The 36th Infantry Division "Forlì" (Italian: 36ª Divisione di fanteria "Forlì") was a infantrydivision of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Forlì was classified as a mountain infantry division, which meant that the division's artillery was moved by pack mules instead of the horse-drawn carriages of line infantry divisions. Italy's real mountain warfare divisions were the six alpine divisions manned by Alpini mountain troops. The division was formed on 31 March 1939 and named for the city of Forlì. The division was based in Saluzzo and most of its troops were drafted in the surrounding Langhe region in southern Piedmont. The division's two infantry regiments were based in Alba (43rd) and Saluzzo (44th), with the division's artillery regiment also based in Saluzzo.[1][2]
History
The division's lineage begins with the XIII Brigade established on 24 June 1859 with the 23rd and 24th infantry regiments of the Army of the United Provinces of Central Italy. On 16 September 1859 the brigade received the name "Forlì". On 25 March 1860 the Brigade "Forlì" entered the Royal Sardinian Army three days after the Kingdom of Sardinia had annexed the United Provinces of Central Italy. Already before entering the Royal Sardinian Army the brigade's two infantry regiments had been renumbered on 30 December 1859 as 43rd Infantry Regiment and 44th Infantry Regiment.[3]
On 31 March 1939 the 36th Infantry Division "Forlì" was activated in Saluzzo and on the same day the 3rd Infantry Division "Monferrato" was renamed as 3rd Infantry Division "Ravenna", becoming thus the heir to the Brigade "Ravenna", while the traditions of the Brigade "Forlì" were passed to the newly activated 36th division. On the same day the Forlì received the 43rd Infantry Regiment "Forlì" from the Ravenna division and the 44th Infantry Regiment "Forlì" from the 4th Territorial Division of Cuneo. On 3 September 1939 the 36th Artillery Regiment was reformed in Saluzzo by the depot of the 11th Artillery Regiment "Ravenna" and assigned to the division.[1]
World War II
On 10 June 1940 the Forlì was the part of the Italian 1st Army and took part in the Italian invasion of France.[6] The division was initially deployed on the French border in defensive positions in the Argentera valley and between the Rocca Peroni and Monte Maniglia mountains. On 22 June 1940 the Forlì attacked towards Meyronnes and the road junction of La Condamine-Châtelard, after bypassing French defenders north of mount Tête de Viraysse, it took the forts of Bec du Lièvre and Tête Dure on 23 June. As result, the Forlì advanced rapidly that day and captured Malboisset, before stopping before the village of Larche at the news of the Franco-Italian Armistice.
In early 1941 the Forlì moved to Albania to augment the Italian forces fighting in the Greco-Italian War. On 12 February 1941 it entered the frontline west of Lake Ohrid, in the Librazhd-Kalivaç-Dunicë area and partly along the Shkumbin river. On 20 February the Greek army attacked the Forlì positions, focusing on mount Kosicës and the Kalivaç valley in Korçë municipality. On April 10, 1941 the Forlì went on the offensive as part of German-led Battle of Greece. The division attacked from Vloçisht to Gurisht. By 14 April 1941 it moved towards Leminot. When the Greek Army began to retreat due to the Germans' rapid advance in the east, and Forlì was able to reach Ersekë on 17 April 1941, where it stop at the Aoös river. After the Greek surrender the division was ordered to Larissa for occupation duties.
While the Forlì was on occupation duty in Greece the division's regimental depots in Italy raised the 154th Infantry Division "Murge": the depot of the 43rd Infantry Regiment "Forlì" raised the 259th Infantry Regiment "Murge", the depot of the 44th Infantry Regiment "Forlì" raised the 260th Infantry Regiment "Murge", and the depot of the 36th Artillery Regiment "Forlì" raised the 154th Artillery Regiment "Murge".[7]
In August 1942 the Forlì was assigned occupation and coastal defence duties at Larissa, Volos and Lamia. In 1943, the Forlì has relocated further south, covering the Lamia – Amfikleia – Livadeia – Thebes and Attica area. Also, the Forlì was responsible for the control of the Euripus Strait, the island of Euboea and the area surrounding Athens.[1]
On 5–6 March 1943, troops of the Forlì set the town of Servia on fire in retaliation for the defeat and capture of an Italian battalion at the Battle of Fardykambos by the Greek Resistance.[8]
The Forlì surrendered to the German forces in Greece after the Armistice of Cassibile and was dissolved 16 September 1943.
^Flountzis, Antonis (1977). Στρατόπεδα Λάρισας-Τρικάλων: Η γέννηση του αντάρτικου στη Θεσσαλία [Larisa-Trikala Camps: The Birth of the Partisan Movement in Thessaly] (in Greek). Athens: Papazisis. pp. 210–211. OCLC8624538.
