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Products mentioned in this Article Littorio Infantry Division

--None--
By Francesco Mioni

The second division raised for the RSI Army was the infantry division "Littorio". It was
sometimes called a "Grenadier" division, however this was title given for morale
reasons in imitation of the German tendency to give units the title of Grenadier. The
Recent Articles Littorio Division was not a Grenadier unit in the Italian tradition, in the Italian Army the
Assembling the T-34 Grenadiers were, and still are, the Guard units, formed from select (and usually very
Share Your Hobby tall) soldiers. Only one such unit - a single independent Grenadier battalion - was part
of the RSI Army.
German Late War Painting and Hobby
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The first commander was colonel Tito Agosti.
Assembling the sMG42 SS Machine-Gun
Platoon (GE797)
He had been captured in North Africa and interned in an Indian prisoner camp. Then he
Assembling the Armoured SS
Panzergrenadier HQ (GBX138)
was repatriated, having persuaded the British that his serious mutilation had been
suffered during the Africa campaign, instead of during the WWI as it had.
British Late War Painting and Hobby
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Assembling The 12cm SS Mortar Platoon After 8 September 1944 Agosti placed himself at
(GE799) Graziani’s disposal.
Assembling The 8cm SS Mortar Platoon
(GE798) The German training began in Sennelager,
Assembling the SS Panzergrenadier Platoon Westfallia, Germany at the end of Febraury 1944,
(GBX141) with the arrival of the contingents from Italy (mainly
Assembling the SS Reconnaisance Platoon the Piemonte region). On 25 August the division was
(GEAB19) transferred to Munzingen and Heuberg camps,
replacing the Monterosa that had left them in July.

In the meantime the effective number of men raised

from 16,000 to 18,500, of whom about 13,000 had
come from Italy.

The training, which was very hard (13 soldiers died

during it), was completed at the end of October and
one month later Littorio was deployed close to
Gothic Line.

OKW intentions for the division’s duty were anti-

partisan warfare, defending the supply lines of
German units fighting in the Appennini, but Agosti,
who had become a general, was opposed to this Previous incarnations of the Littorio division had
plan. already made their mark in Spain and North Africa.

Agosti, with Marshal Graziani’s intervention, obtained a place for Littorio on the western frontier.

Organization and Equipment

The Littorio Division had the same organisation of the other three RSI divisions: two infantry regiments and one artillery
regiment, plus support and service units, with 18,500 troops.

• Division Headquarters (Commander: General Tito Agosti).

2nd Recce Battalion
2nd Antitank Company
2nd Mountain Assault Engineer Battalion
2nd Signal Battalion
2nd Transport Battalion
102nd "Littorio" Replacement Battalion
Mountaineering and Skiing Military School
2nd MP section

• DVK 181 (Deutsche Verbindungs Kommando, German Liaison Unit)

• 3rd Infantry Regiment: HQ Company;

Light Column;
103rd Cacciatori Carri (Tank Hunters) Company;
I, II and III Infantry Battalions

• 4th Alpini Regiment: HQ Company;

Light Column;
104th Tank Hunters Company;
"Varese", "Bergamo", "Edolo" Alpini Infantry Battalions;

• 2nd Artillery Regiment: 4 Groups (=Battalions):

1 Group with horse-drawn 100/17 field guns,
3 Groups with 75/13 mountain guns transported by pack mules.
 The battalion composition and the equipment was the same of
Monterosa, with only one exception: the II divisional AT company had
the German 88/71 guns and was entirely motorised.

The Scuola d’Alpinismo e Sci (Mountaineering and Skiing Military

School) was peculiar: the purpose was to train division soldiers in high
mountain warfare. Ten officers and about two hundred soldiers
attended courses of lieutenant colonel Cremese, commander of 102nd
"Littorio" Replacement Battalion.

The Alps Front

At midnight of 2 December 1944 Littorio completed its deployment
along the Alps front, from Cima del Diavolo to Mount Monviso,
between 34th German Infantry Division and 5th Gebirgsjager Division.
Tactically Littorio depended on LXXV German Corps and had been
reinforced with “Vicenza” artillery group and “Bassano” battalion of
Monterosa.

The front line wasn’t continuous: it was formed by a set of block-

houses, some of them armoured, deployed in depth and with different
distances between them. It was mainly a front of patrol warfare. No
second or third lines existed, only Piedmont valleys and Padana Plain.
It was very difficult to supply the positions: horses were ill-suited to the
terrain and the few mules available were almost all lost due to fatigue.
The movement of supplies was left to Alpini and Fucilieri.

The troops on the front line had to conserve their ammo and wood reserves in
advanced positions during the harsh winter of 1944/45. In spite of the low
temperature and heavy snow, there were not more than 50 frostbite/cold
related cases and only two losses because of avalanches (the Germans, even
if better equipped, suffered heavier losses). The soldiers from sunny southern
Italy, the Sicilians in particular, distinguished themselves despite the alien
conditions.

On the opposite side the French troops had no such supply difficulties and had
huge supplies of ammunition available. They would use their advantage at
every opportunity bombing and artillery barraging Italian positions even against
very few soldiers or even a single man. The number of men available was also
in French favour. In front of 3rd Infantry Regiment, for example, were deployed
three Chasseur Regiments and at least four artillery groups, with 75, 105 and
155mm guns.

So, after fifteen days of snowfall, on 18 December the Allies decided to test the
Littorio defensive line. A French attack assailed 1st battalion, but was driven
back. More attempts with the same results occurred in January, against 2nd
battalion positions. French companies, supported by mortars, tried to occupied
pill-boxes no. 8, 9 and 10 on two occasions. Initially they were able to
penetrate the defensive line, but were immediately hit by Italian guns and
mortars and repelled by the counterattacks of the pill-box garrisons
themselves. A Littorio soldier with a German
MG-42 off to the front.

In front of IV Alpini Regiment was positioned a

French mountain brigade with an artillery regiment.
They tried to force the line on 21 December near
Traversette and on 8 January against 8th Alpini
Company on Mount Rutor without results.

On 23 March a French battalion attacked Colle

Traversette again, supported by a heavy artillery
bombardment. The assaults continued without
pause until the month’s end during which the area of
fighting was extended to Roc de Ballaface and
Rutor. The French were repelled and only occupied
Roc Noir, losing about three hundred men. The
Alpini lost 90 men during the assaults.

The stubbornness of French attacks along a secondary front (as the Alps was) can be explained in two ways. Most of the
main Littorio positions, the IV Alpini Regiment in particular, were still in France and the French desired revenge against the
Italians for the invasion of June 1940.

“Georg Plan”
When the Gothic Line was broken and Allied troops spread out into the Padana plan, the French began a last attempt to
reconquer their national territory and occupy the Piedmont and Val d’Aosta valleys.

At the beginning of April (10) they tried a coupe de main against Roc de Bellaface, which was taken after some hard fighting.
But the following day an Alpini counterattack regained the position, which was held until 29 April.

On 22 April the garrisons of Meyronnes’ (1st Infantry Regiment) pill-boxes held out a French battalion supported by artillery.
The Italians were able to repell the attack thanks to a well forward observation post positions very close to the enemy
positions. The Littorio’s artillery drop a barrage, sparing no ammunition, and were able to break the French attack.

Traversette was attacked on the night of 27/28 April, but 46 Alpini were able to repelled the enemy. At that point the entire IV
Alpini Regiment was still deployed in French territory and none of their sector had been encroached on by the French.

However the situation had begun to become unsustainable.

The Alpini and most of Littorio units were fighting on

 two fronts: against the French, to prevent them from
occupying Valle d’Aosta, and against the Germans,
to avoid the destruction of factories, bridges and
roads. For this reason more than one commander
got in touch with the local partisan leaders, who
were also interested in the same goals.

While, by about 25 April, some battalions, according

to “Georg plan”, left the front to gain the “Ticino” Line
and surrender to the Allies coming from the Po River
(as 2nd battalion, after having reached Borgo S.
Dalmazzo), others, as IV Alpini Regiment,
maintained their positions until 29 April, according
with CNL (Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale,
National Liberation Committee, the main Italian
partisan organisation). Only on 4 May did they cease
their frontier duties, obtaining military honours from
US troops.

RSI Introduction... RSI Monterosa... RSI San Marco... RSI Italia... RSI Briefing...

Last Updated On Tuesday, June 19, 2007 by Wayne at Battlefront

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