The Light Transport Brigade ( hr, Laki prijevozni zdrug, it, Legione Croata Autotrasportabile) was a military unit of the
Independent State of Croatia's
Croatian Home Guard which fought alongside 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 ...
on the
Eastern Front. It was attached to the
3rd Cavalry Division of the
8th Italian Army The 8th Army ( it, 8ª Armata) was a field army of the Royal Italian Army, which fought in World War I and on the Eastern Front during World War II.
World War I
After the disastrous defeat at Caporetto (November 1917) the Italian Army was compl ...
, which was in turn subordinate to the German
Army Group B.
The legion was composed of about 1,215 volunteers divided into 3
Infantry Companies, 1 Machine-Gun Company, 1 (81mm) Mortar Company and 1 (65mm) Artillery Battery.
The unit was formed by Italian request in July 1941,
after a meeting between Italian General Antonio Oxilio, delivering a letter from the
Italian High Command, and
Poglavnik
() was the title used by Ante Pavelić, leader of the World War II Croatian movement Ustaše and of the Independent State of Croatia between 1941 and 1945.
Etymology and usage
The word was first recorded in a 16th-century dictionary compiled ...
Ante Pavelić. However, it remained in the Independent State of Croatia until December when it was finally moved to Italy. Upon completion of their training the unit was visited by Croatian field marshal
Slavko Kvaternik
Slavko Kvaternik (25 August 1878 – 7 June 1947) was a Croatian Ustaše military general and politician who was one of the founders of the Ustaše movement. Kvaternik was military commander and Minister of '' Domobranstvo'' (''Armed Forces''). O ...
in early 1941. By 16 April 1942 it arrived on the Eastern Front.
It fought until December 1942 when it was destroyed by the
Red Army around the
Don River in the
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...
.
The unit was commemorated with a stamp featuring a soldier in the Don region.
Proceeds went to the families of legionnaires.
In 2008, 16 soldiers' remains were returned to
Croatia.
Istočna fronta: U domovini nakon 65 godina
References
Collaborators with Nazi Germany
Collaborators with Fascist Italy
Croatian Home Guard (World War II)
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