17th "Pavia" Infantry Division
The 17th Pavia Infantry Division was a major combat formation of the Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army) during the Second World War. It was formed in October 1939 and sent to Italian Libya in February 1941 for defensive operations during the final stages of Operation Compass. The Pavia saw extensive action in North Africa and was destroyed in the Second Battle of El Alamein. The bulk of the division comprised the 27th, 28th Infantry Regiments and 26th Artillery Regiment.
Contents
Battle of El Mechili
The Pavia Division took part in General Erwin Rommel's first desert offensive (nickhamed the Benghazi Derby among the retreating British Imperial troops) in late March and early April 1941. Under Major-General Pietro Zaglio, the Pavia attacked via the Balbia coastal road from Agedabia, helping the Ariete Armoured Division and 8th Bersaglieri Regiment force the Australian, British and Indian divisions to relinquish their gains and fall back to Tobruk. On April 3, the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment with the help of reconnaissance troops from the Sabratha Division, recaptured Benghazi and advanced to El Mechili, along with the advance elements from the German 5th Light Division. On April 8, General Gambier-Parry surrendered to General Zaglio and the Pavia after a breakout attempt was broken up by heavy fire from the Fabris and Montemurro Bersaglieri Battalions that had taken up ambush positions around the British fortress under the cover of darkness. Some 3,000 British, Indian and Australian soldiers were captured as a result of the actions of the Pavia and supporting Bersaglieri.[1][2]
With the arrival of the German Afrika Korps, the Pavia and Brescia Divisions help isolate and capture Bardia. The Italian divisions then take part in the Siege of Tobruk, taking up positions in the southern sector of the Axis siege lines.
In early May 1941, the Australians defending Tobruk counterattack in an attempt to recover several strong-points lost to the Italians from the Ariete and Brescia Divisions, but the Pavia, Trento and Ariete defeat the attacks.[3]
Operation Crusader
On November 23 1941, the British 70th Infantry Division with 60 supporting tanks overruns part of the defenses of the 25th Bologna Infantry Division, but the Pavia counterattacks, restoring the broken lines.[4]
On December 4, the Pavia and Trento recapture the British-held ‘Plonk and ‘Doc’ strong-points outside Tobruk.[5]
On December 5, the Pavia Division from positions at El Adem covers the German withdrawal from Tobruk, delaying the advance of the 1st Battalion from the Durham Light Infantry in chaotic night-fighting lasting over three hours.[6]
On December 14, the Maoris from the New Zealand 22nd Battalion encountered stiff resistance from the Pavia Division that counterattacked them twice, before withdrawing. The New Zealanders with the help of strong artillery fire capture 382 soldiers from the Pavia in the action, but lose 3 killed and 27 wounded in the process.[7]
On December 15, the Pavia, Brescia and Trento Divisions covering the German withdrawal from the Gazala Line, successfully resist the advance of the 2nd New Zealand Division and supporting Polish Brigade, allowing Italian and German armoured forces to join and deliver a strong counterattack that overruns the 1st Battalion, Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs).[8]
Operation Venezia
On June 16 1942, the Pavia takes part in the mopping-up operations following the Battle of Knightsbridge, with 6,000 demoralized British Imperial troops falling into Italian hands.[9]
El Alamein
The division took part in the First Battle of El Alamein as part of the Italian 10th Corps. During the initial phase of the fighting the Pavia served as part of the rearguard for the Ariete Armoured Division where, according to US Army Colonel Conrad H. Lanza, the division repulsed the advance of the Maoris of the New Zealand 23rd Battalion with a night counterattack that overwhelmed the New Zealanders.[10]Corporal Pasquale Franchi from the Pavia would posthumously win the Medaglia d'Argento al Valore Militare for his role in the counterattack.
On the night of July 14/15 1942, the Pavia along with the Brescia Division put up a stubborn defence on Ruweisat Ridge, allowing Field Marshall Erwin Rommel to assemble German armoured and motorized infantry units to counterattack in support of the Italians, overrunning the attacking New Zealand infantry and supporting British armour in the morning action.[11][12] Captain Amalio Stagni and Corporal Ugo Vaia from the Pavia would each posthumously win the Medaglia d'Argento al Valore Militare for their leadership during the night action on Ruweisat.
During the Second Battle of El Alamein, one battalion from the Pavia Division fought alongside the Folgore Parachute Division. At the end of the battle, the Pavia along with the other two divisions from the Italian 10th Corps were abandoned without transport as the remnants of the Afrika Korps retreated from Alamein to Fuka and Mersa Matruh on November 4 1942. At Mersa Matruh, where several of the survivors of the Pavia had regrouped (including its commander), the remnants of the division were soon trapped and forced to surrender.[13]
References
- ↑ "The victory must have been especially sweet for the men of the Ariete Division, partly as recompense for past humiliations at British hands, and partly because it was an all-Italian triumph." Tobruk: The Great Siege, 1941-42, William F. Buckingham, Random House, 2010
- ↑ "On April 8, the Afrika Korps completed the destruction of the 2nd Armoured Division. Major General Michael D. Gambier-Parry, the commander of the 2nd Armoured, and Brigadier Vaughn, the commander of the Indian 3rd Motor Brigade, were captured, along with 3,000 of their men." Rommel's Desert Commanders: The Men who Served the Desert Fox, North Africa, 1941-1942, Samuel W. Mitcham, p. 18, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007
- ↑ "On the night of 3rd May, the Italian Trento and Pavia Divisions ... repelled an Australian counterattack." The Forgotten Axis: Germany's Partners and Foreign Volunteers in World War II, J. Lee Ready, p. 310, Jefferson, NC, 1987
- ↑ "After a sudden artillery concentration the garrison of Fortress Tobruk, supported by sixty tanks, made an attack on the direction of Bel Hamid at noon, intending at long last unite with the main offence group. The Italian siege front around the fortress tried to offer a defence in the confusion but was forced to relinquish numerous strong points in the encirclement front about Bir Bu Assaten to superior enemy forces. The Italian “Pavia” Division was committed for a counterattack and managed to seal off the enemy breakthrough.” Generalmajor Major Alfred Toppe (et al), German Experiences in Desert Warfare During World War II, in 2 volumes, Combat Studies Institute/Combined Arms Research Library, 1952
- ↑ Italians passed to counter-attack along the whole line
- ↑ "The operation proceeded without opposition until the 1/Durham Light Infantry had advanced some 5,000 yards. Here the Pavia Division had established a rearguard position which was tenaciously defended but overcome after midnight by an attack made in conjunction with tanks of the 32nd Army Tank Brigade." Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Volume 3, Barton Maughan, p. 509, Australian War Memorial, 1966
- ↑ "At 3 a.m. on 14 December the guns opened a 15-minute concentration and the Maoris closed in with bayonets fixed, meeting mortar, MG and anti-tank fire and using grenades freely to overcome it. In little more than an hour resistance ended and C and D Companies began to dig in just west of the foremost defences, while A Company extended the position on lower ground to the east-north-east. B Company, which had advanced farthest, struck trouble, however, from another enemy position on the escarpment to the west and was twice counter-attacked." The Relief of Tobruk, W. E. Murphy, p. 496, War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1961
- ↑ "The Poles and New Zealanders made good initial progress, taking several hundred Italian prisoners; but the Italians rallied well, and by noon it was clear to General Alfred Godwin-Austen that his two brigades lacked the weight to achieve a breakthrough on the right flank. It was the same story in the centre, where the Italians of ‘Trieste’ continued to repulse 5th Indian Brigade’s attack on Point 208. By mid-afternoon the III Corps attack had been fought to a halt all along the line." Crusader: Eighth Army’s Forgotten Victory, November 1941-January 1942, Richard Humble, p. 187, Leo Cooper, 1987
- ↑ "The Italians finished mopping up the Gazala Line on June 16, capturing 6,000 prisoners, thousands of tons of supplies, and entire convoys of undamaged vehicles in the process" The Rise of the Wehrmacht: The German Armed Forces and World War, 2 Volumes, p.564, Samuel W. Mitcham, Praeger, 2008
- ↑ First Battle of El Alamein
- ↑ "While the attacking brigades had been able to cut large gaps through the defences held y the Italian infantry, they had not been able to subdue all the resistance. Not surprisingly, most of the smaller outposts and defended localities had fallen easily but some of the larger posts had been bypassed during the night. The outposts which remained contained substantial number of anti-tank guns, machine guns and infantry. When daylight came, these posts were able to cover the area south of the ridge by fire and shot up any trucks foolhardy enough to drive forward." Pendulum Of War: Three Battles at El Alamein, Niall Barr, p. 131, Random House, 2010
- ↑ "On the right, Indian 5th Division (XXX Corps) attacked Point 64 on the centre of the feature, the New Zealand Division (XIII Corps) was on the left attacking Point 63 at the western end of the ridge and the 1st Armoured Division gave support along the line of the inter-corps boundary. The night attack was preceded by Albacore aircraft dropping flares and fighter-bombers strafing the enemy lines. At first both divisions made good progress as they fought their way through the Italian Brescia and Pavia Divisions who were holding the ridge. The advance slowed down when they met extensive minefields and there was some loss of cohesion when the New Zealanders were attacked by tanks from 8th Panzer Regiment of 15th Panzer Division and lost 350 prisoners." El Alamein 1942: The Turning of the Tide, Ken Ford, p. 42, Osprey Publishing, 2005
- ↑ Axis Runs
