2ª Divisione celere “Emanuele Filiberto Testa di Ferro”

2ª Divisione celere “Emanuele Filiberto Testa di Ferro”
coat of arms
active	April 17, 1930 to September 12, 1943
Country
Armed forces	Royal Italian Army
Type	Cavalry Division , Rapid Division
structure	See story
Installation site	Bologna
Second World War	Balkan campaign (1941) , partisan war
Commanders
list of	Commanders

The 2ª Divisione celere "Emanuele Filiberto Testa di Ferro" ( German  2nd fast division "Emanuele Filiberto Testa di Ferro" ) was one of three fast divisions of the Italian army . These three partly mounted, partly motorized units existed from 1930 to 1943. The 2nd rapid division was named after Duke Emanuel Philibert of Savoy , who laid the foundations for the Piedmontese and then Italian armies in the 16th century . During the Second World War , the division was used in the Balkans .

history

The history of the Division dates back to the 1882 established 2nd Cavalry Division , whose traditions after the First World War the II. Cavalry Brigade took over. On April 17, 1930, the 2nd Rapid Division was set up in Bologna and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, an artillery regiment, a light tank division and smaller units were subordinated to it. On February 1, 1938, the brigade level was omitted, so that the corresponding regiments of the division were directly subordinated. These were two mounted cavalry regiments (which were exchanged several times), the 6th Bersaglieri regiment on bicycles, the partially motorized 2nd fast artillery regiment , the light tank division "San Marco" on L3 / 33 and L6 / 40 as well as smaller support units with a total of around 7,000 men.

In April 1939, the division took part in the Italian invasion of Albania . Then she was relocated to northeast Italy, where she secured the border with Yugoslavia . In March 1941 the 2nd artillery regiment had to be surrendered except for one division, and in July the latter too. In April 1941, the 2nd Rapid Division with the Rapid Corps as part of the 2nd Italian Army took part in the Yugoslavia campaign led by the German Wehrmacht . In July 1941 she returned to northeastern Italy. Towards the end of 1941, the division and its remaining units were used again against Yugoslav partisans and then moved first to Ferrara and then to Mondovì .

The 6th Bersaglieri regiment had to be surrendered to the 3rd rapid division in January 1942 , and in the following month of March the division also lost the “Lancieri di Firenze” cavalry regiment. On May 1, 1942, the division began to be regrouped to the 134th Panzer Division “Freccia”, but this was reversed by the following August. The 134th Panzer Division essentially consisted of the armored cavalry regiment “Lancieri di Vittorio Emanuele II”, the 1st Bersaglieri regiment and the 134th armored artillery regiment, plus the cavalry regiment “Lancieri di Montebello” as a tank reconnaissance unit . On August 1, 1942, the division returned to its old name. It consisted of the cavalry regiments "Nizza Cavalleria", "Piemonte Reale Cavalleria" and "Genova Cavalleria" as well as the 134th motorized artillery regiment and smaller units. With these associations, the division moved in November 1942 to the southeastern French departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Var . On September 4, 1943, the division withdrew towards Piedmont , where it was disbanded after the Armistice of Cassibile on September 12, 1943 at Cuneo .

Commanders

List of commanders from 1930 to 1943:

• Generale di Divisione Aldo Aimonio
• Generale di Divisione Cesare Bonati
• Generale di Divisione Claudio Trezzani
• Generale di Brigata Gervasio Bitossi (interim)
• Generale di Divisione Renzo Dalmazzo
• Generale di Divisione Sebastiano Visconti Prasca
• Generale di Brigata Furio Monticelli (interim)
• Generale di Divisione Gavino Pizzolato
• Generale di Divisione Carlo Ceriana Mayneri
• Colonnello Gian Carlo Ticchioli (interim)
• Generale di Brigata Enrico waiter
• Generale di Brigata Mario Badino Rossi
• Generale di Brigata Giuseppe Andreoli

literature

• George F. Nafziger "Italian Order of Battle: An organizational history of the Italian Army in World War II"
• Vittorio Cogno: 400 anni di vita degli eserciti sabaudo e italiano - repertorio generale 1593 - 1993 . Edizioni Fachin, Trieste 1995.

Web links

• Details on regioesercito.it