included a battery of German 88 mm guns . Mobility was increased and , in theory , an " A . S . 42 " type division was mechanized to a higher degree than standard infantry divisions . Unfortunately , in practice , few units had the full complement of motor vehicles . Italian motor vehicles , while in short supply , tended to be of better than average quality . British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery made use of a captured Italian vehicle . Motorised division . The motorized divisions were similar to the " North Africa " type division , but they included a regiment of highly - mobile elite riflemen ( " Bersaglieri " ) . The " Bersaglieri " actually appear to have gotten the motorcycles and trucks they were allotted . Motor - transportable division . From the beginning of the war , some infantry divisions were theoretically fully mechanized and were designated as motor - transportable divisions . Again , in practice , few units had the full complement of motor vehicles . Other than being transported by motor vehicle , these divisions were organized like a standard infantry division , with two exceptions . Motor - transportable divisions had a larger complement of mortars and they did not have a MVSN Legion . In 1942 , the motor - transportable divisions in North Africa were upgraded to become " North African " type motorised divisions . In spite of the upgrade , these divisions were still not fully motorized . The divisions tended to rely primarily on non - divisional sources for transportation and were , therefore , only part - time motor - transportable . Cavalry division . Mobile ( " celere " ) divisions were cavalry divisions that had undergone a level of mechanization . Each division had two cavalry regiments , a highly - mobile infantry ( " Bersaglieri " ) regiment , an artillery regiment , and a light tank group . The squadrons of the cavalry regiments were horse - mounted and , other than a motorcycle company , the " Bersaglieri " were issued with bicycles . The light tank group had a total of 61 tanks . The tanks were typically L3s or L6s . Main Armaments . During the first years of World War II , Italy had only small light and medium tanks ( L3 / 35 , L6 / 40 , M11 / 39 , M13 / 40 , and M15 / 42 ) tanks . When Italy declared war in 1940 , Italy ' s armored divisions were still composed of hundreds of L3 tankettes . These vehicles were hardly on par with the Allied tanks available in 1939 and were seriously out - classed by 1942 . Better Italian tanks were produced but they were generally only available in limited numbers . Italian tanks typically suffered from poor main armaments and thin , bolted - on armour . Only in summer of 1943 did the Italians develop a heavier tank ( the P40 ) . But , even while the P40 was in the same class as contemporary M4 Sherman , only five P40s were ready for combat before Italy signed the armistice that same year . The Germans acquired and used the few P40s which were produced . To supplement the difficiencies of the main armaments on most tanks , the Italian Army made use of self - propelled gun s like the Semovente 75 / 18 and the Semovente 75 / 34 . . The Italians also fielded some reliable armoured cars like the AB 41 . While Semovente 75 / 18s were available in some numbers in North Africa , the more potent Semovente 75 / 34 s , Semovente 90 / 53 s , Semovente 105 / 25 s , and Semovente 149 / 40 were available in limited numbers or not at all prior to the armistice . Like the P40 , the Germans acquired the few better quality self - propelled guns manufactured prior to the armistice and even continued to manufacture some after the armistice . The main infantry weapons were Carcano rifles , Beretta M1934 and M1935 pistols , Bodeo M1889 revolver s , Breda 30 light machine gun s , Breda M37 and Fiat - Revelli Modello 1935 heavy machine gun s , and Beretta Model 38 submachine gun s . Second line units frequently made use of captured equipment such as Lebel Model 1886 rifle s and , for colonial troops , Schwarzlose MG M . 07 / 12 s and Steyr - Mannlicher M1895 rifles , provided by Austria as war reparations after World War I . History . History before World War II . Mussolini ' s Under - Secretary for War Production , Carlo Favagrossa , had estimated that Italy could not possibly be prepared for a war until at least October 1942 . Although the Kingdom of Italy was considered a major power , Italian industry was relatively weak compared to other major powers in Europe . In 1940 , Italian industry probably was no more than 15 % of that of France or of the United Kingdom . The lack of a stronger automotive industry made it difficult for Italy to mechanize its military . In the newly created Italian Empire , Italy had used most of the economic and military resources available during the conquest of Ethiopia from 1935 to 1936 , during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939 , and during the invasion of Albania in 1939 . In the early 1930s , the Italian Royal Army successfully fought an Arab guerrilla war in Italian North Africa ( " Africa Settentrionale Italiana " , or ASI ) . The Italians fought another guerrilla war in Italian East Africa ( " Africa Orientale Italiana " , or AOI ) between 1936 and 1940 . The Italian Royal Army remained comparatively weak in armaments . The Italian tanks were of poor quality . Italian radios were small in numbers . Much of the Italian artillery and weapons dated from World War I . Most important of all , the Italian generals were trained to the trench warfare of World War I and were not prepared at all for the new style of mechanized war based on the German " lightning war " model ( " blitzkrieg " ) . From 1936 to 1939 , Italy participated on the side of Spanish General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War . The 50 , 000 to 75 , 000 strong " Corps of Volunteer Troops " ( " Corpo Truppe Volontarie " , or CVT ) was of significant assistance to the Spanish Nationalist cause and was involved in the Aragon Offensive and the " March to the Sea . " Unfortunately for the Italian Royal Army , a large number of Italian weapons and supplies were utilized by the CVT or provided to Spanish Nationalists forces during this conflict . In 1939 , Italy conquered the small nation of Albania without difficulty and forced King Zog to flee . As would be expected , Italy suffered few casualties . But this occupation stretched to the limit the resources of the Italian Royal Army . In spring 1940 , the available oil resources for possible military operations ( of the Army and Navy ) were for only one year . History during World War II . Unlike German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler , the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was officially only the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy . King Victor Emmanuel III remained Head of State and Commander - in - Chief of the Italian Royal Armed Forces . Hence , Mussolini needed the consent of the King ( who always looked at France as the center of European politics ) to declare war and enter the Second World War . Initially the King and his staff ( conscious of the Italian lack of preparation to war ) did not approve Mussolini ' s intentions , but when France was clearly defeated in June 1940 , the Italian Royal Army ( " Regio Esercito " ) was abruptly sent to war . Mussolini made the mistake to believe that the United Kingdom would accept peace agreements with the Axis after France ' s surrender , and did not anticipate a long lasting war . Consequently , Italy entered the war inadequately prepared . Initial campaigns . Italy declared war on 10 June 1940 and initially the Royal Army started a campaign with limited advances in the Alps against the French Army . But the French were not quickly defeated on this front and all advances came at a high cost to the Italian army . Only in July , after the French surrender to Germany , did the Royal Army initiate a limited campaign from Italian colonies in Africa ( Libya and Italian East Africa ) against the British in Africa ( Egypt , Kenya , and the Sudan ) . Italian forces invaded into Egypt , Kenya , and the Sudan . In August , the Royal Army obtained the only Italian victory in World War II without German intervention when it successfully carried out the conquest of British Somaliland . Indeed in the first six months of war Italy obtained only minor conquests , as Mussolini mistakenly waited for a quick end of the war . But soon Britain struck back at the end of that year . In December 1940 , British and Commonwealth forces launched Operation Compass which , by February 1941 , ended in the conquering of all of Cyrenaica and the complete destruction of a large Italian army . In January 1941 , other British and Commonwealth forces launched an invasion of Italian East Africa . By November of that year , at the conclusion of the East African Campaign , the last organized Italian troops surrendered with military honors in Gondar while some Italian officers started a guerrilla war , mainly in Ethiopia and Eritrea . In Europe , Mussolini wanted to imitate the German " lightning war " ( " blitzkrieg " ) . This was the astonishingly fast way that allowed Germany to conquer in a few months Poland , Denmark , Norway , the Netherlands , Luxemburg , Belgium , and France . Mussolini invaded Greece from Albania in October 1940 . But the advances of the Royal Army were blocked by the Greek Army and bad weather . Soon Greek counter - attacks forced the Italians onto the defensive inside Albania . In March 1941 , prior to the German invasion of Yugoslavia , the Italian Royal Army launched an offensive against the Greeks which ended with few meaningful gains and at high costs . A few weeks later the Axis forces of Germany , Italy , Hungary and Bulgaria defeated in a few days the Yugoslavian army and invaded Greece . The Axis victory was swift : on April 17 , 1941 , Yugoslavia surrendered after only eleven days , while Greece was fully occupied in May and was placed under the triple occupation of Italy , Germany and Bulgaria . German and Italian cooperation . After these setbacks , Mussolini accepted assistance from Hitler and the Royal Army was reinforced ( and in some cases even trained to modern military tactics and organizations ) by the powerful German Army ( " Wehrmacht Heer " ) . The Royal Army even started to receive better and more modern armaments from the Italian industry , after the pressures from Mussolini to activate to the maximum the Italian " war machine " . The result was a combined German and Italian offensive during the spring and summer of 1941 throughout the entire Mediterranean area : Meanwhile , Mussolini sent an Italian army against the Soviet Union . In July 1941 , the " Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia " ( " Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia " , or CSIR ) arrived and assisted with the German conquest of Ukraine . By 1942 , Italian forces in the Soviet Union were more than doubled to become the " Italian Army in Russia " ( " Armata Italiana in Russia " , or ARMIR ) . This army , also known as the Italian 8th Army , " was deployed in the outskirts of Stalingrad where it was badly mauled during the Battle of Stalingrad . In November 1942 , with the arrival of the American Army in the Maghreb , the Italian Royal Army occupied Corsica and the French Provence up to the Rhone river . This was the last military expansion of Italy . Defeat . The Battle of El Alamein , lasting from July to November 1942 , was the turning point of the war for the Italian and British Army . As Churchill wrote in his Memories : " . . . before El Alamein we had only defeats , after El Alamein we had only victories . . . " . The Italian Royal Army fought this battle in a way that can be summarized by the sacrifice of the Division Folgore : the historian Renzo De Felice wrote that " . . . of the 5 . 000 " Folgore " paratroopers sent to Africa 4 months before , the survived were only 32 officers and 262 soldiers , most of them wounded . Before the surrender , they shot until the last ammo and the last hand - grenade . . . " . After the defeat at El Alamein , the Royal Army lost Libya in a few months . Tunisia , just occupied together with the German Army in November 1942 , was lost in May 1943 . In July 1943 Sicily was invaded by the Allies and on 8 September 1943 Italy signed the Armistice with the Allies . Army of the Badoglio government . Because of the chaotic way the Armistice was done , the Italian Royal Army ( " Regio Esercito " ) suffered a terrible crisis of leadership between September and October 1943 . The German occupation of Italy and of Italian positions in the Balkans and elswewhere was swift and often violent . There were 73 , 277 casualties in those months . With King Victor Emmanuel III and Marshal Pietro Badoglio in command , the Royal Army entered the war on the side of the Allies . Fighting for what became known as the " Badoglio government , " the Italian Co - Belligerent Army , the Italian Co - Belligerent Air Force , and the Italian Co - Belligerent Navy were formed . Meanwhile Mussolini organized a new Fascist army in his " Italian Social Republic " ( " Repubblica Sociale Italiana " , or RSI ) in northern Italy . This army was called the Italian National Republican Army ( " Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano " , or ENR ) . While it lasted until April 1945 , the RSI never amounted to being more than a puppet state of Nazi Germany . Casualties . Nearly four million Italians served in the Italian Royal Army during the Second World War . Nearly one half of a million Italians ( including civilians ) died between June 1940 and May 1945 . The Royal Army suffered 161 , 729 casualties between 10 June 1940 and 8 September 1943 in the war against the Allies . There were an additional 18 , 655 Italian casualties in Italy ( plus 54 , 622 Italian casualties in the rest of Europe ) between September and October 1943 . These casualties were suffered against the German Army ( " Wehrmacht " ) after the Italian Armistice . There were about 12 , 000 casualties in the northern Italian guerrilla war ( " Guerra di Liberazione " ) and in the " Italian Royal Army " on the side of the Allies . Nearly 60 , 000 Italian POWs died in Nazi labour camps , while nearly 20 , 000 perished in Allied Prisoner of War camps ( mainly Russian : 1 / 4 of the 84 , 830 Italians officially lost in the Soviet Union were taken prisoners , and most of them never returned home ) . Divisions of the Royal Italian Army . The Regio Esercito fielded the following types of divisions : " Alpini " ( Mountain ) , Armoured , Blackshirt , " Celere " ( Fast ) , Coastal , Infantry , Libyan , Motorized , North African , Semi - Motorized , Airborne . The most distinguished Italian divisions during the war , and those which saw most combat action , were ( in parenthesis their main theaters of operation ) : Ranks of the Royal Army during the Second World War . The Royal Army had its own set of ranks for all active service personnel .