140px, Badge The Italian African Police (Italian: ''Polizia dell'Africa Italiana'', or PAI), was the police force of Italian North Africa and

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa ( it, Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the S ...

from 1 June 1936 to 1 December 1945.Polizia Africa Italiana (in Italian)
/ref>

Characteristics

Towards the end of the war in Ethiopia (late 1936 and early 1937), Italy created a corps of ''Polizia Coloniale'' ("Colonial Police") for law enforcement in Italian North Africa (''Africa Settentrionale Italiana'', or ASI;

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

). The corps was created by reorganization of

public safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensur ...

units operating in Libya. By March 1938, it was issuing license plates. The corps was later expanded to operate in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and the rest of

(''Africa Orientale Italiana''; AOI). In 1939, the corps was renamed ''Polizia dell'Africa Italiana'' ("Police of Italian Africa"; PAI). At this time, the corps was supplied with motor vehicles (including armored cars, light tanks, motorcycles, motor-tricycles, and automobiles). The PAI received about 1,000 vehicles and as many motorcycles. The new corps was initially subordinated to the ''Ministry of the Colonies'' and, then, to the "Ministry of Italian Africa" (then held by

Alessandro Lessona Alessandro Lessona (Rome, 9 September 1891 – Florence, 10 November 1991) was an Italian Fascist politician, Minister of the Colonies of the Kingdom of Italy from June 1936 to April 1937 and Minister of Italian Africa from April to November 193 ...

). Its first commander, from 1937 to 1943, was General Riccardo Maraffa, replaced for a brief period in 1943 by General

Quirino Armellini Quirino Armellini (31 January 1889 in Legnaro – 13 January 1975 in Rome) was an Italian military officer, who served as a general in both the Royal Italian Army and the Italian Army. Biography Armellini was commissioned into the Royal It ...

. The PAI had a reputation for discipline and high training levels, and for being provided with good equipment. Even after the collapse of AOI, the PAI were able to keep the peace in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, the capital of Ethiopia. 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 ...

, the Italian colonies in Africa were conquered by the Allies; PAI in the colonies were captured. Some PAI were stationed in Italy, for training and administrative functions. In September 1943, Italy surrendered to the Allies, but German forces occupied northern and central Italy, and established a puppet government, the ''Repubblica Sociale Italiana'' ( Italian Social Republic; RSI). The RSI then moved the remnant PAI to the city of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where they helped enforce RSI control and maintain public order. On 4 June 1944, Rome was liberated by the Allies. The PAI was disbanded and its equipment was given to the regular State Police (''

Polizia di Stato The ''Polizia di Stato'' (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national police forces of Italy. Alongside the Carabinieri, it is the main police force for providing police duties, primarily to cities and large towns, and with its child agencie ...

'').

Origin

The Royal Decree of 10 June 1937, n. 1211, established its organic regulations, for which it was a militarily organized civil body and making it part of the Italian Armed Forces, with functions of

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

, judicial and administrative police.

Organization

The force was a racially mixed organization, made up of Italian agents and many native

askari An askari (from Somali, Swahili and Arabic , , meaning "soldier" or "military", which also means "police" in the Somali language) was a local soldier serving in the armies of the European colonial powers in Africa, particularly in the African G ...

s. It was located in police headquarters of major cities like

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, Benghazi, Asmara,

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...

, or in small commissariats otherwhere. The PAI training school was in Tivoli. Part of the PAI personnel was mounted on

Moto Guzzi Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer and the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production. Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its historic role in Italy's motorcycling ma ...

motorcycles, with many armed with the Beretta M1938A 9 mm sub-machine gun.

Strength

At the outbreak of World War II the PAI had 7,672 men, of which 6,345 were in AOI (Eritrea, Ethiopia and Italian Somalia) and 1,327 were in ASI (

Italian Libya Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica ...

). The bulk of the force consisted of indigenous personnel who were trained and equipped to the same standard as Italian personnel. There were 5,146 indigenous personnel, 4,414 from AOI and 732 from ASI.

World War II

The PAI fought during World War II in the Italian colonies and in Italy.

Africa

During

, the PAI fought as a combat unit alongside the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

. For the garrison of the Libyan littoral way, at the outbreak of the conflict two companies on motorcycles and an armored car were assigned to the Exploring Unit of the CAM (''Corpo armato di manovra'') Battalion "

Romolo Gessi Romolo Gessi (30 April 1831 – 1 May 1881), also called Gessi Pasha, was an Italian soldier, governor in the Turkish-Egyptian administration and explorer of north-east Africa, who described the course of the White Nile in 19th-century Sudan ...

". They had little fortune since, after a sudden enemy attack, numerous soldiers were hit by

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

from German aircraft. The battalion repaired in

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

and was converted into a mixed company. Several units participated in war actions, at Tripoli, Benghazi, Barce, but the details regarding effective employment are insufficient.

Defense of Italy

After the Armistice of Cassibile, the evening of 8 September 1943 the PAI participated to the defense of

engaging the first conflict with the Germans at Mezzocammino, near

Castelfusano Castelfusano is an urban park in the comune of Rome. It divides the sea quarter of Ostia and the neighborhood of Casalpalocco. The castle and the park were founded in the 17th century by the Sacchetti family. Its vegetation consists mainly in a ...

, with troops of

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 ...

, in aid to a garrison of Grenadiers of Sardinia. On the other side of

, at the same time, some troops protected the escape of the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Victor Emmanuel III The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

along the

Via Tiburtina Via Tiburtina is an ancient road in Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli (Latin, Tibur) and then, with the via Valeria, on to Pescara (Latin, Aternum). Historical road It was probably built by the Roman censor Marcus Valerius Maxi ...

, the King and the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Pietro Badoglio Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...

; once accomplished the task, they were sent along the

Via Laurentina The Via Laurentina is the name born by an ancient and a modern road of Italy, both leading southwards from Rome. The ancient road The question of the nomenclature of the group of roads between the Via Ardeatina and the Via Ostiensis is somewhat ...

. On 9 September the PAIRS, with the

Bersaglieri The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Army, whi ...

and cadet police officers, forced for a while the Germans to retreat from the

Magliana The Magliana () is an urban zone of Rome, known as 15E of Municipio XI of Rome. It also the name of a neighborhood or ward of the city. Geographically, it is located on the southwest periphery of Rome, Italy along the Tiber River. The neighborh ...

area; however, after some hours, they had in turn to withdraw in direction of Fort Ostiense, which was later stormed by the Germans. The commander and founder of the PAI, General Marraffa, was captured by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s and deported to the Dachau concentration camp, where he died.

Salò Republic

Later, there was a reorganization attempt in northern Italy, with the opening of a PAI school at

Busto Arsizio Busto Arsizio (; lmo, label= Bustocco, Büsti Grandi) is an Italian city and ''comune'' in the south-easternmost part of the Province of Varese, in the region of Lombardy, in Northern Italy, north of Milan. The economy of Busto Arsizio is main ...

in the autumn of 1943. However, the troops were absorbed by the

Republican Police Corps The Republican Police Corps (Italian: ''Corpo di Polizia Repubblicana'') was a police force of the Italian Social Republic during the Italian Civil War. History The Republican Police Corps was established in December 1944 as part of the Itali ...

of the Italian Social Republic, and finally by the Republican National Guard.

Ranks

Ranks were as for the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

with enlisted rank being the older style larger pattern of red chevrons worn on both upper sleeves.

Uniform

Personnel wore the standard Italian khaki tropical uniform but with a blue aiguilette fixed from the right

shoulder strap A shoulder strap is a strap over a shoulder. They are often affixed to women's dresses to support its weight or as part of its style. The term is also applied to carrying bags. Dress shoulder strap Image:Camisole.png, Camisole Image:Preprom.jpg, ...

to the second button down the front of his

tunic A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...

. Personnel also wore a small gold PAI badge on the front of their headgear and small brass fasces pinned directly to their collars. Motorcycle mounted personnel wore a brown leather crash helmet, light khaki breeches with brown leather boots and leather leggings to protect the lower legs.

References

* Crocaini, P. & Viotti, A. ''Le Uniformi dell'AOI (Somalia 1889-1941)''. * Girlando, R. ''P.A.I. Polizia dell'Africa Italiana''.