World War II Partisan Warfare in Italy

by Pier Paolo Battistelli, Piero Crociani, Peter Dennis (Illustrator)

Overview

When Italy surrendered in 1943, it sparked a resistance movement of anti-German, anti-fascist partisans. This book explores the tactics, organizational structure and equipment of the brave Italian resistance fighters. Beginning with low-level sabotage and assassinations, the groups continued to grow until spring 1944 when a remarkable, unified partisan command structure was created. Working in close co-ordination with the Allies, they received British SOE and American OSS liaison teams as well as supplies of weapons. The German response was ferocious, and in autumn 1944, as the Allied advance stalled, the SS and Italian RSI looked to eradicate the partisans once and for all. But when the Allies made their final breakthrough in the last weeks of the war the partisans rose again to exact their revenge on the retreating Wehrmacht. From an expert on Italian military history in World War II, this work provides a comprehensive guide to the men and women who fought a desperate struggle against occupation, as well as the German and Italian fascist security forces unleashed against them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472808950
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	08/20/2015
Series:	Elite , #207
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	33 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Pier Paolo Battistelli earned his PhD in Military History at the University of Padua. A scholar of German and Italian politics and strategy throughout World War II, he is active in Italy and abroad writing titles and essays on military history subjects. A contributor to the Italian Army Historical Office, he is currently revising his PhD thesis for publication: The War of the Axis: German and Italian Military Partnership in World War Two, 1939-1943. Piero Crociani acts as a consultant for the Italian Army Historical Branch and is the author of several articles, essays and books on Italian military history. Amongst his published words are The Albanians in the Italian Armed Forces (Rome, 2001) and The Neapolitan Army 1806–15 (Milan, 1987).

Peter Dennis was born in 1950. Inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn he studied illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles.
Pier Paolo Battistelli earned his PhD in Military History at the University of Padua. A scholar of German and Italian politics and strategy throughout World War II, he is active in Italy and abroad writing books and essays on military history subjects. A contributor to the Italian Army Historical Office, he is currently revising his PhD thesis for publication: The War of the Axis: German and Italian Military Partnership in World War Two, 1939-1943.
Peter Dennis was inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn, leading him to study Illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles. A keen wargamer and modelmaker, he is based in Nottinghamshire, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction 4

September 1943: the Italian surrender, and the German occupation

From Early Resistance to Partisan Warfare 8

Passive 'resisters' and active 'partisans'

Regional distribution

Group organization

Political identities

Security & Anti-Partisan Forces 10

Local military commandants

SS and Police structure

Local recruitment in the Alpenvorland

Wider recruitment

RSI Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana- Carabinieri-Guardia Giovanile Legionaria

Police elements-Polizia Repubblicana

Centro Addestramento Reparti speciale-Cacciatori degli Appennini

Initial German deployments

Partisan Warfare 16

First phase: September 1943-spring 1944

Anti-partisan operations, spring 1944: north-western Alps - northern Apennines - more widespread activity

Insurgency: Summer 1944 24

Expansion and coalescing of groups-SOE missions and support-'free zones'

Collapse of RSI security forces-creation of Black Brigades' and 'Apennine Hunters'

Anti-partisan operations, spring-summer: north-western Alps-central Apennines-northern Apennines - Florence-Liguria, and the Comando Contro Guerriglia

The new phase, September 1944: operations by field-army units-destruction of 'free zones'

The north-east

German reorganization, and raising of new units

RSI reorganization

Crisis: Autumn-Winter 1944 42

Second wave of 'free zones'

The north-east

German 'bandit-fighting weeks': 'Green Week'-'White Week'

Collapse of partisan morale-success of amnesty

Recovery: Spring 1945 47

Reorganization, resupply, and more controlled recruitment

Final anti-partisan operations - German collapse in northern Italy

Summary: The Partisans 50

Character and leadership

Equipment and communications

Tactics and results

Losses on both sides

Summary: The German Reaction 57

Intelligence

Territorial control

Tactics and results

Select Bibliography 62

Index 64