The 1 Cavalry Division Eugenio di Savoia was an Cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 Division

Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

 of the Italian Army

Royal Italian Army (1940–1946)

This article is about the Italian Royal Army which participated in World War II.The Italian Royal Army was reformed in 1861 and lasted until 1946. The Royal Army started with the unification of Italy and the formation of the Kingdom of Italy . It ended with the dissolution of the monarchy...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The Eugenio di Savoia was mobilized in 1940, as a cavalry division and took part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia

Invasion of Yugoslavia

The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...

. The Division remained in Yugoslavia in the Italian XI Corps  (Ljubljana

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

) as an occupying force on the Dalmatian coast. After the Italian surrender the Division was disbanded in September 1943.

Action in Yugoslavia

While in Yugoslavia, the 14 Alessandria Regiment is credited with having conducted the last cavalry charge by the Italian Army in World War II. On 17 October 1942 the regiment was encircled by a group of Josip Broz Tito

Josip Broz Tito

Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...

's Partisans

Partisans (Yugoslavia)

The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...

 near Poloj in Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

. That night the cavalry launched repeated saber charges against the partisans. Despite heavy casualties, the charge succeeded and broke through to safety.

Organization

The Division had undergone a level of mechanization. Each division had two cavalry regiments, a highly-mobile infantry (Bersaglieri

Bersaglieri

The Bersaglieri are a corps of the Italian Army originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Piedmontese Army, later to become the Royal Italian Army...

) regiment, an artillery regiment, and a light tank group. The squadrons of the cavalry regiments were horse-mounted and, other than a motorcycle company, the Bersaglieri were issued with bicycles. The light tank group had a total of 61 tanks. The tanks were typically L3s

L3/35

The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian tank used before and during World War II. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tankettes....

 or L6s. The Division was commanded by Lieutenant-General Federico Ferrari Orsi

Order of battle

• 12. Alessandria Cavalry Regiment
• 14. Cavalleggeri di Saluzzo Cavalry Regiment
• 11. Bersaglieri Regiment (mot)
• San Giusto Armored Battalion
• 1. Artillery Regiment (mot)
• 18. CCRR Section
• 172. CCRR Section
• 101. Mixed Engineer Company
• 71. Medical Section
• 57. Field Hospital
• 58. Field Hospital
• 59. Field Hospital
• 91. Quartermaster section
• 211. Mixed Motor Transport Group Command
• 34. Light Transportation Section
• 53. Light Transportation Section
• 852. Light Transportation Section
• 854. Light Transportation Section
• 1. Transport Unit
• 5. Road Movement Unit
• Heavy Fuel Section
• 5. Road Recovery Unit
• 18. Field Post Office

Further reading

• Dr Jeffrey T. Fowler - Axis Cavalry in World War II
• George F. Nafziger - Italian Order of Battle: An organizational history of the Italian Army in World War II (3 vol)