Corpo d'armata d'assalto

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Corpo d'Armata d'assalto ( German  Storm Corps ) was a special corps of the Italian Army in the First World War .

history

The storm corps marked the end of the organizational development of the Italian Arditi storm troops in World War I. After assault units at battalion level had been assigned to the armies and corps for special use, a partial consolidation into large units was planned. A first assault division was set up on June 10, 1918, which mostly remained in reserve in the second Battle of the Piave . On June 25, 1918, immediately after the end of the battle, the 2nd Sturmdivision was created, which was combined with the 1st in the new Sturmkorps under General Francesco Saverio Grazioli.

The two divisions were initially each of three regiments strong battle groups, each with three battalion equivalent stormtroops it came up a Bersaglieri -Bataillon, a cavalry - squadron , a mountain artillery - department , an engineering battalion and a telecommunications company . Further division troops and corps troops were waived because of the special combat mission. If necessary, the higher army commandos should provide the necessary support.

For the formation of the two divisions, armies and army corps had to initially surrender a total of 18 assault battalions, which were immediately replaced by new formations. Shortly after the formation, three out of nine storm battalions in each of the two divisions were replaced by Bersaglieri battalions. Thus the three combat groups of the two divisions each had two assault battalions and one Bersaglieri battalion.

The Sturmkorps belonged to the 8th Army in the central attack section on Montello at the end of October 1918 in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto , but it was not used as a closed unit. After considerable problems in overcoming the Piave , it was mainly thanks to the 1st Storm Division that the bridgehead at Sernaglia was created, then held against attacks and finally broken through to the north. To the east of Montello, at Ponte della Priula , the VIII. Corps and the 2nd Assault Division managed to cross only after the XVIII. Corps of the 8th Army crossed the bridges of the 10th Army south and then fought free the eastern bank of the Piave in a north-westerly direction. The 2nd storm division was then able to advance with other associations in the direction of Susegana and Conegliano . Since no formations were subordinate to the staff of the Assault Corps at this time, General Grazioli took over the 8th Corps, which was in trouble off Ponte della Priula.

After the war, the Italian storm troops and all their units and units were disbanded without exception by the end of 1920, because their soldiers no longer fit into the army's peace structure due to their radical attitude. Many of them could no longer cope with civil life either.

The dissolution of the Sturmkorps and the 2nd Sturmdivision took place between January and February 1919. The 1st Division was sent to Libya in March 1919 for a little over a year . Smaller associations were temporarily used in Italy to maintain public order .

literature

  • Vittorio Cogno: 400 anni di vita degli eserciti sabaudo e italiano - repertorio generale 1593–1993 . Edizioni Fachin, Trieste 1995.
  • Giorgio Rochat: Gli Arditi della Grande Guerra: origini, battaglie e miti. LEG, Gorizia 2006, ISBN 88-86928-02-5 .
  • Giorgio Rochat, Giulio Massobrio: Breve storia dell'esercito italiano dal 1861 al 1943. Einaudi, Turin 1978.
  • Filippo Stefani: La storia della dottrina e degli ordinamenti dell'esercito italiano. (Ed. Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore Esercito-USSME, 3 vols.) USSME, Rome 1986.

Web links