24th Infantry Division Pinerolo

The 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II.

This article is about the historic Italian 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo. For the currently active Italian Army brigade, see Pinerolo Mechanized Brigade.
24th Infantry Division Pinerolo
24th Infantry Division Pinerolo Insignia
Active1939–1943
1952–1961
Country Kingdom of Italy
 Italy
Branch Royal Italian Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Garrison/HQChieti
Nickname(s)Pinerolo
EngagementsWorld War II
Insignia
Identification
symbol
Identification
symbol		Pinerolo Division collar insignia
18th. Artillery Regiment from Pinerolo Division entering Ohrid, Yugoslavia on April 12, 1941.

History

After the end of World War I the Pinerolo Brigade moved to Abruzzo and was garrisoned in the city of Chieti. In 1926 the brigade gained the 255th Infantry Regiment Arezzo and changed its name to XXIV Infantry Brigade. Along with the 18th Artillery Regiment the brigade formed the 24th Territorial Division in Chieti. In 1934 the division and brigade gained the name Gran Sasso and were forthwith known as 24th Infantry Division Gran Sasso and XXIV Infantry Brigade Gran Sasso. In 1935 the division was sent to Eritrea and participated in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The division operated in the Tigray Region and fought in the Battle of Shire.

In 1939 the brigade lost the 255th Infantry regiment and was renamed 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo. This binary division consisted of only two infantry regiments (13th and 14th) and the 18th Field Artillery Regiment. In 1940 the Pinerolo took part in the Italian invasion of France. In January 1941 the division arrived in Albania to stabilize the crumbling Italian front during the Greek counteroffensive in the Greco-Italian War.

On 18 January 1941 the division was in Berat and entered the approaching front near Këlcyrë. The division fought defensive battles for the next month ending with the defense of Tepelenë. The division participated in the Italian Spring Offensive, and participated in a small offensive towards Ohrid in Macedonia during the German-led Invasion of Yugoslavia.

In June 1941 the division transferred to Larissa in Thessaly to suppress the growing Greek Resistance. During its time in Thessaly the Pinerolo division committed the Domenikon Massacre against Greek civilians. The division continued on anti-partisan duty until the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces of 8 September 1943. In the confusion after the armistice the division was the only one in continental Greece to refuse German demands to surrender. While the Piemonte, Forlì, Modena, Casale and Cagliari divisions surrendered to the inferior German forces the Pinerolo defended Larissa against German attacks and then retired towards the Pindus mountain range. There, it conflicted with the Greek People's Liberation Army. The presence of a well-disciplined and well-supplied military force in Greece not underneath ELAS' command worried ELAS. After the Allies refused ELAS' demands of breaking up Pinerolo and scattering it all over Greece, ELAS took matters into its own hands. It surrounded Pinerolo, forced them to surrender, confiscated their supplies and weapons, and used the Italian soldiers themselves for forced labour.[1]

After the war on 15 April 1952 the Italian Army raised the Pinerolo Infantry Division again, however on 1 September 1962 the division was reduced to brigade and it has been active as such since then. (see Pinerolo Mechanized Brigade)

The remnants of the division were repatriated to Italy in March 1945.

Order of battle

Second Italo-Abyssinian War
  • 24th Infantry Division Gran Sasso
    • 13th Infantry Regiment Pinerolo
    • 14th Infantry Regiment Pinerolo
    • 225th Infantry Regiment Arezzo
    • 18th Artillery Regiment Gran Sasso
    • 524th Medium Machine Gun Battalion
    • 24th Replacements Battalion
    • 24th Engineer Company [nb 1]

Greco-Italian War
Coat of Arms of the 14th Infantry Regiment "Pinerolo", 1939
  • 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo
    • 13th Infantry Regiment Pinerolo
    • 14th Infantry Regiment Pinerolo
    • 313th Infantry Regiment Pinerolo (joined the division in 1941 with 1x battalion)
    • 136th CCNN Assault Legion Tremonti
      • 130th CCNN Battalion Sirente
    • 18th Artillery Regiment Gran Sasso
    • 24th Mortar Battalion (81mm Mortars)
    • 24th Anti-tank Company (M35 47/32 cannons)
    • 61st Pioneer Company
    • 24th Signal Company
    • 32nd Medical Section
    • 64th Supply Section
    • 145th Bakery Section[2][nb 2]

September 1943
  • 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo
    • 13th Infantry Regiment Pinerolo
    • 14th Infantry Regiment Pinerolo
    • 313th Infantry Regiment Pinerolo (only 1x battalion)
    • 6th Cavalry Regiment Lancieri di Aosta
    • 7th Cavalry Regiment Lancieri di Milano
    • CCNN Assault Legion L'Aquila
    • 18th Artillery Regiment Gran Sasso (only 1x artillery group)
    • 3rd Machine Gun Battalion
    • 24th Mortar Battalion (81mm Mortars)
    • 24th Anti-tank Company (M35 47/32 cannons)
    • 4th Divisional Sanitary motorised company (ambulance car Fiat 666 , Fiat 626 , Alfa Romeo 800, Fiat 508CM -commander car)
    • 17th Autotransport motorised company (Fiat 666 , Fiat 626 , Alfa Romeo 800, Fiat 508CM - commander car)
    • 61st Pioneer Company
    • 24th Signal Company
    • 32nd Medical Section
    • 64th Supply Section
    • 145th Bakery Section

C.R.O.W.C.A.S.S.

The names of 5 men attached to the Pinerolo Division can be found in the CROWCASS List established by the Anglo-American Allies of the individuals wanted by Greece for war crimes:

  • (Name) BENELI (or BENELLI) - (C.R. File Number) 300174 - (Rank, Occupation, Unit, Place and Date of Crime) Lt. Col., "Pinerolo" Div., C.C. Larissa Andarea 41-43 - (Reason wanted) Murder - (Wanted by) Grc.[4]
  • DEL GIUDICE - 300613 - Col., Maj-Gen., Commander of the Pinerolo-Div., Town-Mayor of Kastoria, officer commanding Occupation Army, Kastoria, Nestorion, Argos, Orestikon (Grc.) 42-43 - Murder - Grc. [5]
  • FESTI Antonio - 300249 - Major, Commanding a Bn., Blackshirts, Pinerolo-Div., Elassona Area, Domenika, Livadia, 1.10.42-16.2.43 - Murder - Grc. [6]
  • INFANTE Adolfo - 305195 - Lt. Gen., Commander, "Pinerolo"-Div., Almiros, Thessaly (Grc.) 15.8.-18.8.43 - Misc. Crimes - Grc. [7]
  • VALI Antonio - 305340 - Major, Commanding Officer, 120 Bn. of Blackshirts quartered at Elassona, Pinerolo Div., Elassona Area (Grc.) 42-43 - Misc. crimes - Grc. [8]

Notes
Footnotes
  1. Each Army Division in the Ethiopian Campaign had a Pack-Mules unit of 3000 mules and three Regimental Trucks units (20 light trucks each).
  2. An Italian Infantry Division normally consisted of two Infantry Regiments (three Battalions each), an Artillery Regiment, a Mortar Battalion (two companies), an Anti Tank Company, a Blackshirt Legion of two Battalions was sometimes attached. Each Division had only about 7,000 men, The Infantry and Artillery Regiments contained 1,650 men, the Blackshirt Legion 1,200, each company 150 men.[3]
Citations
  1. O'Ballance, Edgar (1966). The Greek Civil War: 1944-1949.
  2. Wendal, Marcus. "Italian Army". Axis History. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  3. Paoletti, p 170
  4. The Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects, Consolidated Wanted Lists, Part 2 - Non-Germans only (March 1947), Naval & University Press, Uckfield 2005, p. 58 (facsimile of the original document at the National Archives in Kew/London).
  5. Ibid., p. 62
  6. Ibid., p. 63
  7. Ibid., p. 65
  8. Ibid., p. 73
  • Paoletti, Ciro (2008). A Military History of Italy. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-98505-9.
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