Changes

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]].

The Bersaglieri fought again during the [[Battle of Kasserine Pass]], with the 5th and 7th Bersaglieri Regiments capturing around 2,500 British, American and French troops and covering Rommel's withdrawal. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel had special words of praise for the  Bersaglieri, with their senior commander, Colonel Luigi Bonfatti killed leading the attack.

The Bersaglieri fought again during the [[Battle of Kasserine Pass]] as the Axis spearhead, with the 5th and 7th Bersaglieri Regiments capturing around 2,500 British, American and French troops and covering Rommel's withdrawal. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel had special words of praise for the  Bersaglieri, with their senior commander, Colonel Luigi Bonfatti killed leading the attack.

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.

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.

The 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th Bersaglieri Regiments and ''Giovani Fascisti'' Regiment fought as part of the 1st Italian Army around Hill 141 during the [[Battle of Tunis]], surrendering on 13 May after defeating all the attacks from the 2nd New Zealand Division, British 56th ''Black Cat'' Division and 1st Free French Division, a week after after the complete 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>and poor showing<ref>"Two remarkable features of this Axis debacle were, firstly, that in the end, when the battle had obviously gone against the Axis, the Italians fought better than the Germans. The German morale collapsed completely towards the close of the campaign. Well-armed German units with plenty of ammunition and provisions surrendered in strong defensive positions when they could have fought for many days (weeks or months) longer." The Conquest of Italy, Joseph Montague Kenworthy, p. 17, Hutchinson, 1944</ref>of the supporting German 90th Light Infantry Division.<ref>"For an hour the positions held by the 90th Light Infantry were obscured by a pall of smoke. At the end of the bombardment they surrendered. General Von Sponeck ... told General Keightley when he surrendered to him that although only two men had been killed and three wounded during the bombardment the morale of his men had been shattered." Tunisian Battle, John D'Arcy-Dawson, p. 248, Macdonald & Company, Limited, 1943</ref>  

The 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th Bersaglieri Regiments and ''Giovani Fascisti'' Regiment fought as part of the 1st Italian Army around Hill 141 during the [[Battle of Tunis]], surrendering on 13 May after defeating all the attacks from the 2nd New Zealand Division, British 56th ''Black Cat'' Division and 1st Free French Division, a week after after the complete 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>and poor showing<ref>"Two remarkable features of this Axis debacle were, firstly, that in the end, when the battle had obviously gone against the Axis, the Italians fought better than the Germans. The German morale collapsed completely towards the close of the campaign. Well-armed German units with plenty of ammunition and provisions surrendered in strong defensive positions when they could have fought for many days (weeks or months) longer." The Conquest of Italy, Joseph Montague Kenworthy, p. 17, Hutchinson, 1944</ref>of the supporting German 90th Light Infantry Division.<ref>"For an hour the positions held by the 90th Light Infantry were obscured by a pall of smoke. At the end of the bombardment they surrendered. General Von Sponeck ... told General Keightley when he surrendered to him that although only two men had been killed and three wounded during the bombardment the morale of his men had been shattered." Tunisian Battle, John D'Arcy-Dawson, p. 248, Macdonald & Company, Limited, 1943</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 take on the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment in house-to-house combat in the streets of Agrigento, with US military historian Samuel Eliot Morison acknowledging 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 outside [[Agrigento]], 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 take on the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment in house-to-house combat in the streets of Agrigento, with US military historian Samuel Eliot Morison acknowledging 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>

== Notes ==

== Notes ==