65 Infantry Division Granatieri di Savoia
Encyclopedia
The 65 Infantry Division "Grenadiers of Savoy" (Italian:
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

  65th Divisione d'Africa Granatieri di Savoia) was an infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 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 Royal 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...

 (Regio Esercito Italiano) 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...

.

East African Campaign

The Granatieri di Savoia Division was created and stationed in Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...

 (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI). It took part in the Italian conquest of British Somaliland
Italian conquest of British Somaliland
The Italian conquest of British Somaliland was a military campaign in the Horn of Africa, which took place in August 1940 between forces of Italy and those of Great Britain and its Commonwealth...

 and the Battle of Keren
Battle of Keren
The Battle of Keren was fought as part of the East African Campaign during World War II. The Battle of Keren was fought from 5 February-1 April 1941 between the colonial Italian army defending it's colonial possession of Eritrea and the invading British and Commonwealth forces. In 1941, Keren was...

. The division was destroyed by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 counter-offensive into AOI which started on 19 January 1941. The last elements of the Granatieri di Savoia Division surrendered on 19 May 1941.

The Granatieri di Savoia was one of two Italian infantry divisions involved in the East African Campaign
East African Campaign (World War II)
The East African Campaign was a series of battles fought in East Africa during World War II by the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations and several allies against the forces of Italy from June 1940 to November 1941....

, the other being the 40 Infantry Division "Hunters of Africa"
40 Infantry Division Cacciatori d'Africa
The 40 Infantry Division "Hunters of Africa" was an infantry division of the Italian Royal Army during World War II.-History:...

 (Cacciatori d'Africa).

Order of battle

  • 10. Granatieri di Savoia Infantry Regiment
  • 11. Granatieri di Savoia Infantry Regiment
  • 60. Artillery Regiment
  • 11. Monteferato Blackshirt CCNN Battalion
  • Negelli Cavalry Battalion
  • Heavy Machine Gun Battalion
  • Engineer Company
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