Second Italo-Ethiopian War order of battle: Italy
Appearance
The Italian order of battle for the Second Italo-Ethiopian War on 8 October 1935.[1] The Ethiopian order of battle is listed separately.
Comando Supremo Africa Orientale
[edit]Commander: General Emilio De Bono to November 1935, Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio November 1935 – June 1936
- 7th Artillery Group (77/28 field guns)
- Granatieri di Sardegna Battalion (coming from Italy)
- Alpini Battalion (coming from Italy)
- Guardia di Finanza Battalion (coming from Italy)
- 3 Assault Battalions (still in Italy)
- 7th Artillery Group (Obice da 149/13 howitzer) (coming from Italy)
- Engineer Unit Comando Supremo Africa Orientale
- Bombardment, Reconnaissance, and Fighter Aviation Command A. O. – Gen. Mario Ajmone Cat
- 3rd Air Brigade – Brig.Gen. Ferruccio Ranza Eritrea (145 aircraft)
- HQ Flight (4 × Caproni Ca.101 light bomber/transport aircraft)
- Reconnaissance Squadron (un-numbered):
- 34th Reconnaissance Flight (8 × Romeo Ro.1 reconnaissance and ground attack aircraft) attached to Eritrean Corps
- 38th Reconnaissance Flight (10 × Ro.1)
- 41st Reconnaissance Flight (10 × Ro.1)
- 103rd Reconnaissance Flight (9 × IMAM Ro.37)
- 116th Reconnaissance Flight (10 × Ro.1)
- 118th Reconnaissance Flight (10 × Ro.1) attached to II Army Corps
- 131st Reconnaissance Flight (10 × Ro.1)
- Libyan Reconnaissance Flight (11 × Ro.1) attached to I Army Corps
- 106th Fighter Flight (7 × CR.20)
- 4th Bombers Squadron – Brig.Gen. Attilio Matricardi
- 14th Bomber Flight "Hic Sunt Leones" – (10 × Caproni Ca.101 D/2)
- 15th Bomber Flight "La Disperata" – (10 × Ca.101 D/2)
- 27th Bomber Squadron
- 17th Bomber Flight (5 × Caproni Ca.111 light bombers)
- 18th Bomber Flight (5 × Ca.111)
- Hydroplanes Detachments (4 × Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.4 floatplane and 2 × CANT 25 flying boat fighter)
- 7th Bomber Wing detached to Somalia with 38 aircraft – Brig.Gen. Ferruccio Ranza (see below)
- 3rd Air Brigade – Brig.Gen. Ferruccio Ranza Eritrea (145 aircraft)
Northern Front – Eritrea
[edit]- I Army Corps – Ruggiero Santini[2]
- 4th CC.NN. Division "3 Gennaio" (still in Italy) – Gen. Alessandro Traditi
- 101st CC.NN. Legion, 104th CC.NN. Legion, 215th CC.NN. Legion
- 5th Alpine Division "Pusteria" – Gen. Luigi Negri Cesi
- 26th Infantry Division "Assietta" – Gen. Enrico Riccardi
- 38th Infantry Regiment "Ravenna", 63rd Infantry Regiment "Cagliari", 25th Artillery Regiment
- 30th Infantry Division "Sabauda" – Gen. Italo Gariboldi[2]
- 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment, 46th Infantry Regiment "Reggio", 60th Infantry Regiment "Calabria", 16th Artillery Regiment
- X Indigenes Battalion (Eritrean Ascari)
- XV Indigenes Battalion (Eritrean Ascari)
- Banda dello Scimezana (native troop)
- 5th Cavalry Squadrons Group
- 3rd Motorized Artillery Group (77 mm/28)
- 5th Motorized Artillery Group (105/28 cannons)
- Artillery Command of positions of Agame
- I Army Corps Engineer Unit
- Libyan Reconnaissance Flight (11 × Ro.1)
- 4th CC.NN. Division "3 Gennaio" (still in Italy) – Gen. Alessandro Traditi
- II Army Corps – Pietro Maravigna
- 3rd CC.NN. Division "21 Aprile" – Gen. Giacomo Appiotti
- 230th CC.NN. Legion, 252nd CC.NN. Legion, 263rd CC.NN. Legion
- 19th Infantry Division "Gavinana" – Gen. Nino Salvatore Villa Santa
- 70th Infantry Regiment "Ancona", 83rd Infantry Regiment "Venezia", 84th Infantry Regiment "Venezia", 19th Artillery Regiment
- 24th Infantry Division "Gran Sasso" – Gen. Adalberto Principe (Adi Ugri-Quala zone)
- 13th Infantry Regiment "Pinerolo", 14th Infantry Regiment "Pinerolo", 225th Infantry Regiment "Arezzo", 18th Artillery Regiment
- Gruppo Bande Altopiano (native troop)
- 10th Cavalry Squadrons Group
- Artillery Group Command (100 mm/17)
- Artillery Command of positions in western Tigre (Eritrean Ascari)
- 2nd Corps Engineer Unit
- 118th Reconnaissance Flight (10 × Ro.1) (Libyan)
- 3rd CC.NN. Division "21 Aprile" – Gen. Giacomo Appiotti
- Eritrean Corps – Alessandro Pirzio Biroli
- 1st Eritrean Division – Gen. Salvatore di Pietro
- 2nd Eritrean Division – Gen. Achille Vaccarisi
- 1st Eritrean CC.NN. Battalion Group – Filippo Diamanti
- 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Italian East African CC.NN. Infantry Battalions
- East African CC.NN. MMG Company
- Banda dell'Hassamò (Irregular troop)
- 6th Cavalry Squadrons Group
- Native Cavalry Squadron Group (Eritrean Ascari troop)
- 2nd Motorized Artillery Group 77 mm/28
- 3rd Motorized Artillery Group 100 mm/17 gun
- 4th Fast Tanks Squadrons Group
- Artillery Command of positions in eastern Tigre
- Eritrean Corps Engineer Unit
- 34th Reconnaissance Flight (8 × Ro.1)(Libyan)
- Western Lowlands Zone – Brig.Gen. Amedeo Couture
- XXVII Indigenes Battalion (Eritrean Ascari)
- XXVIII Indigenes Battalion (Eritrean Ascari)
- Irregulars Foot Bands Group
- "Celere" (fast) Group
- Eritrea Fast Tanks Squadron
- Eastern Lowlands Zone – Brig.Gen. Oreste Mariotti
- XXIV Indigenes Battalion (Eritrean Ascari)
- XXVI Indigenes Battalion (Eritrean Ascari)
- Libyan Battalion
- Massaua Irregulars Band
- Northern Dankalia Irregulars Band
- Southern Dankalia Irregulars Band
- 7th Artillery Battery (120L25)
- 37th Artillery Battery (77L28 – pack camels)
Sent to the front in February 1936
- III Army Corps – Lt.Gen. Ettore Bastico
- 27th Infantry Division "Sila" – Gen. Francesco Bertini
- 16th Infantry Regiment "Savona", 19th Infantry Regiment "Brescia", 20th Infantry Regiment "Brescia", 12th Artillery Regiment
- 1st CC.NN. Division "23 Marzo" – Gen. Filiberto Ludovico from Eritrean Corps[2]
- 135th CC.NN. Legion, 192nd CC.NN. Legion, 202nd CC.NN. Legion
- 27th Infantry Division "Sila" – Gen. Francesco Bertini
Formed in January 1936
- IV Army Corps – Gen. Ezio Babbini
- 5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" – Gen. Pietro Pintor
- 41st Infantry Regiment "Modena", 42nd Infantry Regiment "Modena", 29th Artillery Regiment
- 2nd CC.NN. Division "28 Ottobre" – Gen. Umberto Somma
- 114th CC.NN. Legion, 116th CC.NN. Legion, 180th CC.NN. Legion
- 5th CC.NN. Division "1 Febbraio" (still in Italy) – Gen. Attilio Teruzzi
- 107th CC.NN. Legion, 128th CC.NN. Legion, 142nd CC.NN. Legion
- 5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" – Gen. Pietro Pintor
Organized in March 1936
- Celere Column A.O. (Eritrea), Lt.Gen. Achille Starace
- 82nd CC.NN. Battalion "Mussolini"/6th CC.NN. Battalions Group, motorised
- 8th Artillery Group (77 mm/28, motorised)
- Included truck-transported machine-guns, armoured cars, altogether 3,000 men and 500 motor vehicles.
Southern Front – Somaliland
[edit]- Graziani Column – General Rodolfo Graziani
- 29th Infantry Division "Peloritana" – Gen. Giuseppe Pavone
- 3rd Infantry Regiment "Piemonte", 4th Infantry Regiment "Piemonte", 75th Infantry Regiment "Napoli", 24th Artillery Regiment
- Libyan Division (Libyan Colonial troops) – Guglielmo Nasi
- 6th CC.NN. Division "Tevere" (still in Italy) – Enrico Boscardi
- 219th CC.NN. Legion, 220th CC.NN. Legion, 221st CC.NN. Legion, 321st CC.NN. Legion
- Regiment "Lancieri di Aosta"
- 6x Battalions, Royal Colonial Troop Corps (Arab-Somali Colonial troops)
- Camel Mounted Artillery
- 6x Dubat Bands (Companies of Somali Irregulars)
- Ogaden border region command – Colonel Luigi Frusci
- 9 L3 tanks, 20 Armoured cars
- 6 Royal Colonial Troop Corps Battalions (Arabo-Somali Colonial troops)
- 6 Dubat Bands (Companies of Somali Irregulars)
- 150 trucks
- Sultan Olol Dinke Column (Feudal Army) – Olol Dinke, Sultan of Sciavelli
- 1000 Dubat (mounted Somali warriors of the Ajuran clan)
- 29th Infantry Division "Peloritana" – Gen. Giuseppe Pavone
- 7th Bomber Wing – Brig.Gen. Ferruccio Ranza (38 aircraft)
- 25th Bomber Squadron:
- 8th Bomber Flight (10 × Ca.101 bis)
- 9th Bomber Flight (10 × Ca.101 bis)
- Reconnaissance Flight (10 × Ro.1)
- 107th Fighter Flight (8 × CR.20)
- 25th Bomber Squadron:
Libya
[edit]Forces were deployed in Libya to threaten the Suez Canal should the British close it to Italian traffic. These units were considered to have taken part in the campaign.
- 18th Infantry Division "Metauro"
- 93rd Infantry Regiment "Messina", 157th Infantry Regiment "Liguria", 2nd Artillery Regiment
- 126th Infantry Division "Assietta II"
- 61st Infantry Regiment "Sicilia", 81st Infantry Regiment "Torino", 25th Artillery Regiment
- Motorized Division "Trento"
- 115th Infantry Regiment "Treviso", 116th Infantry Regiment "Treviso", 46th Artillery Regiment
- 7th CC.NN. Division "Cirene"
- 190th CC.NN. Legion, 196th CC.NN. Legion, 198th CC.NN. Legion, 241st CC.NN. Legion, 271st CC.NN. Legion, 267th CC.NN. Legion, 352nd CC.NN. Legion, 7th Motorized Artillery Regiment
See also
[edit]- Second Italo-Ethiopian War
- List of Second Italo-Ethiopian War weapons of Italy
- Ethiopian order of battle in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War
Footnotes
[edit]This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (December 2014) |
References
[edit]- Barker, A. J. (1968). The Civilising Mission: The Italo-Ethiopian War 1935–6. London: Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-93201-6.
- De Bono, E. (1937). La conquista dell' Impero La preparazione e le prime operazioni [The Preparation and First Operations]. Vol. I (2nd ed.). Roma: Istituto Nazionale Fascista di Cultura. pp. 175–177. OCLC 46203391.
- Gentili, Roberto (1992). Guerra aerea sull'Etiopia 1935–1939 [Air War in Ethiopia 1935–1939]. Firenze: EDAI. OCLC 797456198.
- Mockler, Anthony (2003). Haile Selassie's War. New York: Olive Branch Press. ISBN 978-1-56656-473-1.
- Pedriali, Ferdinando (1997). Guerra Etiopica 1935–1936 [Italian Aviation in the colonial wars – Ethiopian War 1935–1936]. L'aeronautica Italiana nelle guerre coloniali. Roma: Stato Maggiore Aeronautica – Ufficio Storico. OCLC 955062025.
- Starace, A. (1937). La marcia su Gondar della colonna celere A.O. e le successive operazioni nella Etiopia Occidentale [The March on Gondar, the Expedited Column A.O. and Subsequent Operations in Western Ethiopia]. Milano: A. Mondadori. OCLC 799891187.
External links
[edit]- Regio Esercito:La Milizia nella Campagna d'Africa 1935–1936 Now on Internet Archive, archived on May 19, 2007
- Italian Army of the Ethiopian Conquest
- Italian Air Force in Italian East Africa 1919–1939, Part I – End of 1919 to 3 October 1935 (Invasion of Ethiopia)[permanent dead link ]
- Generals of WWII: Italy