The 225th Coastal Division ( it, 225ª 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 mar ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the Royal Italian Army 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 opposing ...

. 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 specif ...

. They were often commanded by officers called out of retirement.Jowett p 6

History

In November 1942

Axis forces The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

invaded Southern France and divided it into a German and an Italian occupation zone. For the coastal defense of the island of Corsica Italy raised on 20 January 1943 the 225th Coastal Division in Pisa and the 226th Coastal Division in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. Both divisions were assigned to VII Army Corps and transferred to Corsica in March 1943. The 225th Coastal Division was based in

Corbara Corbara is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. Geography The municipality borders with Angri, Lettere Lettere is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in t ...

and responsible for the northwestern coast of Corsica. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the division fought, together with the 225th Coastal Division, 20th Infantry Division "Friuli", 44th Infantry Division "Cremona" and local resistance units, the German Sturmbrigade Reichführer-SS and 90th Panzergrenadier Division, which were retreating through Corsica to the harbor of

Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...

in the island's north. On 13 September elements of the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

4th Moroccan Mountain Division The 4th Moroccan Mountain Division (french: 4e Division marocaine de montagne, 4e DMM) was an infantry division of the Army of Africa (France), Army of Africa (french: Armée d'Afrique) which participated in World War II. Created in Morocco foll ...

landed in Ajaccio to support the Italian efforts to stop the 30,000 retreating German troops, but during the night of 3-4 October the last German units were evacuated from Bastia leaving behind 700 dead and 350

POWs 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 w ...

. After the end of operations on Corsica the 225th Coastal Division was transferred with all other Italian units from Corsica to Sardinia, where the division was disbanded on 31 May 1944.

Organization

* 225th Coastal Division, in

** 172nd Coastal Regiment *** 2x Coastal battalions ** 173rd Coastal Regiment *** 2x Coastal battalions ** 182nd Coastal Regiment (raised 18 April 1943; detached to VII Army Corps) *** DXXXIII Coastal Battalion *** DXXXIV Coastal Battalion *** DXXXVII Coastal Battalion ** 53rd Coastal Artillery Regiment *** 5x Coastal artillery groups ** 261st Anti-tank Company ( 47/32 guns) ** 409th Mortar Company ( 81mm Mod. 35 mortars) ** 662nd Machine Gun Company ** 664th Machine Gun Company ** 225th Mixed Engineer Company ** 225th

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

Section ** 225th Field Post Office ** Division Services Attached to the division: * 264th Anti-tank Company (47/32 guns) * 3rd Company/ I Tank Battalion/ 33rd Tank Infantry Regiment ( L6/40 tanks) * 2nd Battery/ XXVI Artillery Group (105/28 howitzers)

Commanding officers

The division's commanding officers were: * Generale di Brigata Carlo Gotti (20 January 1943 - 9 May 1943) * Generale di Brigata Bartolomeo Pedrotti (10 May 1943 - 31 May 1944)

References

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