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British Goatley boat

The Goatley boat was a collapsible boat built for military use. The boat had a wooden bottom and canvas sides and could carry ten men, yet it weighed only around 150 kilograms. Assembly time was estimated at two minutes with two men. The boat was designed by, and named after, Fred Goatley of Saunders-Roe, and used in a number of commando and other operations by the British Forces during World War II. Approximately 1000 Goatley boats were ordered by the War Office during World War II.
In the years leading up to the Second World War, the British war office recognised a need for a small boat that could be used for covert reconnaissance and assault operations. 20 months before the first waves of American assaults on Omaha Beach in Calvados, a detachment of the 112nd British 62nd Commando, led by Major March Philipps, set foot on the shore of Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, On the night of September 12 to 13, 1942. British soldiers, over-trained and members of the SSRF (Small Scale Raiding Forces), landed with their small Goatley transport boats. On 20 September 1944 Allied forces op the US 504 Parachute Infantry regiment (Part of the 82nd US Airborne Division) crossed the Waal with the goal of capturing the bridges over the river. The boat is made out of wood and canvas and only weighs 330 pounds. This means the boat could be easily lifted and maneuvered. The main disadvantage was that the boats were very fragile.

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British Assault boat

An assault boat is a boat used for making a landing in combat. Meant for inland waters, assault boats were light enough to be carried by several men and paddled, or fitted with an outboard motor for hi-speed operation, manually portable or not. But there are also large assault boat for uses in riverine and littoral water where this boat is easy enough to berth in tight space and shallow water. Usually, assault boat has a length of 5 to 20 meters.
A motor torpedo boat is a fast torpedo boat, especially of the mid 20th century. The motor in the designation originally referred to their use of petrol engines, typically marinised aircraft engines or their derivatives, which distinguished them from other naval craft of the era, including other torpedo boats, that used steam turbines or reciprocating steam engines.
Though other navies built similar petrol-powered craft, the specific designation "motor torpedo boat", abbreviated to "MTB", is generally used for craft of the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Canadian Navy boats. Torpedo boats were designed for missions that variously involved high speed, operating at night, low speed ambush, and manoeuvrability to allow them to get close enough to launch their torpedoes at enemy vessels. With no significant armour, the boats relied upon surprise and agility at high speed to avoid being hit by gunfire from bigger ships.
The Royal Navy started developing particularly small, agile, and fast petrol-powered torpedo boats in the early 20th century, shortly before the beginning of the First World War. Known as coastal motor boats, these were only around 15 long tons (15 t). In the Second World War, Britain fielded a variety of MTBs, which were operated by Coastal Forces. A similar size boat with a different role in the Second World War was the BPB 19 m high-speed launch used by the RAF for air-sea rescue operations.

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British Fairmile Type-B ML boat

The Fairmile Type-B motor launch was a type of motor launch (often referred to as MLs) built by British boatbuilder Fairmile Marine and others during the Second World War for the Royal Navy for coastal operations.
While the Type A had been designed entirely by Fairmile, the Type B design had come from Bill Holt of the Admiralty based on the lines of a destroyer hull and the detailed design and production was taken on by Fairmile. Like all their designs it was based on total prefabrication so individual components could be contracted out to small factories for production and these arranged as kits that would be delivered to various boatyards for assembly and fitting out.
Altogether approximately 650 boats were built between 1940 and 1945. The first Fairmile B motor launch was completed in September 1940, with a further 38 from the first two production batches entering service before the end of the year. All boats were essentially the same, although they could be adapted to serve in several roles by the expedient of having pre-drilled rails on their decks spaced to allow the fitting of various types of armaments. A number served in the St Nazaire Raid as assault transports, but their light construction meant that they suffered heavily. During the Normandy landings a number of MLs were designated as navigation launches. These motor launches guided the landing craft onto the correct beaches. For this task the craft were fitted with splinter mats at the front for added protection. The main armament - the 3-pounder gun - was moved to the bow, an Oerlikon 20 mm cannon was fitted amidships and a Bofors 40 mm gun was installed at the stern. Smoke canister apparatus was installed at the rear of the craft and the number of depth charges was reduced. See main picture above of ML303 in this configuration.

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British Foot Pontoon

A pontoon bridge (or pontoon bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry.
The British Blood Pontoon MkII, which took the original and cut it into two halves, was still in use with the British Army in 1924. The First World War saw developments on "trestles" to form the link between a river bank and the pontoon bridge. Some infantry bridges in WW1 used any material available, including petrol cans as flotation devices.
The Kapok Assault Bridge for infantry was developed for the British Army, using kapok filled canvas float and timber foot walks. Folding Boat Equipment was developed in 1928 and went through several versions until it was used in WW2 to complement the Bailey Pontoon. It had a continuous canvas hinge and could fold flat for storage and transportation. When assembled it could carry 15 men and with two boats and some additional toppings it could transport a 3-ton truck. Further upgrades during WW2 resulted in it moving to a Class 9 bridge.
Most pontoon bridges are temporary and used in wartime and civil emergencies. There are permanent pontoon bridges in civilian use and carry highway traffic and allowing ships or boats to pass on the river or lake being crossed. Permanent floating bridges are useful for sheltered water crossings if it is not considered economically feasible to suspend a bridge from anchored piers. Such bridges can require a section that is elevated or can be raised or removed to allow waterborne traffic to pass.

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British Vehicular Pontoon

The Bailey bridge was used for the first time in 1942. The first version put into service was a Bailey Pontoon and Raft with a 9.1 m single-single Bailey bay supported on two pontoons. A key feature of the Bailey Pontoon was the use of a single span from the bank to the bridge level which eliminated the need for bridge trestles.
Donald Bailey invented the Bailey bridge, which was made up of modular, pre-fabricated steel trusses capable of carrying up to 40 short tons (36 t) over spans up to 55 m. While typically constructed point-to-point over piers, they could be supported by pontoons as well.
An open sea type of pontoon, another British war time invention, known by their code names, the Mulberry harbours floated across the English Channel to provide harbours for the June 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy. The dock piers were code named "Whale". These piers were the floating roadways that connected the "Spud" pier heads to the land. These pier heads or landing wharves, at which ships were unloaded each consisted of a pontoon with four legs that rested on the sea bed to anchor the pontoon, yet allowed it to float up and down freely with the tide. "Beetles" were pontoons that supported the "Whale" piers. They were moored in position using wires attached to "Kite" anchors which were also designed by Allan Beckett. These anchors had a high holding power as was demonstrated in D+13 Normandy storm where the British Mulberry survived most of the storm damage whereas the American Mulberry, which only had 20% of its Kite Anchors deployed, was destroyed.

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British Supermarine Spitfire

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, using several wing configurations, and it was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft.
The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928.
Although the original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp, it was strong enough and adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlins and, in later marks, Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,340 hp. As a result, the Spitfire's performance and capabilities improved over the course of its service life.
After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire superseded the Hurricane to become the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, and saw action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific, and South-East Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, and fighter-bomber. The Merlin-engined Spitfires variants (mainly the Mk IX and the Packard-engines Mk XVI) progressively took up the tactical air superiority role were adapted to the fighter-bomber role. In the Mediterranean, from early 1943, helped pave the way for the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy. The Spitfire also served in the Pacific Theatre. That Southeast Asia was a lower-priority area also did not help, and it was allocated few Spitfires and other modern fighters compared to Europe, which allowed the Japanese to easily achieve air superiority by 1942.

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British Hawker Typhoon

The Hawker Typhoon (Tiffy in RAF slang) is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. The Typhoon was originally designed to mount twelve 7.7 mm Browning machine guns and be powered by the latest 2,000 hp engines. When the Luftwaffe brought the formidable Focke-Wulf Fw 190 into service in 1941, the Typhoon was the only RAF fighter capable of catching it at low altitudes; as a result it secured a new role as a low-altitude interceptor.
From late 1942 the Typhoon was equipped with bombs and from late 1943 RP-3 rockets were added to its armoury. With those weapons and its four 20mm Hispano autocannons, the Typhoon became one of the Second World War's most successful ground-attack aircraft.
By 1943, the RAF needed a ground attack fighter more than a "pure" fighter and the Typhoon was suited to the role. The powerful engine allowed the aircraft to carry a load of up to two 450 kg bombs, equal to the light bombers of only a few years earlier. The bomb-equipped aircraft were nicknamed "Bombphoons" and entered service with No. 181 Squadron, formed in September 1942.
From September 1943, Typhoons were also armed with four "60 lb" RP-3 rockets under each wing. In October 1943, No. 181 Squadron made the first Typhoon rocket attacks. Although the rocket projectiles were inaccurate and took considerable skill to aim and allow for ballistic drop after firing, "the sheer firepower of just one Typhoon was equivalent to a destroyer's broadside". By the end of 1943, eighteen rocket-equipped Typhoon squadrons formed the basis of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) ground attack arm in Europe.

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British Bristol Blenheim

The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company which was used extensively in the first two years and in some cases throughout the Second World War. The Type 142 first flew in April 1935, and the Air Ministry, impressed by its performance, ordered a modified design as the Type 142M for the Royal Air Force as a bomber. Deliveries of the newly named Blenheim to RAF squadrons commenced on 10 March 1937.
The Blenheim was one of the first British aircraft with an all-metal stressed-skin construction, retractable landing gear, flaps, a powered gun turret and variable-pitch propellers. The Blenheim was effective as a bomber. A total of 3,307 were produced.
A modification resulted in the Blenheim Mk III, which lengthened the nose, dispensing with the "stepless cockpit" format of the Mk.I, introducing a true windscreen in front of the pilot, to provide more room for the bomb aimer. This required the nose to be "scooped out" in front of the pilot to maintain visibility during takeoff and landing. The last bomber variant was conceived as an armoured ground attack aircraft, with a solid nose containing four more Browning machine guns. Originally known as the Bisley, (after the shooting competitions held at Bisley), the production aircraft were renamed Blenheim Mk V and featured a strengthened structure, pilot armour, interchangeable nose gun pack or bomb-aimer position and another Mercury variant with 950 hp (710 kW). The Mk V (Type 160) was used primarily in the Middle East and Far East. The Blenheim served as the basis for the Beaufort torpedo bomber, which led to the Beaufighter, with the lineage performing two evolutions of bomber-to-fighter.

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British de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito

The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or "Mossie". In 1941, it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world.
Originally conceived as an unarmed fast bomber, the Mosquito's use evolved during the war into many roles, including low- to medium-altitude daytime tactical bomber, high-altitude night bomber, pathfinder, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, intruder, maritime strike, and photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The crew of two, pilot and navigator, sat side by side. A single passenger could ride in the aircraft's bomb bay when necessary.
The Mosquito FBVI was often flown in special raids, such as Operation Jericho (an attack on Amiens Prison in early 1944), and precision attacks against military intelligence, security, and police facilities (such as Gestapo headquarters). On 30 January 1943, the 10th anniversary of the Nazis' seizure of power, a morning Mosquito attack knocked out the main Berlin broadcasting station while Hermann Göring was speaking, taking his speech off the air.
The Mosquito flew with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other air forces in the European, Mediterranean, and Italian theatres. The Mosquito was also operated by the RAF in the Southeast Asian theatre and by the Royal Australian Air Force based in the Halmaheras and Borneo during the Pacific War.

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Commonwealth ANZAC Fusilers

During World War II, the Australian I Corps HQ moved to Greece in April 1941. As the corps also controlled the New Zealand 2nd Division (along with Greek and British formations), it was officially renamed ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) in April. The Battle of Greece was over in weeks and the corps HQ left Greece on 23–24 April. Some troops evacuated to Alexandria, but the majority were sent to Crete to reinforce its garrison against an expected air and sea German invasion. Australians and New Zealanders were respectively deployed around the cities of Rethymno and Chania in western Crete with a smaller Australian force being positioned in Heraklion. The invasion began the morning of 20 May and most of the defenders of Chania withdrew across the island to the south coast and were evacuated by the Royal Navy from Sfakia. Many others evaded capture for several months, hiding in the mountains with generous assistance from the local Cretan population.
Between April and August 1941, some 35,000 allies, including around 14,000 Australian soldiers, were besieged in Tobruk by a German–Italian army commanded by General Erwin Rommel. The garrison, commanded by Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, included the 9th Australian Division (20th, 24th, and 26th Brigades), the 18th Brigade of the 7th Australian Division, four regiments of British artillery, and the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade.
On 23 October 1942, El Alamein became the scene of one of the major battles of World War II. The British Eighth Army, which included the 9th Australian Division, was pitted against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel with four German and eight Italian divisions. The Battle of El Alamein was the last great imperial battle. More than 13,500 men in the Eighth Army were killed, wounded or missing including 2,694 Australians from the 9th Division, approximately one-fifth of the Eighth Army's total casualties.

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Commonwealth Canadian Rifles

The history of Canada during World War II begins with the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. While the Canadian Armed Forces were eventually active in nearly every theatre of war, most combat was centred in Italy, Northwestern Europe, and the North Atlantic. In all, some 1.1 million Canadians served in the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, and in forces across the Commonwealth, with approximately 42,000 killed and another 55,000 wounded. Canada was the only country of the Americas to be actively involved in the war prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
At the outbreak of war, Canada's commitment to the war in Europe was limited by the government to one division, and one division in reserve for home defence. Nevertheless, the eventual size of the Canadian armed forces greatly exceeded those envisioned in the pre-war period's so-called mobilization "schemes". Over the course of the war, the army enlisted 730,000; the air force 260,000; and the navy 115,000 personnel. In addition, thousands of Canadians served in the Royal Air Force.
Canadian forces played a small role during the Battle of France, with the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade being deployed to Brest as a part of the second British Expeditionary Force. The brigade advanced towards Le Mans on 14 June before they withdrew to the United Kingdom from Brest, and Saint-Malo on 18 June. Apart from the Dieppe Raid in August 1942, the frustrated Canadian Army fought no significant engagement in the European theatre of operations until the invasion of Sicily in the summer of 1943. With the Sicily Campaign, the Canadians had the opportunity to enter combat and later were among the first to enter Rome. On 6 June 1944, the 3rd Canadian Division landed on Juno Beach in the Normandy landings and sustained heavy casualties in their first hour of attack. By the end of D-Day, the Canadians had penetrated deeper into France than either the British or the American troops at their landing sites, overcoming stronger resistance than the other beachheads except Omaha Beach. In the first month of the Normandy campaign, Canadian, British and Polish troops were opposed by some of the strongest and best trained German troops.

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Polish Liberation Army

On 6 October, 1939, following the Polish defeat, German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The Polish forces in the West, as well as in the East, were established outside of Poland, and contributed to the Allied effort throughout the war. In total, the Polish armed forces were the 4th largest Allied forces in Europe, after those of the Soviet Union, United States, and Britain.
In early 1940, a Polish Independent Highland Brigade took part in the Battles of Narvik in Norway. A Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade was formed in the French Mandate of Syria, to which many Polish troops had escaped from Poland. Two Polish divisions (First Grenadier Division, and Second Infantry Fusiliers Division) took part in the defence of France, while a Polish motorized brigade and two infantry divisions were being formed. Some Polish ground units regrouped in southern Scotland. These units, as Polish I Corps, comprised the 1st Independent Rifle Brigade and the 10th Motorised Cavalry Brigade. In the Middle East, the Władysław Anders' Army joined the British Eighth Army, where formed Polish II Corps from it and other units in 1943.
By March 1944, the Polish Armed Forces in the West, fighting under British command, numbered 165,000 and, by the end of the Second World War, they were 195,000 strong. The Polish Armed Forces in the West fought in most Allied operations against German Army in the Mediterranean and Middle East and European theatres: the North African Campaign, the Italian Campaign (with the Battle of Monte Cassino being one of the most notable), the Western European Campaign (from Dieppe Raid and D-Day through Battle of Normandy and latter operations, especially Operation Market Garden).

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Free French Forces

Free France was the government-in-exile led by French general Charles de Gaulle during the Second World War. Established in London in June 1940 after the Fall of France, it continued fighting the Axis as an Allied nation with its Free French Forces (Forces françaises libres). The Free French fought both Axis and Vichy troops and served in almost every major campaign, from the Middle East to Indochina and North Africa.
Despite de Gaulle's call to continue the struggle, few French forces initially pledged their support. By the end of July 1940, only about 7,000 soldiers had joined the Free French Army in England. It was not until late August that Free France would gain significant support in French Equatorial Africa. Many of the men in the French colonies felt a special need to defend France, their distant "motherland", eventually making up two-thirds of de Gaulle’s Free French Forces. On 1 August 1943, L'Armée d'Afrique was formally united with the Free French Forces to form the French Liberation Army.
By the time of the Normandy Invasion, the Free French forces numbered around 500,000 strong. 900 Free French paratroopers landed as part of the British Special Air Service's (SAS) SAS Brigade; the 2e Division Blindée (2nd Armoured Division or 2e DB)—under General Leclerc—landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on 1 August 1944 together with other follow-on Free French forces, and eventually led the drive toward Paris. Soon they were fighting in Alsace, the Alps and Brittany. By the end of the war, they were 1,300,000 strong—the fourth-largest Allied army in Europe—and took part in the Allied advance through France and invasion of Germany.

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1. Italian parachutists

The first units of Italian parachutists were trained and formed shortly before the Second World War in Castel Benito, near Tripoli, where the first Military Parachute School was located. The first troops trained were two Libyan battalions, the Libyan Parachute Battalion and the 1st National Libyan Parachute Battalion, of the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops. To these were added the first battalions of Italian army troops and the 1st Carabinieri Parachute Battalion (there were three Carabinieri Parachute Battalions). 1st Battalion Royal Carabinieri paratroopers, formed on July 1, 1940, used in Second World War on the North African front (1941). The Italian Air Force also had parachute units.
Later in Italy, the staff at Castel Benito was expanded into the School at Tarquinia and became the first elements of the future Divisione Folgore. In 1941 a 5,000-man Parachute division was raised and was designated the 185th Parachute Division Folgore, it was trained for the assault on Malta. When the Malta invasion never took place, the parachutists were deployed instead as infantry in the North African theater. The heroic behavior of the Folgore Division during the Second battle of El Alamein in resisting the attacks of six British divisions (two armored and four infantry) inspired the respect and admiration of its enemy. Lacking effective anti-tank weapons, the Italian paratroopers managed to stop British tanks only with a few obsolete 47/32 guns and petrol bombs. On 11 November 1942, when the battle was over, the BBC transmitted the famous official bulletin: “The remnants of the Folgore division put up resistance beyond every limit of human possibility.”

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2 Italian Bersaglieri

In 1836, the Piedmontese Army (later to become the Sardinian and then the core of the Royal Italian army) adopted light infantry formations similar to the French chasseurs and Austrian jägers. These Bersaglieri, or ”sharpshooters,” wore distinctive black uniforms with brimmed hats, trailing cock’s feathers. The formation was created by Alfonso del la Marmora. The first company marched through Turin in a rapid, high-stepping gait (130 paces/minute) that still distinguished the Bersaglieri in World War Two. They impressed King Carlo Alberto, who immediately had them integrated as part of the Armata Sarda, the Piedmontese professional army.
After the World War I, a new role was seen for the light infantry as part of Italy’s commitment to mobile warfare. They were converted into bicycle troops to fight alongside cavalry in the Celeri (fast) divisions. Elite units with high morale and an aggressive spirit were seen as one way to break the tactical stalemate of the Great War. The Bersaglieri gave Italy the perfect formations for such a doctrine and to work alongside tanks. When the armoured divisions were formed in 1939 the continuation between the Bersaglieri and mobile warfare continued. Each new armoured and motorised division was allocated one Bersaglieri regiment.
Italy’s Bersaglieri regiments expanded to three battalions each during the Second World War, but the Army resisted temptations to water down their quality, and recruits had to be of above-average size and stamina. They endured intense physical training, just as their great-grandfathers had, and had to qualify as marksmen.
The Bersaglieri fought in southern France and Greece in 1940. The first Bersaglieri to see combat in North Africa was the 10th Bersaglieri Regiment. They arrived in Libya in early 1941. It met disaster before arriving there, when British tanks ambushed its truck convoys well inside what the regimental staff had been told was the secure rear area. In all, six of the 12 regiments fought in North Africa, compiling an excellent combat record. More than once, Bersaglieri units fought to the last man to hold a position while German units ran away. The Bersaglieri also fought on the Eastern front against the Soviets.

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3 Italian Alpini

Established in 1872, the Alpini are the oldest active mountain infantry in the world. The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. The Alpini's name comes from their inceptive association with the Alps. Their original mission was to protect Italy's border with France and Austria-Hungary. In 1888 the Alpini deployed on their first mission abroad, in Africa, a continent to which they returned on several occasions and during various wars of the Kingdom of Italy. During World War II, the Alpini fought alongside the Axis forces primarily in the Balkans Campaigns and on the Eastern Front. An individual soldier of the Alpini is called Alpino.
In 1935 were created five Alpine divisions and formed a new Alpini regiment: the 11th Alpini Regiment. A 12th Alpini Regiment was also formed to oversee the battalions of the 9th Alpini Regiment, which were not sent with the regimental command and the 5 Alpine Division Pusteria to fight in the Italian attack on Abyssinia. In 1941 the 6th Alpine Division Alpi Graie was raised with reserve units of the other five Alpine divisions.
Each division consisted of two Alpini regiments with three battalions each, one Alpine Artillery Regiment with three Artillery groups, one Mixed Engineer Battalion, one Logistic Battalion and some support units. The strength of each division was 573 officers and 16,887 NCOs and soldiers for a total strength of 17,460 men. Also each division had almost 5,000 mules and 500 vehicles of various types at its disposal.
The divisions saw combat in France, Africa, Italy, Albania, The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Greece. One Alpini battalion was employed in East Africa. In 1942, Tridentina, Julia and Cuneense division were sent to fight in the Soviet Union. In Russia, instead of being deployed in the Caucasus mountains as expected, the Alpini were tasked with holding a front on the plains of the Don River.

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4 Italian San Marco Marines

In 1939, the Italian Navy had a peacetime naval infantry unit, the Battaglione “San Marco”, located at Pola, which was about 500 men strong. In June of 1940, at the beginning of the war for Italy, a 2nd “mobilization” battalion was formed, mainly with reservists, and it was given the name “Grado”. This battalion was added to the already existing battalion named “Bafile”. The two battalions were moved to La Spezia for a scheduled amphibious landing behind the French lines, but the rapid collapse of the French Army prevented this operation, and the 2 battalions (now formed into the Reggimento “San Marco”) returned to Italy.
In 1941, during Autumn, all of the San Marco Regiment, including the several detachments garrisoning the Yugoslavian coast, returned to Italy as part of the Forza Navale Speciale and began training for the invasion of Malta. In November 1941, a provisional 3rd battalion (some companies detached from the Bafile battalion) was formed for a scheduled amphibious operation in North Africa, and this battalion served as an infantry unit for the duration of its fighting in North Africa. The 3rd battalion on service in North Africa, distinguished himself on September 13th – 14th 1942, while in the defense of Tobruk harbor from a strong British raid. The unit received its name “Tobruk” from these actions. In 1943, some battalions returned to their bases while the 4th battalion “Caorle” remained at Toulon. The “Tobruk” battalion was destroyed while in Tunisia, and the Regimental HQ, the “Bafile” and “Grado” battalions surrendered with the rest of the Axis forces.

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5 Italian First Line Rifles

The "Regio Esercito Italiano" (Italian Royal Army) started with the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and the formation of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia). It ended with the dissolution of the monarchy. The exploits of the Italian army during the First World War served to high-light both its strengths, and its weaknesses. During that conflict, Italian morale proved steadfast, and the Italian army was shown to be able to secure Italy's borders, and even carry the war to the enemy. But after the war, the military languished and declined.
Initially, an Italian riflemen squad (squadra fucilieri) included 18 men, split in two groups, a riflemen group (gruppo fucilieri) of 9 men and a machine gunners group (gruppo mitraglieri) of 9 men with two Breda Mod. 30 machine rifles. From July 1941 to September 1943, an Italian riflemen squad (squadra fucilieri) included 20 men, split in two groups, a riflemen group (gruppo fucilieri) of 11 men and a machine gunners group (gruppo mitraglieri) of 9 men with two Breda Mod. 30 machine rifles. The 20 man groups in the Fucilieri regiments broke down into a 9 man gruppo mitragliatori commanded by a 'corporal major' with 2 LMGs ('machine rifles') and an 10 man fucilieri group. The whole squadra was commanded by a Suttofficiale.
Each infantry platoon of the Italian army has only 2 infantry squads, and the platoon is very simple, there are only two (including the platoon leader), and the platoon has 38 personnel. At the level of the infantry company, it is different. There are 3 platoons. The infantry platoon also has a company platoon, with a total of 156 people in the company. The infantry squad in World War II was 8-13 people. Only the Japanese army, which was not "normal", can be compared with the Italian army in number.

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6 Italian Second Line Fusiliers

The organization in the Italian Army for the production of new units and for the supply of replacements is very similar to the German Ersatz system. Every unit of the Field Army is reinforced as necessary from the depot of the unit in Italy. The rate of forming reserve, units depends on circumstances and is fairly elastic. Normally, the unit of first line reserves is one degree smaller than the field unit which it serves; each infantry or artillery regiment usually has a reserve battalion. When a division is engaged in active operations, the process is speeded up and second line formations equal to the field units are formed. In such cases, the second line units are temporarily termed "bis" (duplicate) units and may bear the same number as the first-line unit. Certain types of units - Alpini, motorized infantry and artillery, and tank units - continuously form reserve formations, limited only by the need for special training and the ability to equip them. The numbering of replacement units or new formations does not follow a rigid scheme. Normally, reserve units take numbers in the series already existing for their type of unit within the larger formation to which they are attached.
For instance, an infantry replacement company might be numbered 13, when there are already 12 first line companies in the regiment. In addition, it might be attached to a battalion of the normal regiment and thus be called the 13th Company, 4th Battalion of the parent regiment. When four companies have been formed (13, 14, 15, 16), they may become a reserve (complemento) battalion of the regiment and take on the number of the regiment, while the companies themselves may be renumbered 1, 2, 3, 4. Thus, the 13th Co., 4th Bn, 27th Regt, may become as a reserve unit the 1st Co, 27th Bn, serving the 27th Regt.

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7 Italian Conscripts Rifles

The composition of reserve battalions often varies from the normal organization. Thus the 27th Bn may include rifle, MG, and antitank companies, since it may be serving as a reserve unit for the various types of units in the regiment. These reserve units are intended as depots for personnel rather than for weapons and have only a skeleton armament. It would therefore be exceptional to find them in an operational role. However, it may be assumed that reserve units which have been renumbered and formed into independent units, or which are being grouped with other units to form a new division, will be fully equipped with weapons.
If a division in the field engaged in combat has absorbed all replacement personnel from its own depot, replacements will be sent from depots of other units. It may likewise absorb independent and fully formed new units. In Russia the German system of march battalions was adopted with certain modifications. A unit of infantry replacements bore the number of the regiment to which it was going and, when sufficiently large in numbers, it was organized into a march regiment, bearing the number of the division. Thus, the 3d Reggimento di marcia, including the 37th Battaglione di marcia, served as a replacement unit for the 37th and 38th Infantry Regiments of the 3rd Ravenna Division.
In Africa, due to the pressure of the situation, complete units were sent over which were either incorporated in their entirety into already existing regiments or were split up by companies among several existing battalions. In general, the regular system of numbering was followed, but there were several cases in which the march battalions had no number. It should be kept in mind that march battalions do not necessarily feed the regiment at whose depot they were formed and whose number they bear.