The 26 Mountain Infantry Division Assietta 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 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 Assietta Division was formed in 1939, from the 26 Infantry Division Assietta that had participated in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War

Second Italo-Abyssinian War

The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...

 and was reorganized as a Mountain division prior to the start of World War II. The new division took part in the Italian invasion of France

Italian invasion of France

The Italian invasion of France in June 1940 was a small-scale invasion that started near the end of the Battle of France during World War II. The goal of the Italian offensive was to take control of the Alps mountain range and the region around Nice, and to win the colonies in North Africa...

. It was then involved 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...

. and soon after moved to Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 in July 1941. It was destroyed during the Allied landings.
It was being rebuilt in the North of Italy when the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces was signed and surrendered to the Germans

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

.
Mountain Divisions are not to be confused with the "Alpini" specialized mountain troops. The Mountain divisions had pack horse artillery instead of the usual towed type.

Most men drafted in the Assietta Division came from Asti

Asti

Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...

 and surroundings

Province of Asti

The Province of Asti is a province in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Asti. To the north west it borders on the province of Turin; to the south west it borders on the province of Cuneo. To the east it borders on the province of Alessandria, while in the south it...

.

Order of Battle 1935

• 38th Infantry Regiment "Ravenna"
• 63rd Infantry Regiment "Cagliari"
• 49th Artillery Regiment
• 504th Medium Machine Gun Battalion
• Engineers Company
• Replacements Battalion

• Each Army Division in the Ethiopian Campaign had a Pack-Mules unit of 3000 mules and three Regimental Trucks units (20 light trucks each).
• Assietta was a Binary Division (2 Infantry Rgts only)

Order of battle 1940

• 29. Pisa
  Pisa
  Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
  
   Infantry Regiment
• 30. Pisa Infantry Regiment
• 17. CCNN Legion (Blackshirts)
  • 17. Cremona
    Cremona
    Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
    
     CCNN Battalion
  • 18. Costantissima CCNN Battalion
• 25. Assietta Artillery Regiment
  • 5 x Battalion
• 10. Anti Aircraft Battery
• 326. Anti Aircraft Battery
• 26. Mortar Battalion
• 126. Mortar Battalion
• 126. Anti-Tank Company
• 64. Pioneer Company
• 26. Signal Company
• 16. Medical Section
• 9. Field Hospital
• 10. Field Hospital
• 151. Field Hospital
• 468. Field Hospital
• 262. Heavy Motor Transport Section
• 18. Supply Section
• 31. Bakery Squadron
• 51. Pack Transport Section

External links

• Regio Esercito: 26a Divisione di fanteria "Assietta"