"The Performance of the Italian Army in North Africa" Topic

"The performance of the Italian army is still considered by many as a case of a badly led force that preferred to run away when faced with battle, couldn't wait to get home to have spaghetti and that had to be rescued by Rommel personally and/or the Germans more generally every time it went into battle.

This caricature view, which sees the Regio Esercito's performance almost entirely through the lens of the COMPASS operation and the Rommel Papers still has many followers and in the English-speaking world you cannot go much wrong by heaping scorn on the Italian armed forces.

Naturally, this has led to a counter-movement, which claims the exact opposite, i.e. that the Italian armed forces were the rock stars of World War 2, consistently rescued the day, and performed outstandingly throughout…"
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Amicalement
Armand

A very interesting site, thinks for the find amigo.

I always thought they performed well in Keren and Sudan region.

Interesting article, and true AFAIK. Like many things in WWII perceptions, biases, etc. are just that and not a fact.

Happy you enjoyed it my friends!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Good movie which paints the Italians in North Africa in a realistic light
TMP link

The Italians would have acquitted themselves better against the British in North Africa if they had better tanks, equipment and logistics. Mussolini pretty much asked them to do the impossible.

I believe there was also an issue with the Italian leadership culture. I get the impression Italian officers weren't expected to be as involved in their unit as other armies. It's just anecdotal though, I can't prove it.

The problem for the Italians is that at the start of the Afric campaign there kit was as good as the Germans and much of the British. However as the war progressed the Italians could not significantly improve on there AFV's so they lose there ability to trade blows on an equal footing.

With regard to logistics their 6 wheel trucks were the envy of many a Brit and German.

While they did have issues like all army's they were often made a scapegoat for others failures.

One of their main failings was a solid body of infantry. Besides some terrible kit (e.g., the Breda m30 LMG), they were treated as an afterthought. Italian divisions would be maintained at cadre level, then get filled up with new guys right before shipping out. This is not conducive to unit cohesion.