The 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" (Italian: 4ª Divisione alpina "Cuneense") was a division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II, which specialized in mountain warfare. The headquarters of the division was in the city of Cuneo, and the majority of its Alpini soldiers were drafted from the surrounding Province of Cuneo - hence the division's name "Cuneense". The division participated in all Italian World War II campaigns with the exception of the North African Campaign. The division was annihilated during Operation Little Saturn by Soviet forces in January 1943.
| 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" | |
|---|---|
 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" insignia | |
| Active | 31 October 1935 – 28 January 1943 |
| Country |  Kingdom of Italy |
| Branch |  Royal Italian Army |
| Type | Alpini |
| Role | Mountain Infantry |
| Size | 17,460 men |
| Part of | Italian Alpine Corps 1942-1943 |
| Garrison/HQ | Cuneo |
| Engagements | World War II Greco-Italian War Italian War in Soviet Union |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | General Emilio Battisti |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |      Cuneense Division gorget patches |
History
editThe division's lineage begins on 19 October 1933 when the 1st Alpini Regiment in Mondovì and 2nd Alpini Regiment in Cuneo left the 1st Alpine Division "Taurinense" and entered the newly raised IV Alpine Brigade in Cuneo. On 1 January 1934 the newly formed 4th Mountain Artillery Regiment in Cuneo joined the brigade. On 27 October 1934 the brigade changed its name to IV Superior Alpine Command, which received the name Cuneense in December of the same year (Italian: IV Comando Superiore Alpino "Cuneense").
On 31 October 1935 the IV Superior Alpine Command "Cuneense" was reorganized as 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" with the 1st and 2nd Alpini regiments and the 4th Alpine Artillery Regiment "Cuneense". On 25 December 1935 the Cuneense temporarily transferred its Alpini battalions "Pieve di Teco" and "Saluzzo" and its 11th Mountain Artillery Battery to the 5th Alpine Division "Pusteria" for the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.[1]
World War II
editInvasion of France
editThe division participated in the Italian invasion of France in June 1940. On 22 June it entered French territory in the Chabriere and Mary valleys.[1][2]
Greco-Italian War
editIn December 1940 the division was sent as reinforcements to Albania for the Greco-Italian War. Between 15-17 December 1940 the division's units entered the front in the upper Devoll valley. On 18 March 1941 the division was taken out of the front and sent to Berat. At the end of March the division deployed to the Yugoslav-Albanian border for the upcoming Invasion of Yugoslavia. On 10 April the division crossed the border and advanced to Debar in Macedonia. After the war's conclusion the division returned to Italy in May 1941.[1][2]
Soviet Union
editThe Cuneense was one of the ten Italian divisions of the Italian Army in Russia, which fought on the Eastern Front. In July 1942 the division, together with the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" and the 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" formed the Alpine Army Corps, which was transferred to Eastern Ukraine. In July 1942 the division arrived in Izium from where it marched eastwards to Millerovo and then onward to the Don river. The Italian units covered part of the left flank of the German 6th Army, which spearheaded the German summer offensive of 1942 into the city of Stalingrad.[1]
On 12 December 1942 the Red Army's Operation Little Saturn commenced, which in its first stage attacked and encircled the Italian Army in Russia's II Army Corps and XXXV Army Corps. On 13 January 1943, the Red Army launched the second stage of Operation Little Saturn: four armies of General Filipp Golikov's Voronezh Front attacked, encircled, and destroyed the Hungarian Second Army near Svoboda on the Don to the northwest of the Alpine Army Corps and pushed back the remaining units of the German XXIV Army Corps on the Alpine Army Corps' left flank, thus encircling the Alpine Army Corps.[3]
On the evening of 17 January, the Alpine Army Corps commander, General Gabriele Nasci, ordered a full retreat. At this point only the Tridentina division was still capable of conducting effective combat operations. The 40,000-strong mass of stragglers — Alpini and Italians from other commands, plus German and Hungarian Hussars — formed two columns that followed the Tridentina division which, supported by a handful of German armored vehicles, led the way westwards to the Axis lines. As the Soviets had already occupied every village bitter battles had to be fought to clear the way. On the morning of 28 January the Cuneense had walked 200 km, fought 20 battles, lost 80% of its men and spent 11 nights camped out in the middle of the Russian Steppe. Temperatures during the nights were between -30 °C and -40 °C. On 28 January the last remnants of the division were annihilated by Cossack forces. The last survivors of the 1st Alpini regiment burned the regiment's flag to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. The Cuneense then ceased to exist.[3]
Casualties
editOn 11 February 1943 the count of the survivors gave the following result:[4]
- 1st Alpini Regiment out of 5,282 men: 722 survivors; none of the soldiers of the battalions Ceva, Pieve di Teco and Mondovì survived.
- 2nd Alpini Regiment out of 5,229 men: 208 survivors; none of the soldiers of the battalions Borgo San Dalmazzo and Saluzzo survived.
- 4th Alpine Artillery Regiment out of 3,616 men: 379 survivors; none of the soldiers of the Artillery Group "Mondovì" survived.
- 4th Mixed Engineer Battalion out of 1,240 men: 139 survivors
- Support units out of 1,313 men: 159 survivors
In total 1,607 men of the division's total of 17,460 survived Operation Little Saturn.
Return to Italy
editThe remnants of the division were repatriated in March 1943 and the division was reformed on 1 May 1943 in Bolzano with troops of the 1st Alpini "Valley" Group of the 6th Alpine Division "Alpi Graie" and with the 104th Marching Alpini Regiment of the 8th Marching Division.[2] After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the invading German forces disbanded the division.[1]
Organization
editIn late 1942 the division consisted of the following units:[5][6][1][2]
4th Alpine Division "Cuneense", in Cuneo
- Headquarters
- 413th Carabinieri Section, in Cuneo
- 414th Carabinieri Section, in Cuneo
- 203rd Field Post Office, in Cuneo
- 4th Auto Squad for Alpine Division Command, in Cuneo
1st Alpini Regiment, in Mondovì
Command and Command Company, in Mondovì
Alpini Battalion "Ceva", in Ceva
Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Teco", in Chiusa Pesio
Alpini Battalion "Mondovì", in Mondovì
1st Quartermaster Unit, in Beinette
- 1st Medical Section, in Mondovì
- 612th Field Hospital, in Mondovì
2nd Alpini Regiment, in Cuneo
- 2nd Medical Section, in Cuneo
- 615th Field Hospital, in Dronero
- 4th Alpine Artillery Regiment, in Cuneo
Command and Command Unit, in Cuneo
Mountain Artillery Group "Pinerolo", in Beinette (75/13 mountain guns)
7th Battery, in Beinette
8th Battery, in Borgo San Dalmazzo
9th Battery, in Boves
Ammunition and Supply Unit, in Crava
10th Battery, in Villanova Mondovì
11th Battery, in Mondovì
12th Battery, in Villanova Mondovì
64th Anti-aircraft Battery, in Fontanelle Boves (20/65 Mod. 35 anti-aircraft guns)
116th Anti-aircraft Battery, in Fontanelle Boves (20/65 Mod. 35 anti-aircraft guns)
78th Anti-tank Battery (75/39 anti-tank guns; unit attached to the division for the campaign in the Soviet Union)
IV Mixed Engineer Battalion, in Peveragno
- 201st Mixed Auto Unit
- 121st Mixed Section
- 701st Heavy Section
- 702nd Heavy Section
- 947th SHeavy Section
- 306th Medical Section, in Cuneo
- 613th Field Hospital, in Cuneo
- 614th Field Hospital, in Cuneo
- 616th Field Hospital, in Cuneo
- 617th Field Hospital, in Cuneo
- Headquarters
The division strength was 573 officers and 16,887 NCOs and soldiers for a total strength of 17,460 men. The division also had 176 horses, 4,698 mules and 584 transport vehicles at its disposal. [1] Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
Military honors
editFor their conduct during the Italian campaign in the Soviet Union the President of Italy awarded on 31 December 1947 to the three regiments of the 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" Italy's highest military honor, the Gold Medal of Military Valor.
1st Alpini Regiment on 5 March 1949[7]
Commanding officers
editThe division's commanding officers were:[1][2]
- Generale di Divisione Umberto Testa (1935 - 1937)
- Generale di Brigata Alberto Ferrero (1937 - 9 September 1938)
- Generale di Brigata Giovanni Maccario (10 September 1938 - 9 September 1939)
- Generale di Brigata Achille d'Havet (10 September 1939 - 10 June 1940)
- Generale di Divisione Alberto Ferrero (11 June 1940 - 15 February 1941)
- Colonel Armando Pezzana (acting, 16 February 1941 - 10 March 1941)
- Generale di Divisione Emilio Battisti (11 March 1941 - 27 January 1943) POW
- Generale di Divisione Carlo Fassi (15 May 1943 - 9 September 1943)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g "4ª Divisione alpina "Cuneense"". Regio Esercito. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Bollettino dell'Archivio dell'Ufficio Storico N.II-3 e 4 2002. Rome: Ministero della Difesa - Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito - Ufficio Storico. 2002. p. 187. Retrieved 18 October 2021 – via Issuu.
- ^ a b "Gli indomabili soldati dei ghiacci" (PDF). Italian Army - Rivista Militare: 100–113. January–February 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ "Campagna di Russia - Caduti e Dispersi". 4a Divisione Alpina Cuneense. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ "Campagna in Russia - Composizione della "Divisione Cuneense"" (PDF). Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- ^ "4a Divisione Alpina Cuneense - Campagna di Russia". Alpini Cuneense. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- ^ "1° Reggimento Alpini "Cuneense"". President of Italy. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ "2° Reggimento Alpini "Cuneense"". President of Italy. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ "4° Reggimento Artiglieria Alpina "Cuneense"". President of Italy. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
Sources
edit