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| | 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 developing from Tel el Eisa on 11 July and defeating the 2nd New Zealand Division's attempt to capture 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 developing from Tel el Eisa on 11 July and defeating the 2nd New Zealand Division's attempt to capture Ruweisat Ridge on 22 July. |
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| − | 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 in the process. 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 El 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 in the process. 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> |
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| | The Bersaglieri remained a force to be reckoned with during the [[Tunisian Campaign]] and, in early December 1942 the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment forced the surrender of 300 Allied paratroopers operating behind Axis lines during the [[Battle of Tebourba]]. | | The Bersaglieri remained a force to be reckoned with during the [[Tunisian Campaign]] and, in early December 1942 the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment forced the surrender of 300 Allied paratroopers operating behind Axis lines during the [[Battle of Tebourba]]. |
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| | Field Marshal Erwin Rommel had special words of praise for the Bersaglieri, with their commander, Colonel Luigi Bonfatti killed leading the attack. | | Field Marshal Erwin Rommel had special words of praise for the Bersaglieri, with their commander, Colonel Luigi Bonfatti killed leading the attack. |
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| − | The 5th, 8th, 10th Bersaglieri Regiments and ''Giovani Fascisti'' Division fought as part of the 1st Italian Army around Takrouna during the [[Battle of Tunis]], surrendering on 13 May after defeating the attacks from the British 56th ''Black Cat'' Division and 1st Free French Division, several days after the collapse of the Afrika Korps facing the US 1st Armoured and 3rd Infantry Divisions on 6 May.<ref>Maj. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, commanding II Corps, had originally planned to have Truscott's 3rd Division relieve the battle-weary 1st ID. However, as Truscott was moving his division forward to effect that relief, Bradley contacted him on the night of the fifth and told him that General Harmon had requested additional infantry to support his division's attack on a strongly defended German position on the peninsula east of Bizerte, and directed that Truscott send an infantry regiment to the Ferryville area for attachment to the 1st AD. Bradley had also ordered that an infantry regiment from the 9th ID and additional field artillery and antiaircraft join Harmon's division for the attack. Truscott's regiment was to attack the following morning. Truscott joined Harmon at his commando post southeast of Ferryville early the next morning, and after breakfast the two set out on a reconnaissance mission to ascertain how far forward Truscott's force could assemble for the attack. As they traveled they found that Harmon's troopers and their tanks were already in possession of the entire peninsula excepting the high ridge overlooking the Mediterranean, from which there came no sounds of enemy fire. It was obvious to Harmon and Truscott that "the battle in Tunisia was all but done and that no large force would be required to clear the ridge." Dogface Soldier: The Life of General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr, By Wilson A., Heefner, p. 101, University of Missouri Press, 2010</ref> | + | The 57th Bersaglieri Battalion from the ''Trieste'' Division fought in the [[Battle of El Guettar]] in March, distinguishing itself near El Hamma–El Guettar, with several bersaglieri eventually taken prisoner. |
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| | + | The 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th Bersaglieri Regiments and ''Giovani Fascisti'' Division fought as part of the 1st Italian Army around Takrouna during the [[Battle of Tunis]], surrendering on 13 May after defeating the attacks from the British 56th ''Black Cat'' Division and 1st Free French Division, several days after the collapse of the Afrika Korps facing the US 1st Armoured and 3rd Infantry Divisions on 6 May.<ref>Maj. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, commanding II Corps, had originally planned to have Truscott's 3rd Division relieve the battle-weary 1st ID. However, as Truscott was moving his division forward to effect that relief, Bradley contacted him on the night of the fifth and told him that General Harmon had requested additional infantry to support his division's attack on a strongly defended German position on the peninsula east of Bizerte, and directed that Truscott send an infantry regiment to the Ferryville area for attachment to the 1st AD. Bradley had also ordered that an infantry regiment from the 9th ID and additional field artillery and antiaircraft join Harmon's division for the attack. Truscott's regiment was to attack the following morning. Truscott joined Harmon at his commando post southeast of Ferryville early the next morning, and after breakfast the two set out on a reconnaissance mission to ascertain how far forward Truscott's force could assemble for the attack. As they traveled they found that Harmon's troopers and their tanks were already in possession of the entire peninsula excepting the high ridge overlooking the Mediterranean, from which there came no sounds of enemy fire. It was obvious to Harmon and Truscott that "the battle in Tunisia was all but done and that no large force would be required to clear the ridge." Dogface Soldier: The Life of General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr, By Wilson A., Heefner, p. 101, University of Missouri Press, 2010</ref> |
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| | During [[Operation Husky]] (the Allied invasion of Sicily), the 10th, 73rd and 177th Bersaglieri Regiments managed to contain the American advance, but were eventually overwhelmed by Allied air power. Resistance from the Bersaglieri was stiff enough to force the US 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions to engage in house-to-house combat in the streets of Agrigento, with US military historian Samuel Eliot Morison acknowleding that ''"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, 73rd and 177th Bersaglieri Regiments managed to contain the American advance, but were eventually overwhelmed by Allied air power. Resistance from the Bersaglieri was stiff enough to force the US 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions to engage in house-to-house combat in the streets of Agrigento, with US military historian Samuel Eliot Morison acknowleding that ''"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> |