207th Coastal Division (Italy)
The 207th Coastal Division was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. The division was based in Sicily during the Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky. It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign. Coastal divisions, were second line divisions, usually formed from men in there forties and fifties intended to perform labouring and second lined duties. Recruited locally they were often commanded by officers called out of retirement. Their equipment was also second rate, Mussolini had hoped to obtain large quantities of arms and equipment from the disbanded Vichy French army, but this had often been sabotaged of arrived with no ammunition. [1]
Order of battle
- 138th Coastal Infantry Regiment
- 139th Coastal Infantry Regiment
- 51st Artillery Group (12 batteries, ad hoc regiment)
References
- ↑ Jowett p 6
- Jowett, Philip S. (2000). The Italian Army 1940-45 (1): Europe 1940-1943. Osprey, Oxford - New York. ISBN 978-1-85532-864-8.