11th Army (Italy)

11th Army 11ª Armata 9 November 1940 – September 1943 Kingdom of Italy Kingdom of Italy Field army Greco-Italian War, Italian occupation of Greece The 11th Army (it 11ª Armata) was a World War II field army of the Royal Italian Army. It was formed in November 1940 for service in the Greco-Italian War, and after the German invasion of Greece and the capitulation of that country in April 1941, assumed occupation duties in the Greek mainland. It remained on station in Greece until the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943, when it was forcibly disbanded by the Germans. History It was formed on 9 November 1940 out of the 11th Army Corps, then based in Italian-occupied Albania and engaged in operations against Greece alongside the 9th Army. Its engagement against the Greeks lasted until the fall of Greece in April 1941. Occupation of Greece Thereafter, the Eleventh Army assumed duties of occupation in Greece, headquartered in Athens. Its command also doubled as the Higher Armed Forces Command Greece (Comando Superiore Forze Armate Grecia, abbrev. C.S. FF. AA. Grecia), with responsibility over mainland Greece (apart from the German and Bulgarian zones in northern Greece and the German zone in eastern and southern Attica), as well as the island of Euboea, the Northern Sporades and Skyros, and Kythera.Bregantin 2010 97 The remainder of the Ionian Islands came under the Higher Armed Forces Command Albania (Ninth Army), while the Italian Dodecanese, the Italian-occupied Lasithi Prefecture on Crete and the bulk of the Cyclades came under the Higher Armed Forces Command of the Italian Islands of the Aegean at Rhodes.Bregantin 2010 97 Apart from the units of the Eleventh Army, the Higher Armed Forces Command Greece also included the Air Force Command Greece (Comando Aeronautica Grecia), and the Western Greece Naval Military Command (Comando Militare Marittimo della Grecia Occidentale) at Patras.Bregantin 2010 111–113 In April 1943, an assessment of the combat readiness of the Eleventh Army's eight remaining divisions in terms of armament and means of transport found only one—the 11th Infantry Division Brennero—as "complete", with three more "effective" (over 70% of pack animals and 70% to 90% of vehicles from the table of organization and equipment) and the rest "incomplete" (with figures of completeness around 60%).Bregantin 2010 266–267 In a similar evaluation of their completeness in personnel a fortnight later, only Brennero and the 33rd Infantry Division Acqui were classed as "complete", with the remainder as "effective".Bregantin 2010 267 The situation remained largely the same during another review of their combat readiness in June.Bregantin 2010 267–268 It was forcibly disbanded by the German Army in September 1943, after the Italian capitulation. Orders of battle August 1941 Greece 350 Order of battle of the Eleventh Army in August 1941, coloured by Army Corps. The distribution of units would remain essentially unchanged for the duration of the Italian occupation, except for the departure of the 3rd Julia Alpine Division in 1942 and 51st Siena Division's transfer to Crete.Bregantin 2010 266 (note 351) 1 Greece 10 VIII top 38 04 N 22 38 E Greece 8 bottom 29 38 15 N 21 44 E Greece 8 51 37 34 N 22 48 E Greece 8 bottom 59 37 31 N 22 23 E Greece 8 right 3 39 46 N 21 11 E Greece 10 Cyan pog.svg XXVI bottom 39 40 N 20 51 E Greece 8 Cyan pog.svg top 33 39 35 N 19 52 E Greece 8 Cyan pog.svg left 56 38 37 N 21 24 E Greece 8 Cyan pog.svg top 37 39 40 N 20 51 E Greece 10 Green pog.svg III right 39 22 N 22 56 E Greece 8 Green pog.svg 11 37 59 N 23 43 E Greece 8 Green pog.svg bottom 24 39 33 N 21 46 E Greece 8 Green pog.svg 36 39 38 N 22 25 E During the first months of its occupation of Greece, Eleventh Army comprised the following units:Bregantin 2010 108–109, 118 III Army Corps (Volos), Generale di divisione Mario Arisio 11th Brennero Infantry Division (Athens) 24th Pinerolo Infantry Division (Trikala) 36th Forlì Infantry Division (Larissa) VIII Army Corps (Xylokastro), Generale di Corpo d'Armata Giuseppe Pafundi 29th Piemonte Infantry Division (Patras) 51st Siena Infantry Division (Nafplion), earmarked for transfer to CreteBregantin 2010 108 59th Cagliari Infantry Division (Tripoli) 3rd Julia Alpine Division (Metsovo), in effect under direct operational control of the Higher Armed Forces Command Greece as general reserve,Bregantin 2010 108–109 departed for Italy in March 1942Bregantin 2010 266 (note 351) XXVI Army Corps (Ioannina), Generale di divisione Guido Della Bona 33rd Acqui Infantry Division (Corfu) 37th Modena Infantry Division (Ioannina) 56th Casale Infantry Division (Agrinion) Spring 1943 In spring 1943, Eleventh Army comprised the following units:Bregantin 2010 266 III Army Corps (Volos) 24th Pinerolo Infantry Division (Trikala) 36th Forlì Infantry Division (Larissa) VIII Army Corps (Xylokastro) 29th Piemonte Infantry Division (Patras) 59th Cagliari Infantry Division (Tripoli) XXVI Army Corps (Ioannina) 37th Modena Infantry Division (Ioannina) 56th Casale Infantry Division (Agrinion) 11th Brennero Infantry Division (Athens), as general reserve under direct command of Eleventh ArmyBregantin 2010 266 (note 351) 33rd Acqui Infantry Division (Corfu), as garrison of the Ionian IslandsBregantin 2010 266 (note 351) Commanders Generale di Corpo d'Armata Sebastiano Visconti Prasca (1940) Generale d'Armata Carlo Geloso (1940–1943) Generale d'Armata Carlo Vecchiarelli (1943) References 30em Sources Bregantin Lisa L'occupazione dimenticata. Gli italiani in Grecia 1941-1943 The Forgotten Occupation. The Italians in Greece 1941–1943 PhD thesis it Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia 2010 http://dspace.unive.it/handle/10579/970 2019-01-17 2019-01-27 https://web.archive.org/web/20190117100003/http://dspace.unive.it/handle/10579/970 dead Category:Field armies of Italy in World War II Category:Military units and formations of Italy in Greece in World War II Category:Italian military units and formations of the Greco-Italian War Category:Military units and formations established in 1940 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1943