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25th "Bologna" Infantry Division (view source)
Revision as of 21:10, December 6, 2018
, 21:10, December 6, 2018→El Alamein
During the Battle of Alam el Halfa, the Bologna and supporting German 433rd Infantry Regiment stuck back, overrunning several Indian, South African and New Zealand units defending Ruweisat Ridge, capturing Point 211 with 70 British soldiers falling into Italian hands.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19420901&id=dbpRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=D2oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5917,6800448&hl=en ROMMEL OPENS DRIVE IN EGYPT]</ref>
During the Battle of Alam el Halfa, the Bologna and supporting German 433rd Infantry Regiment stuck back, overrunning several Indian, South African and New Zealand units defending Ruweisat Ridge, capturing Point 211 with 70 British soldiers falling into Italian hands.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19420901&id=dbpRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=D2oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5917,6800448&hl=en ROMMEL OPENS DRIVE IN EGYPT]</ref>
Cyril Falls, a noted British military historian, later confirmed the Italian success::{{cquote|In the centre of the British front a good Italian division, the Bologna, delivered a strong attack on the Ruweisat Ridge, and a considerable counter-attack was required to expel it from the footing it gained. (AFTERMATH OF WAR: THE EIGHT ARMY FROM ALAMEIN TO THE SANGRO. The Illustrated London news, Volume 212, Issues 5672-5684, p. 262, The Illustrated London News & Sketch Ltd., 1948</ref>}}
Cyril Falls, a noted British military historian, later confirmed the Italian success:{{cquote|In the centre of the British front a good Italian division, the Bologna, delivered a strong attack on the Ruweisat Ridge, and a considerable counter-attack was required to expel it from the footing it gained.<ref>AFTERMATH OF WAR: THE EIGHT ARMY FROM ALAMEIN TO THE SANGRO. The Illustrated London news, Volume 212, Issues 5672-5684, p. 262, The Illustrated London News & Sketch Ltd., 1948</ref>}}
During the Second Battle of El Alamein, the ''Bologna'' Division and two supporting battalions from the German ''Ramcke'' Parachute Brigade held firm in the initial Allied advance, capturing 40 British soldiers attacking Ruweisat Ridge.
On November 4th, the final Allied attacks were made. The British 1st, 7th and 10th Armoured Divisions (under Major-General Gatehouse) penetrated through the Axis lines while heading towards Fuka. These attacks saw the destruction of the ''Ariete'' and ''Littorio'' Armoured Divisions, and the ''Bologna'' and ''Trieste'' Infantry Division. "On the morning of 4 November, however, 'a strong armoured force' of the British 7th Armoured Division penetrated the XXIst Corps' position and the Trento and Bologna Divisons gave ground." <ref>Germany and the Second World War: Volume 6: The Global War, Horst Boog, Werner Rahn, Reinhard Stumpf, Bernd Wegner, OUP Oxford, 2001</ref>
Private Sid Martindale from the 1st Battalion, The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, recalled the carnage inflicted in the Bologna Infantry Division:{{cquote|The more we advanced the more we realized that the Italians did not have much fight on them after putting up a strong resistance to our overwhelming advance and they started surrendering to our lead troops in droves. There was not much action to see but we came across lots of burnt out Italian tanks that had been destroyed by our tanks. I had never seen a battlefield before and the site of so many dead was sickening. <ref>The Italian Army In North Africa, Walter S. Zapotoczny, Fonthill Media, 2018</ref>}}
The remnants of the ''Bologna'' and ''Trento'' Divisions tried to fight their way out of the British encirclement, marching in the desert without water, food or transport before surrendering exhausted and suffering from severe dehydration. It was reported that Colonel Alfredo Dall'Olio, acting commander of the Bologna, surrendered saying: ''"We have ceased firing not because we haven't the desire but because we have spent every round."''<ref>Rolling Thunder: A Century of Tank Warfare, Philip Kaplan, p. 139, Pen and Sword, 2013</ref>In a final act of defiance, no one in what remained of the ''Bologna'' Division raised their hands.
US War correspondent Harry Zinder from ''TIME Magazine'' noted that the Italians fought better than had been expected and had covered the German retreat:{{cquote|
It was a terrific letdown by their German allies. They had fought a good fight. In the south, the famed Folgore parachute division fought to the last round of ammunition. Two armoured divisions and a motorised division, which had been interspersed among the German formations, thought they would be allowed to retire gracefully with Rommel's 21st, 15th and 90 Light. But even that was denied them. When it became obvious to Rommel that there would be little chance to hold anything between El Daba and the frontier, his Panzers dissolved, disintegrated and turned tail, leaving the Italians to fight a rear-guard action. <ref>Battlefronts: A PINT OF WATER PER MAN, Time Magazine, 16 November 1942</ref>}}
==References==
==References==