The Libyan Division was a formation of colonial troops raised by the Italians in their colony in Libya. It participated in the invasion of

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 ...

in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The formation was reorganized into the 1st Libyan Division by the beginning of Italy's entry into World War II. In September 1940, the 1st Libyan Division, together with its sister-division 2nd Libyan Division, participated in the Italian invasion of Egypt. By December, the division was dug in at Maktila and was forced to surrender during

Operation Compass Operation Compass (also it, Battaglia della Marmarica) was the first large British military operation of the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) during the Second World War. British, Empire and Commonwealth forces attacked Italian forces of ...

Origins

Following the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...

of 1911-12, Italy occupied the coastal zones of the twin provinces of

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

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

, constituting modern Libya. The Italians continued to face very strong opposition from the Senussi, especially in Cyrenaica. From the beginning the Italian Army made use of the former Turkish organised Arab gendarmerie as auxiliaries, augmenting them with regular colonial units recruited amongst the indigenous peoples of Libya. By 1913 these comprised seven battalions of infantry, three squadrons of

savari Savari was the designation given to the regular Libyan cavalry regiments of the Italian colonial army in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The word "savari" was derived from a Persian term for "horsemen" ( Savārān). Organisation This cavalry force ...

cavalry, one squadron of meharistes (camel troops), a mountain artillery battery and a section of camel artillery."Le Uniformi Coloniali Libiche 1912-42" Piero Crociani 1980 By the 1930s the Libyan units had been brought together into the " Royal Corps of Libyan Troops" comprising infantry, cavalry, artillery, motorised troops and support services. A battalion of Libyan parachutists was raised shortly before World War II, the first force of this kind to be created in Africa. Libyans also served in zaptie (carabinieri), Sahariani (desert troops) and

spahi Spahis () were light-cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now ...

(irregular cavalry) units

Order of Battle 3 October 1935

Libyan Division -

Guglielmo Nasi Guglielmo Ciro Nasi (21 February 1879 – 21 September 1971) was an Italian general who fought in Italian East Africa during World War II. Biography Nasi was born in Civitavecchia, Latium. In 1912 he was sent to Libya as a Captain with the 8th ...

* 1st Libyan Infantry Regiment ** II Libyan Battalion ** III Libyan Battalion * 2nd Libyan Infantry Regiment ** IV Libyan Battalion ** V Libyan Battalion * 3rd Libyan Infantry Regiment ** VIII Libyan Battalion ** IX Libyan Battalion * X Libyan Battalion * 1st Libyan Artillery Regiment

References

{{Italian colonial empire Divisions of Italy in World War II Libya in World War II Italy–Libya relations Divisions of Italy of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Italian Libya