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Riga 112:

The [[7th Army (Italy)|7th Italian Army]] of General [[Mario Arisio]] was stationed in Calabria, [[Basilicata]] and Abulia; German forces in these regions were scarce, and were being moved north. On 9 September the 7th Army headquarters in [[Potenza]] were attacked by surprise and captured by the German troops, but the overall weakness of the German forces and the swift intervention of the Allied forces helped the Italian units, the majority of whom mantained cohesion. The 9th Corps (General Roberto Lerici) held central and northern Abulia despite the collapse of the [[209th Coastal Division (Italy)|209th Coastal Division]]; General [[Nicola Bellomo]] held the harbour of Bari till the arrival of the Allied forces, while more south the 51st Corps of General De Stefani held its positions between [[Grottaglie]] and [[Lecce]] with the [[58th Infantry Division Legnano]], the [[152nd Infantry Division Piceno]] and the [[210th Coastal Division (Italy)|210th Coastal Division]]. The situation of the 31st Corps (General Mercalli), stationed in Calabria with three coastal divisions and the [[104th Motorised Division Mantova]], was in a more difficult situation: it was attacked by the 76th Panzerkorps and sustained casualties, and part of the 185th Parachutist Regiment decided to remain loyal to the previous alliance with Germany and joined the 1st German Prachutist Division.

General [[Frido von Senger und Etterlin]], German commander in Sardinia, was ordered by Kesselring to whitdraw to [[Corsica]] with the 90th Panzergrenadier Division. This manoeuvre was a complete success; the Italian forces present in the area (consisting in the [[184th Airborne Division Nembo]], the [[31st Infantry Division Calabria]], the [[30th Infantry Division Sabauda]], the [[47th Infantry Division Bari]], the [[203rd Coastal Division (Italy)|203rd Coastal Division]], the [[204th Coastal Division (Italy)|204th Coastal Division]] and the [[205th Coastal Division (Italy)|205th Coastal Division]]), under General Antonio Basso, lacked mobility and did not go into action till 12 September; due to previous agreements taken with the German commands, they did not impede the transfer of the German forces to Corsica, which was completed by 18 September with a few wounded caused by a skirmish near Oristano.

A battalion of the Nembo Division, which had reacted negatively to the news of the armistice, mutinied, killed the Divisional chief of staff, Colonel Alberto Bechi Lucerna, and joined the 90th Panzergrenadier Division.

In Corsica, after initial confusion and fruitless negotiations, General Giovanni Magli, commander of the 7th Corps ([[20th Infantry Division Friuli]] and [[44th Infantry Division Cremona]]), attacked the Waffen-SS "Reichführer-SS" brigade, while some French units landed at [[Ajaccio]] on 12 September. On 13 September, following the arrival of the 90th Panzergrenadier Division from Sardinia, [[Bastia]] (where [[Action off Bastia|a previous German attempt to capture the port and Italian shipping had been thwarted by Italian ships]]) fell in German hands, but the Wehrmacht Supreme Command ordered General Von Senger to leave the island and whitdraw to [[Piombino]]. The German forces were evacuated from Corsica by 4 October, despite attacks by the Italian and French forces (the latter consisting in the 4th Moroccan Mountain Division).

On 12 September a paratrooper units under Major [[Harald-Otto Mors]], which also included the SS officer Otto Skorzeny (who had located the different prisons where Mussolini had been held), carried out Operation “Eiche” and thus freed Mussolini from detention in Campo Imperatore, [[Gran Sasso]]; this was an essential premise for the creation of a new Fascist collaborationist government wanted by Hitler.

=== Disintegration of Italian forces in Central and Northern Italy ===

The strategic situaton in Central and Northern Italy was much more favourable to the German forces than it was in Southern Italy. Army Group B under Field Marshal Rommel had a considerable number of troops, was far away from possible Allied intervention, and its units were deployed so as to be ready to intervene against Italian units, which were much less prepared and lacked clear orders. Moreover, the behaviour of many of the Italian commanders further favoured the success of the “Achse” plan: the local Italian superior commands, mostly concerned with avoiding riots, devastations and popular insurrections, refused the help of civilians in the resistance, sometimes autonomously dissolved their units, and started negotiations with the Germans for an uneventful handover. Even the civilian leadership of the major cities carried out the instruction of the chief of police Carmine Senise, mostly aimed at avoiding riots, and thus contacted the German authorities and collaborated with them. Acting in such circumstances, Rommel carried out his task with speed and efficience, while many Italian units quickly disintegrated and offered little resistance; Army Group B strictly carried out the orders about the internment of Italian troops, and by 20 September 183,300 of the 13,000 officers and 402,000 soldiers captured had already been sent to Germany.

German units in [[Piedmont]] quickly neutralized the Italian units; in [[Turin]] (where General Enrico Adami Rossi refused to arm the civilians – on 18 August he had ordered to fire on the crowd during a popular demonstration – and immediately started negotiations) and [[Novara]] (where General Casentino surrendered his entire command) the high commands did not try any resistance, immediately handed over their weapons and surrendered with their disintegrating units; Adami Rossi surrendered as soon as German armoured units entered Turin (he later joined the Italian Social Republic).

In [[Ligury]], by 11 September the German troops of the 87th Corps (76th and 94th Infantry Division) and of the 51st Corps (65th and 305th Infantry Division) occupied all positions, while the 16th Italian Corps ([[105th Infantry Division Rovigo]] and [[6th Alpine Division Alpi Graie]]) dissolved; German units also entered the naval base of [[La Spezia]], but the Italian fleet had already sailed, while ships unable to sail had been scuttled or sabotaged.

In [[Milan]] General Vittorio Ruggero, commander of the garrison, bought time for 48 hours and then reached an agreement with a German colonel of the 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler"; Ruggero dissolved without a fight the [[5th Infantry Division Cosseria]], which was being re-formed after the heavy losses suffered in [[Russia]], and already on the following day the Waffen-SS units broke the agreement, occupied Milan and arrested Ruggero, who was sent to POW camps in Germany along with his soldiers. After a brief resistance also the garrison of [[Verona]] and his commander, General Guglielmo Orengo, were disarmed and deported by the German forces.

Despite the [[Alpine Wall]] fortifications, Italian units quickly disintegrated also in [[Trentino]]-[[South Tyrol]]: by 9 September the two alpine divisions of the 35th Corps of General Alessandro Gloria ([[2nd Alpine Division Tridentina]] and [[4th Alpine Division Cuneense]], but under re-constituion after their destruction on the Estern Front) were immediately attacked and disarmed by the 44th German Infantry Division, which was already deployed south of Brenner Pass, and by the “Doelha” Brigade; only in [[Rovereto]] did some units make resistance till the morning of 10 September, before to surrender. In [[Emilia]], the 2nd SS-Panzerkorps of General Paul Hausser occupied the territory and destroyed the weak Italian units in the area without difficulty: the 24th Panzer Division and "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" quickly entered [[Modena]] and [[Bologna]]; the [[3rd Cavalry Division Principe Amedeo Duca d’Aosta]], which was being re-formed after the losses suffered in Russia, was disarmed, and the soldiers taken prisoner.

The 71th German Infantry Division encountered more difficulty in occupying [[Friuli]] and the [[Julian March]]; whereas the [[3rd Alpine Division Julia]] and the [[2nd Infantry Division Sforzesca]], both being re-formed after their destruction in Russia, were soon disarmed, the [[52nd Infantry Division Torino]] made resistance in [[Gorizia]], where workers formed the first partisan groups. Meanwhile, Slovene partisan formations invaded part of this region, where they often committed bloody revenges against the Italian civilian population. Only towards the end of the month the 71th German Infantry Division, assisted by Italian collaborationist soldiers of the Italian Social Republic, regained control of the situation, repelled the Yugoslav partisans and occupied all the territory. In [[Trieste]] General Alberto Ferrero, after fruitless talsk with anti-fascist representatives, started negotiations with the Germans and then abandoned the city, and 90,000 Italian soldiers in the area, abandoned without orders, surrendered without a fight.

In Central Italy, north of Rome, the 5th Italian Army of General [[Mario Caracciolo di Feroleto]], headquartered in [[Orte]], was dissolved on 11 September, and its soldiers were disarmed and interned; the [[3rd Infantry Division Ravenna]], headquartered in [[Grosseto]], and the coastal formations of the Northern Thyrrenian Sea disintegrated, and German units entered in the cities; [[Livorno]] was captured on 10 September. In [[Florence]], General Chiappa Armellini immediately allowed the Germans to enter the city; Colonel Chiari in [[Arezzo]] and Colonel Laurei in [[Massa]] gave up their forces without attempting any resistance. Italian units and civilian volunteers in Piombino repelled a German landing attempt between 10 and 11 September, killing or capturing some hundreds of German soldiers, but on 12 September the Italian superior commands surrendered the town to the Germans.

Army Group B completed its task by 19 September, occupying all Central and Northern Italy, disarmino and capturing great part of the Italian troops and capturing a sizeable booty that included 236 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,138 [[field gun]]s, 536 [[anti-tank gun]]s, 797 [[anti-aircraft gun]]s, 5,926 [[machine gun]]s and 386,000 rifles. Along with 13,000 officers and 402,000 Italian soldiers, 43,000 Allied prisoners, previously held in Italian captivity, were also captured. Rommel organized a quick transfer to Germany of the captured Italian soldiers, which were sent through Brenner Pass, partly by train, partly on foot.

== Disintegration of Italian forces abroad ==

=== France ===

The [[4th Army (Italy)|4th Italian Army]] of General [[Mario Vercellino]], consisting of the [[5th Alpine Division Punteria]], the [[2nd Cavalry Division Emanuele Filiberto Testa di Ferro]] and the [[48th Infantry Division Taro]], was on its way from [[Provence]] to Italy when news of the armistice came; panic immediately spread among the troops, and rumors about the aggressiveness and brutality of the German troops caused demoralization and disintegration of the units towards the border. The army, dispersed between France, Piedmont and Ligury, disintegrated between 9 and 11 September, under the pressure of the converging German forces of Field Marshals [[Gerd von Rundstedt]] (from Provence) and Rommel (from Italy).

Taking advantage of the disgregation of the Italian units, the German troops swiftly captured all positions: the 356th and 715th Infantry Division entered [[Toulon]] and reached the [[Varo]] river, while the Panzergrenadier Division ''Feldherrnhalle'' occupied the riviera till [[Menton]]. [[Mont Cenis]] pass, held by Italian units, was attacked in a [[pincer movement]] by German units from France (units of the 157th and 715th Infantry Division) and Piedmont (units of the ''Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler'', coming from Turin); the Italian garrison defended the pass for some time, then surrendered after blowing up part of the [[ Fréjus Rail Tunnel]].

Most soldiers of the 4th Army dispersed and tried to reach their homes; some others decided to remain with the Germans, whereas sizeable groups chose to oppose the occupation and went on the mountains, where they joined groups of anti-fascist civilians and thus formed the first partisan groups in Piedmont. On 12 September, General Vercellino formally dissolved his Army, while General Operti secured the Army treasure, part of which would later be used to fund the resistance.

=== Balkans ===

Italian forces in the [[Balkans]] ([[Slovenia]], [[Dalmatia]], [[Croatia]], [[Bosnia]], [[Herzegovina]], [[Montenegro]], [[Albania]] and [[Greece]]) amounted to over 30 divisions and 500,000 soldiers, whom had been engaged for two years in wearing counter[[guerrilla]] operations against Yugoslav and Greek partisans. Italian forces in the area consisted of the [[2nd Army (Italy)|2nd Army]] (General [[Mario Robotti]]) in Slovenia and Dalmatia, of the [[9th Army (Italy)|9th Army]] (General [[Lorenzo Dalmazzo), stationed in Albania and under the control of Army Group East of General [[Ezio Rosi]] (which walso included the troops in Bosnia and Montenegro), and of the [[11th Army (Italy)|11th Army]] (General Vecchierelli) in Greece, the latter under [[Army Group E]] of General [[Alexander Löhr]].

Italian troops in the area were exhausted after years of wearing anti-partisan operations, characterized by brutalities, reprisals and repression, and were isolated in a hostile territory, mixed with numerous German divisions (over 20 divisions of Army Group F of Field Marshal Von Weichs, and of Army Group E of General Löhr) and Croat collaborationist units whom, on 9 September, immediately severed all ties with Italy and joined Germany in the fight against the former ally. Without any land connection, and with confuse and vague orders, units quickly disintegrated and many soldiers were disarmed, captured and deported to Germany. However Italian soldiers in this area fought with more determination than the units left in Italy, suffering heavy casualties and harsh reprisals by the German units.

Some units managed to escape capture and joined Yugoslav or Greek partisan formations, subsequently fighting alongside them; the population was often friendly towards the soldiers, and helped them. German forces, less numerous but more mobile, determined and well-led, and enjoying complete [[air supremacy]], quickly prevailed, brutally crushing Italian resistance, often summarily executing Italian officers, and occupying all the Balkan region; 393,000 Italian soldiers were captured and deported, about 29,000 joined the Germans, 20,000 joined Partisan formations, and 57,000 dispersed or hid and tried to survive.

The 5th, 11th and 18th Corps which formed the 2nd Army, stationed in Slovenia, Croatia and Dalmatia, were attacked by two Croat and three German divisions; General [[Gastone Gambara]], commander of the 11th Corps, started negotiations in [[Fiume]] and then abandoned his troops on 14 September, leaving them to be captured; [[Pola]] also fell without resistance. On 11 September the divisions stationed in Dalmatia were orderd to avoid any resistance in the hope of a peaceful repatriation, but the subordinate units refused, and started fighting against the Germans. The [[14th Infantry Division Isonzo]], [[22nd Infantry Division Cacciatori delle Alpi]] and [[153rd Infantry Division Macerata]] were dissolved, whereas the [[57th Infantry Division Lombardia]] and the [[154th Infantry Division Murge]] resisted in [[Susak]] and [[Karlovac]]; the [[158th Infantry Division Zara]] surrendered on 10 September and its commanders were deported, while in [[Split]] the [[15th Infantry Division Bergamo]] made an agreement with Yugoslav partisans and defended the town till 27 September against the [[7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen]], sent from [[Mostar]]; after surrender, three Italian generals (Alfonso Cigala Fulgosi, Raffaele Pelligra and Angelo Policardi) and 46 officers were executed. The [[1st Cavalry Division Eugenio di Savoia]], stationed in Dalmatia, was dispersed.

Italian forces in [[Albania]] consisted of the six divisions of the 9th Army (General Dalmazzo); the headquarters of Army Group East (General Rosi) was in [[Tirana]]. Left without clear orders, Italian commanders showed undecision and insufficient fighting spirit; on the contrary, German forces (Superior Command "Kroazia" with two chasseurs divisions, one mountain division and the 1st Panzer Division) acted swiftly and with great aggressiveness. In the morning of 11 September, the command of Army Group East was surrounded and General Rosi was immediately captured along with his officers, while General Dalmazzo did not react to the German attacks, did not issue any order of resistance and started negotiations with the Germans, hastening the disintegration of his forces.

The [[11th Infantry Division Brennero]] (whose commander, General Princivalle, kept an ambivalent behaviour), [[38th Infantry Division Puglie]], [[49th Infantry Division Parma]] and [[53rd Infantry Division Arezzo]] handed over their weapons and were dissolved (most men of the Brennero Division however managed to return to Italy by sea, while a considerable part of the men of the Arezzo Division escaped and joined the partisans), while the [[41st Infantry Division Firenze]] (General [[Arnaldo Azzi]]) and the [[151st Infantry Division Perugia]] (General Ernesto Chiminello) tried to resist. The Firenze Division faced the Germans in battle but was defeated near [[Kruja]], after which the Division was dissolved and its men joined the partisan formations; the Perugia Division retreated to [[Porto Edda]] after a [[fighting retreat]] and some of its men managed to embark on ships headed for Italy, but most of the division, weakened by the exhausting march through the Albanian mountains and the continuous attacks, was surrounded and surrendered on 22 September, after which General Chiminello and 130 officers were executed. Some survivors joined the partisans, forming the [[Antonio Gramsci Battalion]].

Over 15,000 dispersed Italian soldiers were sheltered by the population; the 21st German Mountain Corps established its headquarters in Tirana already on 10 September.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the [[18th Infantry Division Messina]] resisted for four days, while the [[32nd Infantry Division Marche]] tried to defend [[Dubrovnik]], but the German forces crushed its resistance; the commander of the Division, General Giuseppe Amico, was captured by the Germans during a parley and released to convince his men to surrender, but he instead rallied them against the Germans. Recaptured later, he was executed. In Montenegro, the [[23rd Infantry Division Ferrara]] disintegated, while the [[155th Infantry Division Emilia]] defended the [[Bay of Kotor]] till 16 September, then it had to surrender; the soldiers of the [[19th Infantry Division Venezia]] and of the [[1st Alpine Division Taurinense]] joined Tito’s partisans and formed the “Garibaldi” partisan Division, which kept fighting agains the Germans, despite some violent “incomprehensions” with the Yugoslavs, till March 1945.

In mainland [[Greece]], as elsewhere, uncertainty and ambivalent behaviour of the Italian superior officers favoured a rapid German success; Italian forces in this region, consisting of the [[11th Army (Italy)|11th Army]] with headquarters in [[Athens]], were subordinate to Army Group E of General Löhr, whom had numerically inferior but more efficient units (three chasseurs divisions, part of the 1st Panzer Division and a Luftwaffe field division). General [[Carlo Vecchierelli]], commander of the 11th Army, issued at first an order ditctating that no initiatives where to be taken against the Germans, and on 9 September, believing the German assurances of [[safe-conduct]]s to return to Italy, he ordered his troops to avoid any resistance and hand over the weapons to the Germans, without fighting.

The consequence was the disintegration of most of the units: the [[29th Infantry Division Piedmont]], [[36th Infantry Division Forlì]], [[37th Infantry Division Modena]], [[56th Infantry Division Casale]] and [[59th Infantry Division Cagliari]] were easily disarmed and their soldiers were captured and sent to Germany. The [[24th Infantry Division Pinerolo]], stationed in [[Thessalia]], rejected Vecchiarelli’s orders; General Adolfo Infante, after fighting in [[Larissa]], retreated to the [[Pindus]] massif, where he tried to obtain collaboration of the [[ELAS]] partisans. At first the Greek partisans agreed, but then they attacked the Italians to capture their weapons; Infante left for Italy, and his men partly dispersed among the local population, partly were imprisoned.

=== Ionian Islands and the Dodecanese ===

{{vedi anche|Dodecanese Campaign|Cefalonia massacre}}

German commands believed that it would be of great importance to retain conrol of the [[Ionian Islands]] and the [[Dodecanese]], garrisoned by Italian troops, as they were believed to be of great strategic importance as a peripheric naval and air base and a defensive stronghold against possible Allied attacks on the Balkan front. Therefore, German forces launched a series of operations aimed at capturing the most important of these islands, with a sizeable concentration of land and air forces. These operations caused some bloody battles against the Italian garrisons (who tried to resist, relying on their numerical superiority, geographical isolation and in some cases Allied assistance) and atrocities after surrender.

The Allied commands, despite insistence from [[Winston Churchill]] who supported a powerful Allied intervention in these islands to support the Italian garrisons and to secure valuable naval and air bases (which would turn useful for attacks on the southern Balkan front of “Fortress Europe”), only sent weak contingents with scarce air support, and were thus unable to change the course of the events, which progressively turned in favour of the Wehrmacht.

In [[Crete]], the [[51st Infantry Division Siena]] was immediately neutralized and disarmed by the German forces in the island (the “Kreta” fortress brigade and the [[22nd Air Landing Division (Wehrmacht)|22nd Air Landing Division]], a veteran of the [[German invasion of the Netherlands]] and of the [[Siege of Sebastopol]]); part of the Italian soldiers joined the Germans, whereas most of them were imprisoned and transferred to mainland Greece by sea, but at least 4,700 of them drowned in the sinking of two of the ships that were carrying them ([[MS Sinfra|Sinfra]] and [[SS Petrella|Petrella]]). [[Rhodes]] also quickly fell to the Germans; Italian forces there (the [[50th Infantry Division Regina]] and part of the [[6th Infantry Division Cuneo]], with 34,000 men), enjoyed numerical superiority over the German forces of General Kleeman (7,000 men of the “Rhodos” Division), but after [[Battle of Rhodes (1943)|an undecisive battle]] the Italian commander, Admiral [[Inigo Campioni]], surrendered when the Germans threatened to launch heavy bombings against the town of Rhodes. [[Karpathos]] was occupied by German forces on 13 September, after Campioni had ordered the island garrison to surrender. Over 6,500 Italian soldiers of the Rhodes garrison died after surrender, most of them in the sinking of the steamers [[SS Oria (1920)|Oria]] and [[Italian ship Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]] that were carrying them to mainland Greece; Campioni was later executed by [[Italian Social Republic|Fascist authorities]] for having defended the island.

British units landed in [[Leros]] and [[Kos]], where they joined the Italian garrisons in contrasting the German invasion (carried out by the 22nd Air Landing Division), but mediocre coordination, better German efficency and German air supremacy led to a German victory and the capture of both islands. [[Battle of Kos|Kos fell on 4 October]], with 2,500 Italian and 600 British soldiers taken prisoners; 96 Italian officers, including the garrison commander (Colonel Felice Leggio), were executed. Leros, defended by its 7,600-strong Italian garrison reinforced by 4,500 British soldiers, [[Battle of Leros|resisted for much longer]]; after weeks of continuous bombing, on 12 November 2,700 German soldiers landed or were parachuted in different points of the island and, despite numerical inferiority, they prevailed by 16 September, forcing both Italians and British to surrender. The Italian commander, Rear Admiral [[Luigi Mascherpa]], was later executed by RSI authorities like Campioni.

The most tragic events took place in the Ionian Islands, namely [[Corfu]] and [[Cephalonia]], which the German command considered to be of utmost importance for defense of the Balkan coast against possible Allied landings. The Italian garrison, consisting in the [[33rd Mountain Infantry Division Acqui]] with 11,500 men under General [[Antonio Gandin]], at first did not take any initiative against the much smaller German garrison (2,000 mountain troops under Lieutenant Colonel Hans Barge), and waited for clear orders. On 11 September, the Germans presented an [[ultimatum]] which ordered the Italians to surrender; Gandin at first decided to hand over the weapons, but after signs of protest and unrest among his men, he decided to resist. On 14 September, after receiving clear oders from the superior commands in Brindisi, Gandin rejected the ultimatum and attacked the German forces.

On 15 September, the Germans intervened in forces, landing five battalions of mountain troops of the [[1st Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|1st Mountain Division ''Edelweiss'']] of General [[Hubert Lanz]], supported by [[self-propelled gun]]s. The Germans repelled the Italian attack and then, after fierce fighting, went on the offensive on 21 September and forced the Italians to surrender at 11:00 on 22 September. After the surrender, the Germans began a bloody reprisal; General Gandin, about 400 officers and 4,000 to 5,000 men of the Acqui Division were executed. 1,300 men had previously been killed in the battle, and another 1,350 subsequently perished in the sinking of ships that were carrying them to mainland Greece.

In Corfu the 4,500-strong Italian garrison easily overpowered and captured the 500-strong German garrison; the German prisoners were transferred by sea to Italy (and their presence in Italian hands is probably the reason that prevented the Germans from committing another full-scale massacre like in Cephalonia), while the garrison was reinforced by 3,500 more men. Between 24 and 25 September, however, more German forces, with Luftwaffe support, landed in the island, and on 26 September the Italians, after losing some hundreds of men and running out of ammunition, surrendered. The Italian commander, Colonel Luigi Lusignani, was executed along with 28 of his officers; 1,302 Italian prisoners perished in the sinking of the [[Italian ship Mario Roselli|motorship Mario Roselli]] which was to transfer them to the mainland.