The 206th Coastal Division ( it, 206ª Divisione Costiera) was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

division of the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Royal Italian Army coastal divisions were second line divisions formed with reservists and equipped with second rate

materiel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...

. Recruited locally, they were often commanded by officers called out of retirement.Jowett p 6

History

The division was activated on 15 November 1941 in

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

by reorganizing the VI Coastal Sector Command. The division was assigned to XVI Army Corps, which was responsible for the defense of the eastern half of the island of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. The division had its headquarter in

Modica Modica (; scn, Muòrica) is a city and ''comune'' of 54,456 inhabitants in the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. The city is situated in the Hyblaean Mountains. Modica has neolithic origins and it represents the historical capital ...

and was responsible for the coastal defense of the coast between Punta Braccetto in

Santa Croce Camerina Santa Croce Camerina ( scn, Santa Cruci Camarina) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ragusa, Sicily, in southern Italy. As of 2017 its population was of 10,973. Geography The municipal territory of Santa Croce is surrounded by the one of ...

and Arenella to the South of

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. The division defended the beaches where the British Eighth Army landed during the Allied invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943. On D-day the 206th Coastal Division and British forces fought for control of the beaches at

Avola Avola (; scn, Àvula/, becoming / if preceded by vowel; la, Abola) is a city and in the province of Syracuse, Sicily (southern Italy). History The foundation of the city in an area previously inhabited by the Sicani and invaded by the Si ...

, Castelluzzo and Cassibile, but the British superiority in materiel and numbers crushed the 206th Coastal Division, which by 11 July was reduced to small units surrounded by British forces. On 12 July British troops eliminated the last resistance and the division was declared lost due to wartime events.

Organization

* 206th Coastal Division ** 122nd Coastal Regiment *** CCXLIII Coastal Battalion *** CCCLXXIV Coastal Battalion *** CCCLXXV Coastal Battalion ** 123rd Coastal Regiment *** CCCLXXXI Coastal Battalion *** CCCLXXXIII Coastal Battalion *** DXLII Coastal Battalion ** 146th Coastal Regiment *** CDXXX Coastal Battalion *** CDXXXVII Coastal Battalion ** 44th Coastal Artillery Regiment *** CII Coastal Artillery Group ( 75/27 field guns) *** CLXI Coastal Artillery Group ( 149/35 heavy guns) *** CLXII Coastal Artillery Group (149/35 heavy guns; transferred to the XVIII Coastal Brigade in April 1943) *** CLXIV Coastal Artillery Group (149/35 heavy guns) *** CCIX Coastal Artillery Group ( 100/22 howitzers) *** CCXXIV Coastal Artillery Group (100/22 howitzers) *** 227th Coastal Artillery Battery ( 105/14 howitzers) ** CIV Machine Gun Battalion *** 511th Machine Gun Company *** 537th Machine Gun Company *** 542nd Machine Gun Company *** 625th Machine Gun Company ** 122nd Mixed Engineer Platoon ** 123rd Mixed Engineer Platoon ** 206th Carabinieri Section ** 163rd Field Post Office ** Division Services Attached to the division: * CCXXXIII Self-propelled Anti-tank Battalion ( 47/32 L40

self-propelled gun Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

s) *

Armored Train An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a facilit ...

102/1/T, in

(6x 102/35 Mod. 1914 naval guns, 4x 20/77 anti-aircraft guns)

Commanding officers

The division's commanding officer was: *

Generale di Divisione Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an Division (military), army division. The rank originates from the General officer#French (Revolutionary) system, French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The ...

Achille d'Havet Marquess Achille D'Havet (Bologna, 24 March 1888 – Rome, 21 April 1966) was an Italian general during World War II. Biography Early life and World War I Achille d'Havet was born on 24 March 1888 in Bologna, to Maria Baistrocchi and Marqu ...

(15 November 1941 - 12 July 1943,

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

)

References

* * {{Italian Divisions World War II Coastal divisions of Italy Infantry divisions of Italy in World War II