132nd Armored Division "Ariete" explained

Unit Name:132nd Armored Division "Ariete"
Dates:1 February 1939 – 8 December 1942
Type:Armored
Size:Division
Garrison:Milan
Identification Symbol:
WWII Ariete gorget patches
Motto:"Ferrea mole, Ferreo cuore"
Colors:blue and red
Mascot:Ram Head
Battles:Siege of Tobruk
Operation Crusader
Battle of Gazala
First Battle of El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein

The 132nd Armored Division "Ariete" (Italian: 132ª Divisione corazzata "Ariete") was an armored division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. It was formed in 1939 as the second armored division after the 131st Armored Division "Centauro". The division fought in the Western Desert Campaign until being destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein and declared lost due to wartime events on 8 December 1942.[1]

History

On 15 July 1937, the II Motor-mechanized Brigade was formed in Milan, which consisted of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and other minor units. On 1 December 1938 the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment joined the brigade and the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment was replaced by the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment. On the same date the brigade was renamed II Armored Brigade.[2] [3] On 1 February 1939 the 132nd Motorized Artillery Regiment was formed in Rovereto and assigned to the brigade, which on that date was renamed 132nd Armored Division "Ariete"[4] (the Italian word ariete means ram).

During the invasion of France in June 1940, the division was kept in reserve. By that time the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment had grown to eight battalions: three equipped with L3/35 tankettes, two equipped with M11/39 tanks, and three equipped with M13/40 tanks. Four of the latter battalions were transferred in the second half of 1940 to Libya: the I and II tank battalions "M" equipped with M11/39 tanks were transferred on 11 June 1940 to the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment and shipped to Libya, where the two battalions joined the Maletti Group. The III and V tank battalions "M" equipped with M13/40 tanks shipped to Libya in October respectively November and joined the Special Armored Brigade, which was also known as Babini Group. Both, the Maletti Group and the Special Armored Brigade, were part of the Italian 10th Army, which had invaded Egypt on 9 September 1940.

In December 1940 the British Western Desert Force annihilated the Italian 10th Army during Operation Compass: the I Tank Battalion "M" was destroyed in Egypt during the Attack on Nibeiwa, while the II Tank Battalion "M" was lost in the fall of Tobruk. The III Tank Battalion "M" and V Tank Battalion "M" were destroyed during the failed breakout attempt at the Battle of Beda Fomm on 6–7 February 1941.

Western Desert Campaign

After the rout of Italian forces during Operation Compass the Italians and Germans transferred reinforcements to Libya. The Ariete's first units disembarked Tripoli on 24 January 1941. From February 1941 to November 1942, the Ariete fought alongside the German Afrika Korps in the Western Desert Campaign. The Ariete was assigned on 15 August 1941 to the Italian Maneuver Army Corps, which on 10 March 1942 was renamed XX Army Corps.

The Ariete participated in the Axis counter-offensive to retake the Cyrenaica and the following Siege of Tobruk. On 1 May 1941, the Germans and Italians attacked Tobruk in strength. Their attack pierced the Australian defences: the Ariete captured the R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 strongpoints,[5] On 3 May the Australians launched a counter-attack with the 18th Brigade. The counter-attack only recaptured one strong point from what Australian historian Mark Johnston reported to be Italian defenders.[6] This action was later known as the Battle of the Salient. On 1 September the division activated the 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment and split the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment.

On 18 November 1941, the British launched Operation Crusader to relieve Tobruk. On 19 November 1941, the Ariete clashed at Bir el Gubi with the British 22nd Armoured Brigade and inflicted heavy losses on the inexperienced British forces. On 23 November, the 15th Panzer Division attacked the 5th South African Brigade defending Sidi Rezegh and that evening, the Ariete came up in support and the ridge was taken along with 3,400 prisoners.[7] On 29 November the Ariete engaged the New Zealand 2nd Division at the Battle of Point 175.

On 7 December 1941, Axis forces withdrew to the Gazala position and on 15 December they continued their withdrawal to El Agheila. The Ariete retreated through the Djebel Mountain towards El Agheila; by this time the division had lost almost all its tanks. On 8 January 1942, the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment was disbanded and in February 1942 the Ariete was reorganized and reinforced.[1]

Battle of Gazala

On 26 May 1942 Axis forces went on the offensive again in the Battle of Gazala and on 27 May the Ariete overran the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade at Rugbet Al Atasc and [8] captured 1,000 troops.[9] On 29 May and 5 June 1942 the Ariete repelled British armored counterattacks.[10] Axis forces then surged forward, took Tobruk, invaded Egypt and were stopped by British forces at El Alamein.

El Alamein

Only part of the Ariete had reached El Alamein on 3 July 1942 during the initial stage of the First Battle of El Alamein. The division's artillery was caught on the move by British forces engaged in a flanking attack and suffered heavy casualties in the ensuing clash.[11] [12] On 30 August 1942 the Ariete participated in the Battle of Alam el Halfa, but the Axis plan to outflank and encircle the British forces at El Alamein failed.

On 4 November 1942 during the Second Battle of El Alamein the Ariete was surrounded by advancing enemy forces and the division's commander General Francesco Antonio Arena broadcast the division's last message:[13]

Of the division's units only the XIII Tank Battalion "M" and about 200 Bersaglieri with six 75/18 self-propelled guns escaped, but were overtaken and destroyed by British forces on the coastal road near Fuka on 5–6 November 1942.[14] Rommel mourned the loss of the division, writing that its final action had been conducted with exemplary courage and that "in the Ariete we lost our oldest Italian comrades, from whom we had probably always demanded more than they, with their poor armament, had been capable of performing".[15] The 132nd Armored Division "Ariete" was declared lost due to wartime events on 8 December 1942.[1]

Tactical Group "Ariete"

On 21 November 1942, the Ariete's remaining personnel and the remnants of the 101st Motorized Division "Trieste" and 133rd Armored Division "Littorio" were organized as Tactical Group "Ariete", which kept fighting throughout the retreat, including a successful rearguard action at the Battle of El Agheila.[1]

During the Tunisian Campaign the Tactical Group "Ariete" was reorganized as the 132nd Anti-tank Regiment, which joined the 131st Armored Division "Centauro". The last survivors of the Ariete surrendered with the rest of the Axis forces in North Africa on 13 May 1943.[1]

135th Armored Cavalry Division "Ariete"

On 1 April 1943, the Royal Italian Army activated the 135th Armored Cavalry Division "Ariete" in Ferrara, which continued the tradition of the 132nd Armored Division "Ariete". After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the division fought the invading German forces South of Rome. After two days the division was forced to surrender and was disbanded by the Germans on 12 September 1943.[16]

Post War

On 23 May 1948 the Italian Army raised the Armored Brigade "Ariete" in Rome, which on 1 October 1952 was expanded to Armored Division "Ariete".[17]

Organization

Organization in Italy

Organization in North Africa

Attached to the division from February to July 1942:

Military honours

For their conduct during the Western Desert campaign the President of Italy awarded the units of the 132nd Armored Division "Ariete" Italy's highest military honour, the Gold Medal of Military Valor. The 8th Bersaglieri Regiment, which was the only remaining unit of the division after the Second Battle of El Alamein was awarded a second Gold Medal of Military Valour for its service during the Tunisian campaign.

For the units' conduct during the Western Desert campaign:

For the regiment's conduct during the Tunisian campaign:

Commanding officers

The division's commanding officers were:[1]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bollettino dell'Archivio dell'Ufficio Storico N.II-3 e 4 2002 . 2002 . Ministero della Difesa - Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito - Ufficio Storico . Rome . 329 . 23 November 2021.
  2. Web site: 132^ Brigata Corazzata "Ariete" - La Storia . Italian Army . 4 December 2021.
  3. Web site: 32° Reggimento carri - La Storia . Italian Army . 4 December 2021.
  4. Web site: 132° Reggimento Artiglieria Terrestre "Ariete" - La Storia . Italian Army . 4 December 2021.
  5. Rommel's Army in Africa, Dal McGuirk, p. 91, Stanley Paul, 1987 and XXXII BATTAGLIONE GUASTATORI
  6. Book: Johnston, Mark. That magnificent 9th: An Illustrated History of The 9th Australian Division. 38. Allen and Unwin. 2002.
  7. Rommel's Desert Commanders: The Men Who Served The Desert Fox, North Africa, 1941–1942, Samuel W. Mitcham, p.50, Praeger, 2007
  8. James J. Sadkovich, Of Myths and Men: Rommel and the Italians in North Africa, p. 302, The International History Review XIII (1991)
  9. Das Afrika Korps: Erwin Rommel and the Germans in Africa, 1941–43, By Franz Kurowski, pg. 125, Stackpole Books (March 1991)
  10. James J. Sadkovich, Of Myths and Men: Rommel and the Italians in North Africa, p. 303, The International History Review XIII (1991)
  11. Web site: Under a Fading Moon, (First Battle of El Alamein), David Aldea, Comando Supremo, Italy at War. . 23 June 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110619025029/http://comandosupremo.com/1elalamein.html/2 . 19 June 2011 . dead.
  12. Rommel's North Africa Campaign: September 1940-November 1942, Jack Greene, Alessandro Massignani, p. 196, Da Capo Press, Revised Edition, (272 pages)
  13. Rommel's Desert War: The Life and Death of the Afrika Korps, Samuel W. Mitcham, p. 176, Stackpole Books, 2000
  14. Book: Caruso. Alfio. L'onore d'Italia. 2011. Longanesi. Milan.
  15. The Rommel Papers, p. 325
  16. Book: Bollettino dell'Archivio dell'Ufficio Storico N.II-3 e 4 2002 . 2002 . Ministero della Difesa - Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito - Ufficio Storico . Rome . 335 . 4 November 2021.
  17. http://www.esercito.difesa.it/Organizzazione/Organizzazione%20Centrale/Comando%20delle%20Forze%20Operative%20Terrestri/1_fod/br_corazzata_ariete/Pagine/la_storia.aspx Italian Army homepage; History of the Ariete Brigade
  18. Web site: 8° Reggimento Bersaglieri . Regio Esercito . 12 December 2021.
  19. Book: F. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti . L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Primo - Tomo II . 1998 . SME - Ufficio Storico . Rome . 176.
  20. Web site: 8° Reggimento Bersaglieri . President of Italy . 23 November 2021.
  21. Web site: 32° Reggimento Carri "Ariete", per il III Battaglione Carri M/13 . President of Italy . 23 November 2021.
  22. Web site: 132° Reggimento Carri "Ariete" . President of Italy . 23 November 2021.
  23. Web site: 132° Reggimento Artiglieria "Ariete" . President of Italy . 23 November 2021.
  24. Web site: 8° Reggimento Bersaglieri . President of Italy . 23 November 2021.

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