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Bersaglieri Corps (view source)
Revision as of 02:29, September 20, 2016
, 02:29, September 20, 2016→Second World War
During the [[First Battle of El Alamein]], the 7th and 9th Bersaglieri Regiments along with the ''Sabratha'', ''Trento'' and ''Trieste'' Divisions showed great courage, halting the Australian advance on 11 July and defeating the New Zealand attack on Ruweisat Ridge on 22 July.
During the [[First Battle of El Alamein]], the 7th and 9th Bersaglieri Regiments along with the ''Sabratha'', ''Trento'' and ''Trieste'' Divisions showed great courage, halting the Australian advance on 11 July and defeating the New Zealand attack on Ruweisat Ridge on 22 July.
During the Second Battle of Alamein, the 12th Bersaglieri Regiment fought especially hard, manning the Italian 47mm and 90mm guns in defence of El Aqqaqir Ridge, destroying 70 tanks from the British 9th Armoured Brigade. Berlin Radio acknowledged that in this sector the ''"British were made to pay for their penetration with enormous losses in men and material. The Italians fought till the last man."'' <ref>Rolling Thunder: A Century of Tank Warfare, Philip Kaplan, p. 139, Pen and Sword, 2013</ref>
During the [[Second Battle of Alamein]], the 12th Bersaglieri Regiment fought especially hard, manning the Italian 47mm and 90mm guns in defence of El Aqqaqir Ridge, destroying 70 tanks from the British 9th Armoured Brigade. Berlin Radio acknowledged that in this sector the ''"British were made to pay for their penetration with enormous losses in men and material. The Italians fought till the last man."'' <ref>Rolling Thunder: A Century of Tank Warfare, Philip Kaplan, p. 139, Pen and Sword, 2013</ref>
The Bersaglieri remained a force to be reckoned with even after the defeat at Alamein and, on 3 December 1942 the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment forced the surrender of 300 British and American paratroopers during the [[Battle of Tebourba]].
The Bersaglieri fought again during the [[Battle of Kasserine Pass]] with the 5th and 7th Bersaglieri Regiments capturing 2,450 Allied soldiers.
During [[Operation Husky]] (the Allied invasion of Sicily), the 10th and 177th Bersaglieri Regiments fiercely contested the advance of the US 15th Regimental Combat Team and 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions. Resistance was stiff enough to require house-to-house combat. US military historian Samuel Eliot Morison concluded that in the American advance ''"The Italians fought manfully for Agrigento".'' <ref>History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: Sicily - Salerno - Anzio, January 1943 - June 1944, Samuel Eliot Morison, p. 176, University of Illinois Press, 2001</ref>
During [[Operation Husky]] (the Allied invasion of Sicily), the 10th and 177th Bersaglieri Regiments fiercely contested the advance of the US 15th Regimental Combat Team and 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions. Resistance was stiff enough to require house-to-house combat. US military historian Samuel Eliot Morison concluded that in the American advance ''"The Italians fought manfully for Agrigento".'' <ref>History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: Sicily - Salerno - Anzio, January 1943 - June 1944, Samuel Eliot Morison, p. 176, University of Illinois Press, 2001</ref>