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136th Armored Division "Giovani Fascisti"
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136th Armored Division "Giovani Fascisti"
The 136th Armored Division "Giovani Fascisti" (Italian: 136ª Divisione corazzata "Giovani Fascisti"), also known in English as the Young Fascists Division or merely the Young Fascists, was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II.
The division was never fully formed and staffed, and it never had armored vehicles: the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment, which was briefly assigned to it never reached the division in Libya.
In 1940, with Italy's entry into the war, the fascist youth organization Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (GIL) organized the "March of the Youth": about 20,000 young fascists and members of the fascist University groups, provisionally organized into 25 battalions, marched to Padua, where Benito Mussolini reviewed them on 10 October 1940. The decision to dissolve these battalions was followed by such protests and riots that the National Fascist Party sent Major Fulvio Balisti, former Commander of the GIL battalions of Bologna to put down the revolt. On suggestion of National Fascist Party General Secretary Ettore Muti the GIL Command formed three special battalions, which were sent to train in Formia, Gaeta and Scauri. After an inspection General Taddeo Orlando expressed a positive opinion on their employment and Adelchi Serena, who succeeded Ettore Muti in the position of party secretary gave his consent to create with the three battalions the 301st CC.NN. Legion.
The 301st Legion CC.NN. "Primavera" was officially established on 12 April 1941. Already on 18 April it was decided to enroll the young fascists as volunteers in the Royal Italian Army to form the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti". The army performed a thorough selection, which reduced the number of those able to enlist to about two thousand of the class of 1922. However the age and parental consent were not controlled properly and besides the class of 1922, also youths from 1923 and 1924, as well as three volunteers from 1925 and one from 1926 were enrolled in the three battalions of the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti". The Fascist militia withdrew its uniforms and the volunteers received the army's gray-green uniform and the two-pointed crimson gorget patches of the Bersaglieri corps with an added yellow border. As headgear the battalion group received a black fez, but no helmets. The volunteers fought the entire war without being issued helmets. On 21 April 1942 the battalion group took the oath to King.
On 29 July 1941, the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti" with two battalions arrived in Tripoli in Libya for the Western Desert campaign. The III Battalion had remained in Italy as the group's depot and training unit. In Libya the group was sent to Al-Khums and Misrata, where the group formed an anti-tank company with 47/32 anti-tank guns and a mortar company with 81mm Mod. 35 mortars. In September, the group was assigned to the Reconnaissance Grouping of the Maneuver Army Corps. During Operation Crusader, on 4–6 December, "Giovani Fascisti" fought the Action at Bir el Gubi, with German tank support, against the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade. However, on 6 December, with the British gaining the upper hand in Operation Crusader, Rommel ordered a general retreat for Axis forces, which the Battalion Group joined. It was then attached to the 60th Infantry Division "Sabratha", then taken out of the line in March 1942.
On 24 May 1942, in recognition of the value shown at Bir el Gobi, the 136th Armored Division "Giovani Fascisti" was established in Verona. Despite its name, the division was never equipped with armored vehicles and the only units assigned were in addition to the two "Giovani Fascisti" battalions, the 136th Artillery Regiment and the III Armored Group "Cavalleggeri di Monferrato" with a handful of AB41 armored cars. After the divisional command had been flown to Libya the division occupied the Siwa Oasis in Egypt on July 22, 1942. After the group's III Battalion had arrived in Siwa the group was elevated to Infantry Regiment "Giovani Fascisti" on 30 August 1942.
On 22 September the division was inspected by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel. Clashes with allied patrols caused minor losses, but the most insidious danger was malaria, which affected almost the entire garrison with about 800 hospitalizations. At the beginning of the Second Battle of El Alamein there was growing discontent in the division for the lack of combat, inducing 825 volunteers to request a transfer to operational units.
The division's organization at Siwa was:
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136th Armored Division "Giovani Fascisti"
The 136th Armored Division "Giovani Fascisti" (Italian: 136ª Divisione corazzata "Giovani Fascisti"), also known in English as the Young Fascists Division or merely the Young Fascists, was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II.
The division was never fully formed and staffed, and it never had armored vehicles: the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment, which was briefly assigned to it never reached the division in Libya.
In 1940, with Italy's entry into the war, the fascist youth organization Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (GIL) organized the "March of the Youth": about 20,000 young fascists and members of the fascist University groups, provisionally organized into 25 battalions, marched to Padua, where Benito Mussolini reviewed them on 10 October 1940. The decision to dissolve these battalions was followed by such protests and riots that the National Fascist Party sent Major Fulvio Balisti, former Commander of the GIL battalions of Bologna to put down the revolt. On suggestion of National Fascist Party General Secretary Ettore Muti the GIL Command formed three special battalions, which were sent to train in Formia, Gaeta and Scauri. After an inspection General Taddeo Orlando expressed a positive opinion on their employment and Adelchi Serena, who succeeded Ettore Muti in the position of party secretary gave his consent to create with the three battalions the 301st CC.NN. Legion.
The 301st Legion CC.NN. "Primavera" was officially established on 12 April 1941. Already on 18 April it was decided to enroll the young fascists as volunteers in the Royal Italian Army to form the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti". The army performed a thorough selection, which reduced the number of those able to enlist to about two thousand of the class of 1922. However the age and parental consent were not controlled properly and besides the class of 1922, also youths from 1923 and 1924, as well as three volunteers from 1925 and one from 1926 were enrolled in the three battalions of the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti". The Fascist militia withdrew its uniforms and the volunteers received the army's gray-green uniform and the two-pointed crimson gorget patches of the Bersaglieri corps with an added yellow border. As headgear the battalion group received a black fez, but no helmets. The volunteers fought the entire war without being issued helmets. On 21 April 1942 the battalion group took the oath to King.
On 29 July 1941, the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti" with two battalions arrived in Tripoli in Libya for the Western Desert campaign. The III Battalion had remained in Italy as the group's depot and training unit. In Libya the group was sent to Al-Khums and Misrata, where the group formed an anti-tank company with 47/32 anti-tank guns and a mortar company with 81mm Mod. 35 mortars. In September, the group was assigned to the Reconnaissance Grouping of the Maneuver Army Corps. During Operation Crusader, on 4–6 December, "Giovani Fascisti" fought the Action at Bir el Gubi, with German tank support, against the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade. However, on 6 December, with the British gaining the upper hand in Operation Crusader, Rommel ordered a general retreat for Axis forces, which the Battalion Group joined. It was then attached to the 60th Infantry Division "Sabratha", then taken out of the line in March 1942.
On 24 May 1942, in recognition of the value shown at Bir el Gobi, the 136th Armored Division "Giovani Fascisti" was established in Verona. Despite its name, the division was never equipped with armored vehicles and the only units assigned were in addition to the two "Giovani Fascisti" battalions, the 136th Artillery Regiment and the III Armored Group "Cavalleggeri di Monferrato" with a handful of AB41 armored cars. After the divisional command had been flown to Libya the division occupied the Siwa Oasis in Egypt on July 22, 1942. After the group's III Battalion had arrived in Siwa the group was elevated to Infantry Regiment "Giovani Fascisti" on 30 August 1942.
On 22 September the division was inspected by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel. Clashes with allied patrols caused minor losses, but the most insidious danger was malaria, which affected almost the entire garrison with about 800 hospitalizations. At the beginning of the Second Battle of El Alamein there was growing discontent in the division for the lack of combat, inducing 825 volunteers to request a transfer to operational units.
The division's organization at Siwa was: