SkipCaptcha
541
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 44:
Line 44: + +
→Second World War
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 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.
On 23 March, the 10th Panzer Division and supporting 7th Bersaglieri Regiment attack Lieutenant-Colonel Robert H. York's 1st Battalion from the 18th Infantry Regiment (US 1st Infantry Division) and the Panzers penetrate the valley between the US 1st and 3rd Battalions, reaching a position about six miles behind the 1st Battalion.<ref>''"On March 23, Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. York commanded the 1st Battalion of an Infantry Regiment of the First Division, which was in position on the northeastern slopes of Djebel Berda, generally facing Hill 369, about seven miles east of El Guettar. At dawn that day, the German 10th Panzer Division and elements of the Italian 7th Bersaglieri Regiment attacked the 1st Division with at least two hundred vehicles. Colonel York's regiment, owing to its position, bore the brunt of the attack. The enemy tanks succeeded in penetrating the valley between the 3d and 1st Battalions which held the high ground on either side and some of the enemy tanks reached a position about six miles to the rear of the 1st Battalion before the attack was finally broken down."'' Infantry Journal, Volumes 54-55, p. 42, United States Infantry Association, 1944</ref>The Panzer Division with the help of the Bersaglieri riding in half-tracks, trucks and motorcycles overrun the US 32nd Field Artillery Battalion and part of the US 5th Field Artillery Battalion, with the Italian Supreme Command reporting that 170 Allied troops had been captured in the counterattack.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19430324&id=M4ohAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dZgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2523,3907893&hl=en Yankee Units Within Hour's Drive of Sea; Blast 30 Nazi Tanks, Reading Eagle, 24 March 1943]</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.
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.