Chapter Five
The Italian Army and its tanks were much maligned during the Second World War, particularly after their lacklustre performance in North Africa and on the Eastern Front. The irony is that Italian tanks, or more specifically assault guns, only came into their own after the Germans confiscated them and used them to resist the Allies in Italy. The Italians’ best armoured fighting vehicles were a series of assault guns based on the medium tank chassis that appeared from 1941 onwards.
These assault guns were well suited to the Wehrmacht’s defensive battles fought to prevent the Allies progressing up the Italian peninsula. The Germans seized almost 200 Semoventes, a number that was to double with continued production; some of these were issued to the 26th Panzer and 336th Infantry Divisions serving in Italy. Overall Italian assault guns equipped two panzer, three panzergrenadier and six infantry divisions, plus one mountain division, fighting in Italy and the Balkans. The Germans also confiscated a small number of M13/40 and M14/41 medium tanks and almost a hundred M15/42s, some of which were issued to two SS Sturmgeschutz detachments, Panzer Battalion Adria and Mussolini’s puppet state Repubblica Sociale Italiana’s (RSI) armoured units.
In May 1943 thirty-six panzers were supplied to Italy to form a new crack division named the ‘Mussolini’ (1st) Armoured Division, or the ‘Leonessa’ Armoured Group. Raised from the Italian fascist militia, this unit was only of brigade strength, equipped with twelve Pz Kpfw IV Ausf Hs, twelve Pz Kpfw III Ausf Ns and twelve StuG III Ausf Gs. After the armistice the unit was disbanded and the panzers confiscated.
The Italians had recognised the shortcomings of their tank design from the very start of the war, but were never able to rectify the situation. They soon found the L3 tankette was not suitable for modern tank warfare and the M11/39 medium tank was poorly designed. At the first opportunity the latter (which suffered mechanical problems and had armour that was too thin and a gun that lacked punch) had been replaced with the much better M13/40 and the slightly improved M14/41. Indeed these models, despite heavy losses, remained the standard Italian medium tanks throughout the war. The improved M15/42 medium tank had an increased calibre gun and a more powerful engine, but was only produced in very limited numbers in early 1943. As is transpired, it appeared just in time to fall into German hands.
The Italian armistice with the Allies on 9 September 1943 resulted in Hitler issuing the codeword ‘Axis’, alerting German forces in Italy to take control.The Italian Army had received the new M15/42 and by September just over eighty had been delivered to those units deployed around Rome, thereby obstructing German plans. Resistance, though, was short-lived. The Italian Army handed over all its equipment to the Wehrmacht, except in Albania, where an Italian division joined the partisans. Demoralised Italian troops were disarmed almost without firing a shot and the Germans confiscated all their weapon stocks. It was a shameful way to treat a former ally.
Not only did the Germans confiscate all the Italian Army’s armour, but they forced the Italians to continue manufacturing the M15/42 and P26/40 tanks, as well as the 75/18, 105/25 and 75/46 Semovente self-propelled guns for their own use. Following the successful completion of Operation Axis, Hitler was informed that the newly designed Italian P26/40 had the best armour of any captured tank. He authorised the construction of 150 of them to equip four regiments, but problems with the engines meant only sixty were ever supplied. Overall, through seizures from the Italian Army and continuing limited production, the Wehrmacht gained almost a thousand much-needed tanks, assault guns and armoured cars at a very critical moment in the war.
Once Italy’s industries were firmly under German control, they were forced to produce vehicles for the Wehrmacht whether they liked it or not.The Germans not only kept up a limited production of Italian tanks but also motor vehicles such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Spa trucks. Alfa Romeo, Bianchi, Isotta-Fraschini, Lancia and OM had manufactured trucks for the Italian Army, and both the German and British forces in North Africa had made considerable use of them.
Fiat-Ansaldo was the main Italian tracked and wheeled armoured vehicle manufacturer. The Germans quickly took over the Fiat works in Turin and its subsidiary OM in Milan, along with Alfa Romeo, Bianchi, Breda, Isotta-Fraschini and Pavesi, also all in Milan. The Germans also put into production the Breda 61 semi-track artillery tractor, essentially an Italian copy of the German Sd Kfz 7 half-track. Several hundred were built in 1943 – 44 mainly for the Wehrmacht. Lancia also built 250 Lince scout cars, based on the British Daimler scout car, in 1944 for Italian paramilitary and police forces.
Despite this enforced production Fiat was not greatly cooperative and in Turin there were strikes, sabotage and other forms of collective resistance. By the beginning of 1944 the Germans’ exasperated response was to order all Fiat production equipment shipped to Germany; the resulting general strike right across northern Italy ensured that Fiat stayed put. Everything ground to a halt and during the first three months of 1945 Fiat only produced ten trucks a day.
After being rescued from house arrest, the disillusioned Mussolini found himself the puppet ruler of his German-occupied homeland, the so-called Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI). Italy fell into a state of civil war as some Italian units sided with the Allies in the south while others continued to fight for Mussolini and his Nazi masters in the north.
Hitler did not allow the RSI’s armed forces to have any significant numbers of tanks, for obvious reasons.The Republican Army numbered 400,000 men and, along with the 150,000-strong Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana (GNR), it was on the whole only ever used to fight Italian resistance forces operating in northern Italy. Just two armoured groups – ‘Leoncello’ and ‘San Giusto’ – equipped with some M13/40 and M14/41 medium tanks supported the four divisions of the RSI Army, while the GNR Combattente had a single armoured battalion.
The British and American armies had ample experience of fighting Italian armour during the campaigns in North Africa, but imagine their surprise when they came up against Italian tanks and assault guns on the Italian mainland sporting German markings and manned by panzertruppen. In fending off Operation Diadem in May 1944 the Germans lost 150 tanks and 300 self-propelled guns – half the available armour in Italy. These losses show just what a valuable contribution the Italian armour played in the German war effort in Italy. By the end of December 1944 there were still 161 Italian tanks and assault guns serving German units in Italy.
The Italians had manufactured almost 800 M13/40s and about 900 of the slightly improved M14/41s by September 1943; following the occupation of Italy the Germans managed to build only another twenty-two M13s and a single M14. These M13/40s, pictured in North Africa, were captured by the Allies.
(Opposite, top): By the end of December 1944 there were just sixty-eight M13/40s (seen here), M14/41s and M15/42s still serving the Germans in Italy.
The M15/42 medium tank featured slightly heavier frontal armour, a longer gun and a new, more powerful motor than the earlier models. Only eighty-two had been delivered to the Italian Army before September 1943 and these were used for the defence of Rome. Another thirty had just been finished so the Germans confiscated a total of ninety-two. The M15 is distinguishable from the M13 and M14 by the location of the access door on the right-hand side of the superstructure, rather than the left.
The Germans seized almost 200 Semoventes, a number that was to double with continued production. Italian assault guns equipped two panzer, three panzergrenadier, six infantry and one mountain divisions fighting in Italy and the Balkans.
The Italian Semovente M40/M41 was redesignated the StuG M40 und M41 mit 75/18 850(i) in German service and proved an ideal weapon for the defensive battles fought in Italy.
Another Semovente formerly in German service.
This Semovente DA 75/34 was captured in Italy, having been press-ganged into service with the Germans as the Sturmgeschütz M42. It is a source of some amusement for a British tank crew.
An abandoned Semovente DA 105/25 serving with the German forces as the Sturmgeschütz M43 mit 105/25 853(i).This one appears to have come off the road, got stuck in a ditch and broken down. It was probably abandoned but there is no sign that its crew set it alight.
Italian L.3/33 and L.3/35 tankettes with their new masters. As the Italians had built over 2,000 of these vehicles there were still considerable numbers available after the Germans had taken over.
British troops on a captured Panzerkampfwagen P40 737(i), formerly the Italian P26/40. The Italians had been developing a heavy tank since 1940 and by 1943 some 500 P40s armed with the 75/34 gun had been ordered. In September 1943 five pre-series vehicles fell into German hands along with the parts for a further 200.
The Germans were so impressed by the P26/40 that they built a hundred, although only sixty are thought to have been operational due to engine shortages. A number of P40s without engines were used as static fortifications at Anzio and on the Gustav Line.The Germans had a hundred turrets available for static use, but it is unclear if these were from the completed tanks.
This appears to be a captured Italian M13/40 or M15/42 medium tank, with the German cross just visible on the turret; behind it is possibly an L6/40 light tank. The leaf-sprung suspension in the foreground belongs to a German Maultier cargo half-track. The unit may be the 7th SS Mountain Division.
AB 43 and AB 41 Italian armoured cars. The Germans seized about sixty Italian armoured cars and had several hundred more built.
British forces examining captured German assault guns and self-propelled guns; just visible in the background to the left are two Semoventes.
Hitler did not allow the Repubblica Sociale Italiana’s armed forces to have any significant numbers of tanks. Just two armoured groups – ‘Leoncello’ and ‘San Giusto’, equipped with some M13/40 and M14/41 medium tanks – supported the four divisions of the RSI Army, while the GNR Combattente had a single armoured battalion.The RSI launched an abortive attack on the Allies in December 1944.