The XVI Army Corps ( it, XVI Corpo d'Armata) was a corps 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 ...

between 1916 and 1943.

History

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Italy had sent a force to Albania in December 1914, even before it had joined the allies. This force was called Corpo di Occupazione di Valona and renamed Corpo Speciale d’Albania in December 1915. After it helped to evacuate the retreating Serbian Army, it also left Albania in March 1916.
On 20 March 1916, the ''Corpo Speciale d’Albania'' was renamed XVI Army Corps, and sent to Albania again in May 1916, where it fought against the Central powers until the end of the war. It was disbanded on 31 August 1919. A new XVI Army Corps was created in Milan on 1 March 1940. On 1 October 1941, the Corps was moved to Sicily.
The Corps was composed of : * 4th Infantry Division "Livorno" * 54th Infantry Division "Napoli" * 206th Coastal Division * 213th Coastal Division * XVIII Coastal Brigade * XIX Coastal Brigade Together with the XII Army Corps, the XVI Corps was engaged in intense fighting during the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

(9 July – 17 August 1943) and suffered heavy casualties.
The remnants of the Corps were withdrawn to

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

where they surrendered to the Germans on 9 September 1943.

Commanders

* Emilio Bertotti (20 November 1915 – 8 March 1916) *

Settimio Piacentini Settimio Piacentini (6 January 1859 – 2 November 1921) was an Italian General of the Kingdom of Italy who actively participated in the World War I, especially in the Sixth and Seventh Battle of the Isonzo. In 1916 he commanded the XVI Italian ...

(8 March – 17 June 1916) * Oreste Bandini (18 June – 11 December 1916), was killed in the sinking of the ''Regina Margherita'' * Giacinto Ferrero (11 December 1916 - 31 August 1919)Italian Army in Albania
/ref> * Antero Canale (1 March 1940 – 31 July 1941) * Carlo Rossi (31 July 1941 – 9 September 1943)

References

{{Large formations of Italy in World War II Army corps of Italy in World War II