Corpo Truppe Volontarie
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The Corpo Truppe Volontarie (Corps of Volunteer Troops) was an Italian expeditionary force which was sent to Spain to support Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War.
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[edit] History
Soon after the beginning of civil war in Spain, Benito Mussolini decided to give the Spanish Nationalists his help. At the beginning of civil war most of elite Nationalist forces were situated in Spanish Morocco and the Canary Islands. Smaller parts of the Nationalist rebels and Guardia Civil forces which were situated in the military districts of Pamplona, Saragossa, Oviedo, Salamanca, Ávila, Segovia and Cadiz. These fought with pro-government miltias, Guardia Assault Forces and the parts of the army which were loyal to the Leftist Popular Front Government. Making the situation very difficult for the Nationalists, the Spanish air force and navy declared their loyalty to the government. The situation was clear that if rebellious forces in Spain proper didn't get help from elite forces from Morocco, the rebellion would easily be put down. Franco and the other leaders sent emissaries to Rome and Berlin, calling for help. Mussolini decided to send planes and pilots to Morocco to support and transport nationalist forces from Morocco to the peninsula, allowing the Nationalists to take the initiative on the Iberian Peninsula. The Italians used Spanish Nationalist and also Portuguese harbours as staging points for sending supplies to the pro-Nationalist forces and also for landing troops to support the Nationalist rebellion. Italian submarines began to sink Spanish, Soviet and other nations' ships which were transporting materials to Republican harbours. The Italian navy stopped attacking ships transporting supplies to the Republicans following the Treaty of Nyon on the 16 August.
[edit] Timeline
3 IX 1936 Republican forces under command of Captain Alberto Bayo from Catalonia made a landing operation on Majorca. His formations were the target of Italian air forces which attacked on 24 October. On the same date, Italian bombers and fighters made their first flight to Madrid. This flight was intended to demonstrate to the Republican forces in Madrid the power of Franco's allies. In the following days, they began bombing raids on the Spanish capital.
2 XI: Italian and German bombers with escorts were attacked by Soviet planes which were named "Chatos" by the Spanish and this resulted in some losses of planes.
XII December: 1936 After the collapse of Franco's offensive on Madrid, Mussolini, after consulting with Ciano and Roatta (two of the most influential generals in Italy at the time), decided to send regular army forces to Spain.
22 December: The first formations which were made up of 3000 soldiers landed in Cadiz. They were named as Italian Army Mission.
[edit] Organization
At the time of January 1937, 44,000 Italian soldiers and members of the Fasci di Combattimento fought in Spain. By the end of February, they were named the Corpo Truppe Volontarie. They were organised into the following
- Four Italian divisions:
- 1. "Littorio" In English, (Lictor) - a regular Italian army division which was also fully motorized.
- 2. 1st CCNN Division "Dio lo Vuole" (In English "God wants it"),
- 3. 2nd CCNN Division "Fiamme Nere" (in English "Black Flames"),
- 4. 3rd CCNN Division "Penne Nere" (in English "Black Feathers").
These CCNN Divisions contained regular soldiers and volunteers from the Fascist party. These were semi-motorised.
After the battle of Guadalahara in March 1937, the 3rd CCNN Division was disbanded and consolidated with the 2nd into:
- 2nd CCNN Division "Llamas Negras" (Black Flames) from April to September 1937.
After the northern campaigns, the 2nd was consolidated with the 1st into:
- Llamas Negras - XXIII de Marzo Division that operated from October 1937 to February 1938.
As the CCNN Divisions were reduced, Italians began to serve in mixed Italo-Spanish Flechas (arrows) units where they were officers and technical personel and the rest Spaniards. The first was a brigade that served in the northern campaign:
August 1937
- Flechas Negras Mixed Brigade "Black Arrows"
This Brigade was expanded into a division serving in the Aragón Offensive and March to the Sea:
March - July 1938
- Flechas Division "Arrows"
The Flechas Division was then expanded into three Flechas divisions that were in the final offensives of the war:
November 1938 - April 1939
- Flechas Negras Division "Black Arrows"
- Flechas Azules Division "Blue Arrows"
- Flechas Verdes Division "Green Arrows"
The Italian Corps had special weapons such as tanks, armoured cars, 10 regiments of field artillery, antitank artillery and 4 batteries of anti-aircraft artillery.
[edit] Operations
In January 1937 the 1st CCNN Division "Dio lo Vuole" in concert with the Nationalist army launched a campaign against Málaga. On the 8th of February 1937 the Italian corps along with Nationalist army formations captured Málaga.
At the beginning of March, the "Corpo Truppe Volontarie" contained over 50 thousand soldiers. Mussolini decided that his own forces would begin a fourth offensive on Madrid which is known in history as Battle of Guadalajara. 8-11 March: Fascist offensive. 12-18 March: Republican counter-offensive.
Republican forces won the series of battles. Of the four divisions in corps, only Littorio division didn't have heavy losses. The other three CCNN Division had such heavy losses that they were reorganised into 2 divisions and a group of special weapons. Until the end of the civil war the commanders of the Italian Corps didn't organize their own offensives. Then Commander of the Condor Legion (Germany's air support for the Nationalists), General Sperrle, commanded the Italian airforce in Spain.
18 March 1938: Barcelona was a target of 13 Italian large-scale air strikes. The Italian planes were armed with fire and gas bombs, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians.
Following the victory of Franco and the Nationalist side over the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, Italian troops withdrew from Spain.
[edit] References
[edit] Selected Bibliography
- Leon Wyszczelski "Madryt 1936-1937" Historical Battles published by Ministry of National Defence, Warsaw 1988.
- Some details from the Republican perspective on the Italian military in Spain appears in the works of Luigi Longo; a former organizer of the International Brigades.
- Information on Italian army activities appearing in this article was taken from lacucaracha.info "La Cucaracha": Civil War in Spain 1936-1939 Official site.
[edit] External Links
[edit] See Also
- Regio Esercito
- Regia Aeronautica & Aviazione Legionaria (Aviation Legion)
- La Regia Marina & Sottomarini Legionari (Submariners Legion)
- Legion Kondor
- Operation Ursula
- Operation Rügen
