The Italian Supreme Command moved quickly
to organize the "Special Armoured Brigade" (Brigata Corazzato
Speciale, or BCS) consisting of fifty-five M13/40 tanks, artillery pieces, and
supported by infantry formations specializing in the anti-tank role and sappers
equipped with anti-tank mines. In hardly more than a month, the Italians
dispatched this volunteer force under General Valentino Babini to North Africa.
The M13s in the BCS were a vast improvement to the M11s. They had a better
turret-mounted 47 mm tank gun which was more than able to pierce the armour of
the British light and cruiser tanks. However, other than command vehicles,
Italian tanks were not equipped with radios. Communicating for most Italian
tankers required the use of signal flags.
Bambini's tank force included the 3rd
Battalion and the 5th Battalion from the 131st "Centauro" Armoured
Division and should have amounted to at least one-hundred-and-twenty M13s. But
eighty-two tanks had just arrived at Benghazi and required ten days of "acclimatization"
prior to operation.
#
Following the fall of Tobruk, HQ British
Troops Egypt was removed from the existing unwieldy line of command so that
O'Connor reported directly to Wavell at Middle East Command. O'Connor continued
the advance towards Derna with the Australian 6th Division while sending 7th
Armoured Division south of the Jebel Akhdar Mountains towards Mechili. On 24
January the 4th Armoured Brigade engaged armoured elements of BCS on the Derna
- Mechili track. While the British managed to destroy nine Italian tanks in the
battle, they themselves lost one cruiser and six light tanks. The 2/11th
Battalion first made contact with infantry of the BCS at the Derna airfield on
25 January and progress was difficult against particularly determined resistance.
In the Derna-Giovanni Berta area, held by the 60th "Sabratha"
Infantry Division and infantry elements of the BCS, there were fierce exchanges
with Italian counterattacks taking place around Wadi Derna. On 27 January, an
Australian battalion beat off a strong daylight attack from a force of at least
a thousand Italians. That same day, concealed soldiers of the BCS ambushed a
column of armoured vehicles of the 6th Cavalry Regiment and took three of the
survivors prisoner. The advance of other units further to the south of the Wadi
Derna eventually threatened the BCS with encirclement and it disengaged on the
night of 28 January. Derna, a town of 10,000 residents itself was captured on
26 January. Precise casualty figures for the fighting for Derna and Giovanni
Berta have not been compiled but at least 15 Australians were killed fighting
the BCS and "Sabratha" Division. The Italians lost a good part of the
60th "Sabratha" Infantry Division in the fighting.
Italian
OOB at Derna January 1941
Italian defenders consisted of the 60th
Bersaglieri Motorcycle Battalion and the 21st Light Tank Battalion, both part
of the 60th Sabratha Division.
Raggruppamento
Maletti
The Maletti Group (Raggruppamento Maletti)
was an ad hoc "mechanized" unit formed by the Italian Royal Army
(Regio Esercito) in Italian North Africa (Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or
ASI) during the initial stages of the Western Desert Campaign of World War II.
The group was formed in June 1940 and was destroyed in December of the same
year.
The Maletti Group was commanded by General
Pietro Maletti and was part of the Libyan Corps, also known as the "Royal
Corps of Libyan Colonial Troops" (Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali della
Libia). The group itself was composed of six battalions of Libyan infantry and
of two battalions of armor. The 2,500 Libyans were "mechanized" in
that they were transported in trucks. One armor battalion had thirty-five L3/33
and/or L3/35 tankettes. The other had thirty-five M11/39 medium tanks.[1]
During the very early stages of the North
African Campaign, the Maletti Group took part offensively in the Italian
invasion of Egypt and defensively during the British counterattack known as
Operation Compass. In September 1940, the group acted as a flank guard and led
the Italian advance from Libya into Egypt. By December, the group was in
defensive positions at the Nibiewa Camp near Sidi Barrani. Many of the armored
vehicles were "dug in" and acted as stationary pillboxes.
The Maletti group was considered the 3rd
Libyan Division in the initial Italian attack to Egypt, together with the 1st
Libyan Division Sibelle and the 2 Libyan Division Pescatori.
The Maletti Group was earmarked for early
destruction by the British. During the initial attack, Matilda infantry tanks
of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment exploited a hole in the Italian defensive
positions and attacked the Nibiewa camp from the rear. The Maletti Group was
destroyed and General Pietro Maletti was killed in action while trying to stop
the sudden attack:
The initial British assault would fall on
Nibeiwa Camp, where the only available Italian armoured unit was based, and it
achieved complete surprise. Raggruppamento Maletti, or Maletti Group, under
General Maletti, was an ad hoc formation consisting of 2,500 Libyan soldiers
and 2 Armoured Battalion, with thirty-five M11/39 medium tanks and thirty-five
L3/35 light tanks. It was earmarked for early destruction in the assault, which
commenced at 05:00hr with what appeared to be no more than another raid on the
eastern side of the camp. At 07:00, however, forty-eight Matilda tanks suddenly
appeared from the opposite side of the camp. They struck twenty-three unmanned
M11/39 tanks of the Maletti Group, which had been deployed to guard the unmined
entrance to the camp. The Italians were caught completely off guard and many
did not even reach their tanks, including General Maletti, who was killed
emerging from his dugout. They were slaughtered and their vehicles destroyed by
the British in less than ten minutes. The Italian artillery fought on valiantly,
firing on the Matildas and recording many hits, some at point-blank range - but
none penetrated their 70 mm of armour. The remaining Italian tanks were
captured intact, and the Libyan infantry, left practically defenceless, quickly
surrendered. The British had captured Nibeiwa and destroyed the only front-line
Italian armoured unit in less than five hours.
The Operation Compass attack on Maletti
Group was supported by 25 pounder artillery and Blenheim bombers and was
centred on the advance of Mk.II Matilda tanks. Within an hour of the onset of
combat Italian General Pietro Maletti was dead and 4,000 Italian soldiers (most
of them Libyan colonial troops) had surrendered. Within three days, the
attacking forces then moved west along the Via della Vittoria, through the
Halfaya Pass and captured Fort Capuzzo, Libya.
Brigata
Corazzata Speciale
The Special Armored Brigade (Brigata
Corazzata Speciale, or BCS, or Babini Group, or Raggruppamento Babini) was an
ad hoc armored unit formed by the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito Italia) in
Italian North Africa (Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or ASI) during the
initial stages of the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. The group was
formed in late 1940 and was destroyed in February 1941.
In late 1940, the Italian Supreme Command
(Commando Supremo) moved quickly to organize the Brigata Corazzata Speciale
(BCS). In hardly more than a month, the Italians dispatched this volunteer
force to North Africa under the command of General Valentino Babini. The BCS
included Italy's most up-to-date medium tanks, the M13/40.
The M13s were a vast improvement over the
M11/39s used as part of the Maletti Group (Raggruppamento Maletti). As opposed
to the M11s, the M13s had a superior turret-mounted 47 mm tank gun. This gun
was more than able to pierce the armor of the British light and cruiser tanks.
The BCS included M13 tanks supported by
three Bersaglieri battalions, one motorcycle battalion, one artillery regiment,
two anti-tank gun companies, one engineering company, and several logistics
units. Unfortunately, other than command vehicles, the M13s of the BCS were not
equipped with radios. Communicating for most Italian tankers required the use
of signal flags.
At Derna and Mechili, the BCS included
fifty-five M13/40 tanks of the 3rd Battalion and the 5th Battalion from the
131st "Centauro" Armored Division. This should have amounted to at
least one-hundred-and-twenty M13s. But eighty-two tanks had just arrived at
Benghazi and required ten days of "acclimazation" prior to operation.
At Benghazi and Beda Fomm, the BCS included
almost one-hundred M13/40s.
No comments:
Post a Comment