The 213th Coastal Division ( it, 213ª Divisione Costiera) was an infantry 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. Royal Italian Army coastal divisions were second line divisions formed with reservists and equipped with second rate materiel. 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 ...

and assigned to XVI Army Corps, which was responsible for the defense of the eastern half of the island of Sicily. The division was responsible for the coastal defense of the coast between Punta Castelluccio in Agnone Bagni and Moleti south of

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

. The division fought against units of the British Eighth Army after the allies landed on Sicily on 10 July 1943. By 15 July 1943 the division had been severely decimated and was therefore officially declared lost due to wartime events.

Organization July 1943

* 213th Coastal Division ** 135th Coastal Regiment *** CII Coastal Battalion *** LXVI Replacements Battalion *** CCCLXIX Coastal Battalion *** CCCLXXII Coastal Battalion ** 140th Coastal Regiment (regimental command transferred without its battalion to the XIX Coastal Brigade in May 1943) *** CCXXVIII Replacements Battalion *** CCCLXXIII Coastal Battalion ** 21st Coastal Artillery Regiment *** XXX Coastal Artillery Group (105/28 howitzers) *** CXLIV Coastal Artillery Group ( 105/14 howitzers) *** CCXXX Coastal Artillery Group ( 100/22 howitzers) ** 553rd Machine Gun Company ** 554th Machine Gun Company ** 135th Mixed Engineer Platoon ** 213th Carabinieri Section ** 166th Field Post Office ** Division Services Attached to the division: * Harbor Defense Command "H", in

** CDXXXIV Coastal Battalion ** CDLXXVII Coastal Battalion ** XXVI Coastal Artillery Group ( 75/27 field guns) ** 105th Mortar Company ( 81mm Mod. 35 mortars) *

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 ...

120/4/S, in

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

Commanding officers

The division's commanding officers were: *

Generale di Brigata A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Nazzareno Scattaglia Nazzareno Scattaglia (Santeramo in Colle, 24 December 1887 – Rome, 16 January 1975) was an Italian general during World War II. Biography He enlisted in the Royal Italian Army in 1908 and enrolled in the Military Academy of Modena, graduating ...

(15 November 1941 - 5 March 1942) * Generale di Brigata

Azzo Passalacqua Azzo Passalacqua (2 July 1885 – 7 September 1967) was an Italian general during World War II. Biography He was born in 1885 in the province of Rieti, the son of Anastasio Passalacqua. He attended the Military Academy of Modena in 1907- ...

(acting, 6-15 March 1942) * Generale di Brigata Nazzareno Scattaglia (16 March 1942 - 9 September 1942) * Generale di Brigata Ugo Buttà (10 September 1942 - 13 October 1942) * Generale di Brigata Antonio Tosi (14 October 1942 - 9 May 1943) * Generale di Brigata Carlo Gotti (9 May 1943 - 15 July 1943)

References

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