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The Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI)

The post-1943 Italian Fascist forces of WWII
On July 25, 1943, Benito Mussolini was ousted from power and replaced by a new
government. The Germans were perfectly aware of the Italian bid to surrender to the
Allies and they prepared accordingly. On September 8th, 1943, after a series of lastminute deals, Badoglio announced an armistice with the Allies and promptly fleed with
the King of Italy to reach the Allied lines, leaving a good majority of Italian soldiers
without any firm directive. The Germans promptly occupied Italy in the wake of this
coup, and the Italian Army was largely disbanded. On September 12th, 1943, after
weeks of frantic research, the German intelligence services managed to locate where
Mussolini was being held as a prisoner and launched a covert operation to rescue him.
The operation was an amazing success, organized and performed by German
Parachutists under the direction of Otto Skorzeny. On September 14th, 1943, a wornout Duce arrived at Rastenburg where he found several of his hard-line fascist generals
waiting. After strong pressure from Hitler, Mussolini grundingly accepted a new
political role as the head of the new Italian Fascist Government, and on September
23rd, 1943, the "Repubblica Sociale Italiana" (RSI) was founded with its capital located
at Salo, a small village on the Garda Lake. The new government was a "Republic", the
first Italian Republic since the early 1800's, and "Social", that is, it introduced very
advanced social security and work regulation provisions, such as the participation of
workers in the profit of their industries, etc. As a political entity the RSI was a
reasonably efficent machine, albeit in times of great economical and social difficulties,
and was able to mantain a surprisingly high level of independence form the Germans in
this respect.
ESERCITO NAZIONALE REPUBBLICANO
After the Italian Armistice, the great majority of the Italian army, left without orders,
was disbanded. Thousands of soldiers were killed by the Germans in attempts to quell
any move by the former Axis nation to join the Allies or the partisans, while tens of
thousands were disarmed and sent to Germany as prisoners. A few units were able to
stand together, while some went over to the Allies such as the garrisons of Sardegna
and Corsica, others went over to the Germans. A virtual Civil War broke out within the
forces of the defunct Italian military and ex-government between continued support of
the Axis cause and joining up with the Allies.
Of the many Italian units that continued to fight alongside the Axis was a company
from the 10th Arditi Regiment, the commando unit of the Italian Army. It joined the
2.Fallschrimjajer-Division that was based with them at the Pratica di Mare airport near
Roma. They had fought in Russia at Jatomir, Kiev, Novocobiscoia, and Kirovgrag, to
name a few places, and later in Holland near Eindhoven and Arnhem. They served as
the recon unit of the 2.Fallschirmjager- Division, and did so in German uniforms, but
with some of their Italian recon veichles still on hand.
Another unit was the Blacksirt (Camicie Nere) "M" Assault Legion "Tagliamento",
who were also veterans of the Russian front. They joined the SS-Polizei- Bataillone
"Gorice", (Named from the Polish town where they were trained), and "Vendetta".
They were used as assault troops during the counterattacks on the Anzio Bridgehead in
Italy, performing admirably.

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The "Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano" (National Republican Army) of the RSI was
recruited at first among volunteers coming both from Italy and from the prison camps
in Germany. The RSI authorities were amazed by the very high response of volunteers,
over 150,000, and it was decided to form four front-line divisions, to be trained in
Germany by German instructors . Life in the training camps was miserable, with bare
survival meals and incredibly hard physical and tactical training, but the end product
was four first-class divisions with very high morale and operational skills, eager to fight
against the Allies.
Unfortunately, the Germans did not trust the Italians much by this time, and when the
Divisions returned to Italy they were assigned to counter-insurgency and coastaldefence operations. The morale of the soldiers was quickly shattered, and their
operational skill diminished. Soon, the desertion rate very high within these units.
Besides garrison and anti-partisan activity, the RSI army fought on the north east
frontier against the Yugolsavian partisans (who by 1944 were already organized as a
regular army), that were advancing against Trieste, Udine and Venezia in Italy. The
only large offensive operation of the RSI Army against the Allies was a regimental-size
tactical counterattack on the Appennines in the Winter of 1944 against US troops. The
operartion was a full success, and the RSI troops proved themself very skilled and
aggressive in this otherwise brief encounter.
After the May 8th, 1945, with the final and total Axis surrender, RSI Army troops were
butchered all over Italy by rampaging bands of self-proclamed partisans. Their only
defence was in the hands of the advancing US units or when they surrendered to the
few "legitimate" partisan combat outfits in the region. Many thousands of RSI soldiers
were not so lucky.
The main units of the "Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano" were as follows:
1st (later 4th) Apini Division "Monterosa" (Pink Mountain)
Divisional Headquarters
23rd Recce Bn "Fimme Rosse" (red flames)
1st Alpini Regiment "Monterosa"
Alpini Bn "Aosta" (Name of a town, like the other battalions)
Alpini Bn "Intra"
Alpini Bn "Bassano"
Pack-mules supply column
101st AT coy.
2nd Alpini Regiment "Monterosa"
Alpini Bn "Brescia"
Alpini Bn "Morbegno"
Alpini Bn "Tirano"
Pack-mules supply column
102ndt AT coy.
101st Replacements Bn "Ivrea"
1st Alpini Artillery Rgt. "Monterosa"
1st Alpini Arty Bn "Aosta"
2nd Alpini Arty Bn "Bergamo"
3rd Alpini Arty Bn "Verona" (later "Vicenza")
4th Alpini Arty Bn "Mantova"
1st Lines-of-Comunication Engineers Bn

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1st Mountain Assault Engineers Bn

1st Transport Bn
1st Medical coy
101st Medical coy
1st Medical transport section
1st Field Butchery coy
1st Field Bakery coy
1st Logistic coy
1st Veterinary coy
1st MP section
2nd Infantry Division "Littorio"
Divisional headquarters
2nd Recce Bn
2nd Heavy AT coy
3rd Infantry Regiment "Littorio"
1st Infantry Bn
2nd Infantry Bn
3rd Infantry Bn
103rd AT coy
4th Alpini Regiment "Littorio"
1st Alpini Bn
2nd Alpini Bn
3rd Alpini Bn "Edolo"
Pack-mules supply column
104th AT coy
102nd Replacements Bn "Littorio"
2nd Artillery Regiment "Littorio"
1st Arty Bn
2nd Arty Bn
3rd Arty Bn
4th Arty Bn
2nd Lines-of-Comunication Engineers Bn
2nd Mountain Assault Engineers Bn
2nd Transport Bn
2nd Medical coy
201st Medical coy
2nd Medical transport section
2nd Field Butchery coy
2nd Field Bakery coy
2nd Logistic coy
2nd Veterinary coy
2nd MP section
The "Littorio" Division was sometimes called a "Grenadier" division. This was mainly
a morale-bolstering effort, in imitation of the German tendancy to give units the title of
Grenadier. The Littorio Division was not a Grenadier unit, as in the Italian Army the
Grenadiers were, and still are, the Guard units, formed from select (and usually very
tall) soldiers. Only one such unit - a single independent Grenadier battalion - was part
of the RSI Army (see below).
3rd Naval Infantry Division "San Marco" (the Saint-patron of Venice)

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Divisional Headquarters
3rd Rece Bn (the former 2nd Bn of the 10th Arditi Regiment)
5th Naval Infantry Regiment "San Marco"
1st Naval Infantry Bn
2nd Naval Infantry Bn
3rd Naval Infantry Bn
6th Naval Infantry Regiment "San Marco"
1st Naval Infantry Bn
2nd Naval Infantry Bn
3rd Naval Infantry Bn
3 x AT coys
53rd Replacements Bn.
3rd Artillery Regiment "San Marco"
1st Arty Bn
2nd Arty Bn
3rd Arty Bn
4th Arty Bn
3rd Lines-of-Comunication Engineers Bn
3rd Mountain Assault Engineers Bn
3rd Transport Bn
3rd Medical coy
301st Medical coy
3rd Medical transport section
3rd Field Butchery coy
3rd Field Bakery coy
3rd Logistic coy
3rd Veterinary coy
3rd MP section
This Division was part of the Army, and NOT of the Navy as it is often incorrectly
reported.
4th (later 1st) Bersaglieri Division "Italia"
Divisional Headquarters
2nd Recce Bn.
7th Bersaglieri Regiment "Italia"
1st Bersaglieri Bn
2nd Bersaglieri Bn
3rd Bersaglieri Bn
107th AT coy
8th Cacciatori degli Appenninini ("Appennines Hunters") Regiment "Italia"
1st Cacciatori Bn
2nd Cacciatori Bn
3rd Cacciatori Bn
108th AT coy
4th Recce Bn
4th haevy AT coy
104th Replacements Bn "Italia"
4th Artillery Regiment "Italia"
1st Arty Bn
2nd Arty Bn

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3rd Arty Bn
4th Arty Bn
4th Lines-of-Comunication Engineers Bn
4th Mountain Assault Engineers Bn
4th Transport Bn
4th Medical coy
401st Medical coy
4th Medical transport section
4th Field Butchery coy
4th Field Bakery coy
4th Logistic coy
4th Veterinary coy
4th MP section
Independent Units:
Comando Controguerriglia (counter-guerrilla command)
1 x Cavalry Coy.
1 x 155mm artillery battery
Centro Addestramento Reparti Speciali (Special units training center)
1st Grenadiers Bn
2nd Alpini Bn "Cadore"
2nd GNR Bn (GNR = Republican National Guard)
3rd GNR Bn
Dismounted cavalry coy
Raggruppamento Anti Partigiani (anti-partisans task force)
1st Bn
2nd Bn
3rd Bn
Reggimento Volontari Fiumani "Tagliamento" (a river, volunteers came from Fiume
near Yugolsavia)
1st Bn
2nd Bn
3rd Bn
1st Blackshirts Bn
Reggimento Bersaglieri Volontari
15th Coastal Defence Bn
1st Bersaglieri Bn "Mussolini"
2nd Bersaglieri Bn "Mameli"
3rd Bersaglieri Bn
101st Replacements Bn
Unita' legionarie Italiane
Officers Bn
"Von Dibio" Group (3 Bns)
Brigata d'Assalto Italiana
1st Mot. Infantry Regiment (2 Bns)
2nd Mot.Infantry Regiment (2 Bns)
4 x Arty Bns

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Coastal Defence units:

1st Bersaglieri Bn
2nd Bersglieri Bn
3rd Bersglieri Bn
7th Infantry Bn
8th Infantry Bn
9th Infantry Bn
10th Mountain Bn
11th Bersaglieri Bn
12th Infantry Bn
13th Infantry Bn
14th Blackshirts Bn
16th Infantry Bn
17th Infantry Bn
1st Coastal Arty Bn (10 batteris)
3rd Coastal Arty Bn (8 batteries)
5th Coastal Arty Bn (4 batteries)
9th Coastal Arty Bn (12 batteries)
13th Coastal Arty Bn (8 batteries)
15th Coastal Arty Bn (2 batteries)
17th Coastal Arty Bn (3 batteries)

Field Fortification Construction Engineers:

116th Bn
122nd Bn
123rd Bn
124th Bn
125th Bn
126th Bn
132nd Bn
134th Bn
138th Bn
140th Bn
142nd Bn
143rd Bn
145th Bn
146th Bn

Elements of other 18 partially disbanded Bns were grouped in a Centro Raccolta

Complementi Genio, and another 7 Bns were under re-construction (the 113th, 115th,
117th, 135th, 119th, 151st, 130th)
Field Engineers:
6 Bns (numbered from 1st to 6th)
Armour:
1st independent Cavalry coy (armoured cars)
"M" armoured Bn

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3rd Armoured Bn/31st Rgt

In Germany:
5 x "smoke cover" Bns in defence of the Baltic ports
92nd Blackshirt Bn at Vienna
In France:
militia Volunteers unit
Italian Security Bn AOK
6th Heavy Arty Bn
In Greece:

2nd Bn, Arty Rgt "Piemonte"

8th MG Bn
Elements of the 7th Infantry Rgt
24th Blackshirts Legion "Carroccio" (1 inf + 1 arty Bns)

In Croatia:
49th Blackshirts Legion "Marche"
In Montenegro:
72nd Blackshirts Legion (3rd + 72nd Bns)
86th Blackshirts Legion (86th + 94th Bns)
81st, 82nd, 40th, 49th, 33rd, 111st, 114th ind. Blackshirts Bns
In Russia:
834th Field Hospital
Others:

44 x independent garrison coys

6th Arditi Ufficiali unit (Shock troops - officers)
221st "Italiani all'Estero" legion (volunteers returned to Italy from abroad)
6th Artillery bn (3 batteries)
"Moschettieri delle Alpi" Bn
"Volontari di Sardegna" Bn
1st Assault Engineers Bn "Forli"

MARINA NAZIONALE REPUBBLICANA

The bulk of the Italian Fleet attempted to "go south" and join the Allies, according to
the orders given by the High Command (the surrender of the fleet was one of the
Armistice conditions). Actualy, it is not very clear what Admiral Bergamini, the Fleet
Commander, was trying to do. He ordered the fleet to move from La Spezia to the
Bocche di Bonifacio, the strait between Sardinia and Corsica, and that was absolutely
not the correct direction for Malta. Admiral Bergamini was deeply shocked by the order
to surrender the fleet, and there is some thought that he was moving toward Spain to

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have the fleet interned and put under the custody of a neutral power, in this case Spain,
until the end of the war. As Bergamini was killed in the sinking of the battleship Roma
by the Germans, the real goal of the Admiral may never be known.
A few battered cruisers, destroyers and submarines remained in the ports, often
sabotaged by their crews, and were taken over by the Germans, but they were never
returned to the Republican Navy in operational conditions. A great number of smaller
Torpedo Boats, patrol craft and other various auxiliary vessles and merchant craft were
also taken over by the Germans after the Italian surrender.
The bulk of the Republican Navy was the "Divisione Decima", a huge organization
born from the 10th MAS Flottilla, the very successful underwater raiding unit of the
Italian Navy prior to the 1943 surrender. The morning after the Armistice, Prince Junio
Valerio Borghese, a highly decorated and dashing submarine commander and
commander of the 10th MAS Flottilla commandos, started gathering all the naval
personel he could find in La Spezia inside the 10th MAS barracks. He then went to the
local German command offering the services of his troops. The German were quite
puzzled, but they accepted. In the following weeks, Borghese traveled all over Italy,
recruiting hundereds of soldiers, until the 10th MAS was of divisional strenght. When
the Italian Social Republic was formed, at attempt was made to disband the Decima
(Decima = Tenth), but Borghese refused, threatening to shoot at sight anyone who
dared come close to the Decima barracks. Thereafter, an arrangement was arrived at
and the Decima officially became part of the Marina Nazionale Repubblicana (National
Republican Navy). It remained out of the central command structure of the RSI - and
out of the command structure of the Germans too. It was a truly independent force,
fighting with the same reckless, devil-may-care attitude of a Renaissance
"Condottiere" (commander of a "Condotta", i.e. = a merchenary unit)! The Decima
fought as a ground unit against the US and British forces at the Anzio bridgehead, and
then in North East Italy against Italian and Yugolsavian communist partisans.
At peak strenght the Divisione Fanteria di Marina "Decima" was organized as follows :
1st Combat Group

Fusiliers Bn "Barbarigo" (an ancient Venetian admiral - Anzio veterans)

Fusiliers Bn "Lupo" (wolf) (*)
Bn "Nuotatori-Paracadutisti" (2 coys of Assault Swimmers and 3 of Parachutists)
Artillery Bn "Colleoni" (a Renaissance Condottiere) (*)
1st Coy, Engineer Bn "Freccia" (arrow)

2nd Combat Group

Fusiliers Bn "Fulmine" (lightning - previously called "Maestrale" SW wind) (*)

Fusiliers Bn "Sagittario" (archer) (*)
Mountain Assault Engineer Bn " Valanga" (avalanche)
Recruits Bn "Castagnacci" (from the name of the first Decima KIA)
Artillery Bn "Da Giussano" (another Condottiere)(*)
Mountain Artillery Bn "San Giorgio" (the saint-patron of Genova)
Engineer Bn "Freccia" (2nd and 3rd coy)

Independent units:
Fusiliers Bn "Risoluti"

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Fusiliers Bn "Giobbe" (10th MAS Flottilla hero KIA in a raid on Malta - previously
"Ardimento" - courage)
Fusiliers Bn "Longobardo" (hero of the Italian Submarine forces)
Fusiliers Bn "Pegaso" (pegasus) (*)
Fusiliers Bn "San Giusto" (the saint-patron of Trieste)
Fusiliers Bn "Scire' " (the submarine of Borghese)
Fusiliers Bn "Serenissima" (the nickname of Venice)
Fusiliers Bn "Vega" (a star) (*)
Fusiliers Coy "Adriatica"
Fusiliers Coy "D'Annunzio" (famous poet and WWI hero)
Fusiliers Coy "Sauro" (a WWI naval hero)
"Operativa" Coy (no details about that)
Fusiliers Coy "Mai Morti" ("never dead")
Women Auxiliary Service
The translation of the names of the Bns is a litteral one. Several of them, indicated by
an (*) were the names of ships of the Italian Royal Navy, whose crews formed the
"core" of each Bn.
Naval Units:

"Comandante Todaro" Raiding Crafts School (both surface and underwater)

Underwater Diver School
Underwater Operations Group
"Gamma" Group (assault swimmers)
"Comandante Moccagatta" Surface Crafts Units.

Both Commander Todaro and Commander Moccagatta were heroes of the 10th MAS
Flottilla, both of them KIA).
Besides the almost-independent "Decima" units, the Marina da Guerra Nazionale
Repubblicana also had the following units:
Minesweepers Flottilla at Venice.
Submarine base at Bordeaux, France, defended by "Divisione Atlantica Fucilieri di
Marina" (3 Naval Fusiliers Coys + 1 Arty Bty)
An Anti-submarine Flottilla with some light sub-chasers.
Midget submarine Flottilla "Longobardo" with 22 boats.
Others various minor naval units...
AERONAUTICA NAZIONALE REPUBBLICANA
Contrary to the behaviour of the Navy, the Air Force went almost entirely North, except
for a few training and bomber units. This is not surprising, considering that the former
Italian Regia Aeronautica was the most Fascist of the Italian armed forces (Much like
the Luftwaffe in the German Wehrmacht). The core of the Republican Air Force were
its fighter units that operated against Allied heavy bombers. At first Italian aircraft were
used, such as the MC205 and the outstanding G55 and Re2005, but these were later
largely replaced with German- made Bf109s. At the end of the war a small group of
Italian pilots was located in Germany ready to begin training on the Me163 and Me262,
but the war ended before they started the actual training. The Aeronautica Nazionale
Repubblicana was organized as follows:

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Air Force Headquarters

Torpedo-Bombers Command
Fighter Command
Transport Command
Anti-Air Artillery Command
Air Force Academy (courses "Zodiaco" and "Aquila 2nd")
Fighter Training Flight
5 x recruits Bns
9 x anti-parachutists Bns
Reggimento Arditi Paracadutisti "Folgore"
1st Parachutist Bn "Folgore" (lightning)
2nd Parachutist Bn "Nembo" (storm-cloud)
3rd Parachutist Bn "Azzurro" (Bright Blue)
1st Fighter Squadron
1st Flight "Larismont" (an Airforce hero, as per the other flights names)
2nd Flight "Guido Bobba"
3rd Flight "Dante Ocarso"
2nd Fighter Squadron
1st Flight "Gigi Caneppelle"
2nd Flight "Nicola Magaldi"
3rd Flight "Gianni Graffer"
3rd Fighter Squadron
101st Indipendent Fighter Squadron
Independent Fighter Flight "Montefusco"
Training Flight "Francesco Baracca"
Torpedo-bomber Squadron "Faggioni & Buscaglia"
Air Transport Squadron "Terracciano"
Air Transport Squadron "Trabucchi"
Air Liason Flight
1st Bomber Flight "Ettore Muti"
Gliders Flight

Even if officially entitled with the names of Airforce heroes, each fighter flight was
usually called by its nickname, based on the flight's insigna, as follows. The 1st
Squadron's flights had the following: 1/1 "Asso di Bastoni" (cludgel ace - from the
traditonal Italian paying cards, that have different symbols from the "international"
ones), 2/1 "Vespa Incacchiata" (pissed-off wasp), 3/1 "Incocca, tende, scaglia" ("Notch,
Pull, Loose", the three actions to launch an arrow from a bow). The 2nd Squadron's
flights had the following: 1/2 "Gigi tre Osei" (Gigi with three birds. The ace Gigi
Caneppelle was a pre-war Top Grade glider pilot - entitled to wear a blue badge with
three white birds. But "bird" is also the Italian slang for penis...), 2/2 "Diavoli
Rossi" (red devils), 3/2 "Gamba di Ferro" (iron leg, the nickname of Cpt.Botto, one of
the most charismatic WWII Italian fighter pilots).
NATIONAL GUARD (GUARDA NAZIONALE REPUBBLICANA)
The Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana was formed as a militarized police force,
grouping the former Carabinieri (military police), state police, Polizia Africa Italiana
(colonial police), frontier guards and blackshirts units, and was later included in the
Armed Forces of the RSI. The GNR was used mainly in anti- partisan role, a role that
was largely a "dirty war" of reciprocal war crimes that do not give credit to any one of
the contendants.

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The "field units" of the GNR were as follows:

Territorial defence militia:
"Isonzo" Rgt
"D'Annunzio" Rgt
"Istria" Rgt
"Tagliamento" Rgt
1st "M" Assault legion "Tagliamento"
Special Bn "Trieste"
"M" Armoured Bn "Leonessa"
Parachutist Bn "Mazzarini"
Assault cyclist Bn "Roma"
Assault cyclist Bn "Venezia Giulia"
Grenadiers Bn "Ruggine"
Independent Bns:
"Bologna"
"Ferrara"
"Firenze"
"Marche"
"Perugia"
"Romagna"
"IX Settembre"
115th "M" Assault Bn "Montebello"
24th "M" Assault Bn
29th "M" Assault Bn
Legione "M" "Guardia del Duce" (Mussolini bodyguard)
Assault Bn "Pontida"
Assault Bn "Fiamme Bianche" (formed by boys of the party youth organizations)
In the Balkans :
4 legions and 8 independent Bns
The prefix "M" to some units was an honour title for elite units, allowed to wear a
special collar-pin reproducing the "M" of Mussolini's signature.
BRIGATE NERE
These units were a type of volunteer militia organized by the Republican Fascist Party.
They were mostly older die-hard fascist of the 1920's revolution, with the addition of
some fanatic youngsters. They were organized in over 50 "Brigades" (actualy weak bn's
- reinforced coys in strenght), and used in anti- partisan and garrison duties. With the
passing of time most units grew more and more desperate, and were guilty of some of
the worst atrocities in the anti- partisan war in the region. They were not actually part
of the RSI "Forze Armate" (armed forces), but were considered as a kind of "auxiliary"
formation.
All the Black Brigades were entitled to the memory of Fascist heros, and, for the
territorial outfits, the name of their recruitement province is given.
Territorial Black Brigades:
1st Territorial Black Brigade "Ather Cappelli" - Torino

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2nd "Attilio Prato" - Alessandria

3rd "Emilio Picot" - Aosta
4th "Luigi Viale" - Asti
5th "Carlo Lidonnici" - Cuneo
6th "Augusto Cristina" - Novara
7th "Bruno Ponzecchi" - Torino
8th "Aldo Resega" - Milano
9th "Giuseppe Cortesi" - Bergamo
10th "Enrico Tognu' " - Brescia
11th "Cesare Rodini" - Como
12th "Augusto Felisari" - Cremona
13th "Marcello Turchetti" - Mantova
14th "Alberto Alfieri" - Pavia
15th "Sergio Gatti" - Sondrio
16th "Dante Gervasini" - Varese
17th "Bartolomeo Azara" - Venezia
18th "Luigi Begon" - Padova
19th "Romolo Gori" - Rovigo
20th "Francesco Cappellini" - Treviso
21st "Stefano Rizzardi" - Verona
22nd "Antonio Faggion" - Vicenza
23rd "Eugenio Facchini" - Bologna
24th "Igino Ghisellini" - Ferrara
25th "Arturo Capanni" - Forli'
26th "Mirko Pistoni" - Modena
27th "Virginio Gavazzoli" - Parma
28th "Pippo Astorri" - Piacenza
29th "Ettore Muti" - Ravenna
30th "Umberto Rossi" - Reggio Emilia
31st "Silvio Parodi" - Genova
32nd "Antonio Padoan" - Imperia
33rd "Tullio Bertoni" - La Spezia
34th "Giovanni Briatore" - Savona
35th "Don Emilio Spinelli" - Arezzo
36th "Benito Mussolini" - Lucca
37th "Emilio Tanzi" - Pisa
38th "Ruy Blas Biagi" - Pistoia
39th "??" - Siena
40th "Vittorio Ricciarelli" - Apuania (later become a Mobile Black Brigade - see
below)
41st "Raffaele Manganiello"" - Firenze
Mobile Black Brigades Group:
1st Mobile Black Brigade "Vittorio Ricciarelli" (later renamed 1st Mobile Arditi
Black Brigade "I.Barattini")
2nd "Danilo Mercuri"
3rd "Attilio Pappalardo"
4th "Achille Corrao" (previously "Ministerial Black Brigade "Meattini" - see below)
5th "Emilio Quagliata"
6th "Dalmazia" (the Italian province on the Yugoslavian Adriatic Cost)
7th "Tevere" (The river of Rome)

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2nd Mobile Arditi Black Brigade - Milano.

Independent Black Brigades:
Operational Black Brigade "Giuseppe Garibaldi" (not strictly a "fascist" hero!) Morbegno
Ministerial Black Brigade "Meattini" - Brescia
Black Brigade "Giovanni Gentile" - Cremona
Black Brigade "Tulio Cividino" - Trieste
Women Black Brigade "Norma Cosseto" - Trieste
Black Brigade of the Youth Action Groups
Black Brigade Operational Group-Lombardy "Butti"
Black Brigade Indeendent Coy "Fascisti 1" - Rhodes Island - Greece
POLIZIA REPUBBLICANA
The Republican Police activated a few "field units", used in the anti-partisan war, as
follows:

Independent Mobile Legion "Ettore Muti" - Milano

1st Mobile Assaut Unit "ISPA" (Special Anti-Partisan Police Inspectorate) - Brescia
2nd Mobile Assaut Unit "ISPA" - Torino
6 x Police Bns (located at Padova, pavia, Roma, Treviso, Gorizia and Venezia)
Police Arditi Legion "Pietro Caruso) - Milano

http://www.feldgrau.com/rsi.html

09/02/2015