133ª Divisione corazzata “Littorio”

133rd Panzer Division "Littorio"
coat of arms
active	1937 to November 1942
Country
Armed forces	Royal Italian Army
Type	Armored Division
structure	See outline
Insinuation	Corpo Truppe Volontarie , Panzer Army Africa
equipment	L3 / 33 M13 / 40 Semovente 75/18 Autoblindo AB41
Second World War	Aragon offensive Western campaign Africa campaign El Alamein 1 Battle of Alam Halfa El Alamein 2
Commanders
list of	Commanders

The 133ª Divisione corazzata “Littorio” ( German  133rd Panzer Division “Littorio” ) was a major military unit of the Royal Italian Army . It was formed in 1937 as the 4th Motorized Division Littorio des Corpo Truppe Volontarie and took part in the Spanish Civil War. There she was involved in the Aragon offensive . In 1940 it was converted into the Italian 3rd Panzer Division. She then took part in the Italian invasion of France and the Balkan campaign (1941). In early 1942 she was relocated to North Africa. The division stayed there until it was destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942.

Division history

Spain and France

After participating in the Spanish Civil War, the division was rebuilt after its return from 1939 to 1940 to the third existing Italian armored division and then took part in the invasion of France. Here she took part in the battles for the Little St. Bernard Pass . Since the division was the only deployed Italian tank division and its 150-250 tankettes L3 / 33 were no longer fit for war, there were no successes.

Balkans

Then she was transferred to the Italian 2nd Army in 1941 and conquered parts of Croatia and Slovenia against little resistance .

North africa

The "Littorio" was never intended or trained for operations in the desert, but the agile warfare that prevailed in the African campaign forced the Italian high command to move all three tank divisions to North Africa during the war. Their first units reached the port of Tripoli in early January 1942. Their relocation was completed by March 1942 and the division then formed the Italian XX with the 132nd Panzer Division "Ariete" and the 101st Motorized Division "Trieste" . motorized corps within the Panzer Army Africa . Their tanks now consisted of 105 M13 / 40 tanks and 45 Autoblindo AB41 reconnaissance tanks .

She participated in the Theseus company and was involved in the Tobruk case . During the advance on El Alamein it had already suffered heavy losses and lost most of its tanks due to Allied air strikes. Therefore it was used as the only armored division in the First Battle of El Alamein for flank protection, while the attack forces consisted of the 21st Panzer Division , 15th Panzer Division , 90th Light Africa Division and the 132nd Panzer Division "Ariete" put together.

During the Battle of Alam Halfa , the division was reassigned to the attack force and eventually had to withdraw like the other divisions. The end of the division finally came during the Second Battle of El Alamein .

At the beginning of the battle, together with the German 15th Panzer Division, it formed the mobile reserve in the north of the battle. Since the main attack of the Allied forces took place here at the beginning, it suffered heavy losses from the start. The British armed forces had managed to destroy large parts of the 164th light Africa division and the 102nd motorized division "Trento" , which forced counter-attacks by the mechanized reserve. These battles lasted from October 25 to November 4, 1942. Then the Italian XX. Corps destroyed by the British 1st Armored Division and the British 10th Armored Division. The directed propaganda of the time declared that the English suffered enormous losses and the Italians fought to the last man.

Harry Zinder of Time Magazine wrote that the Italians fought better than expected and the demise of the three mechanized Italian divisions allowed the remnants of the tank army to escape west.

literature

• de Mesa, José Luis, El regreso de las legiones: (la ayuda militar italiana à la España nacional, 1936–1939), García Hispán, Granada: España, 1994
• George F. Nafziger - Italian Order of Battle: An organizational history of the Italian Army in World War II (3 vol)
• John Joseph Timothy Sweet - Iron Arm: The Mechanization of Mussolini's Army, 1920-1940