Many thanks to Arturo Filippo Lorioli for contributing this article.
On July 25th 1943 Benito Mussolini was ousted by power by a complot between monarchists, disaffected fascist bigwhigs and previously fired generals. The new governament, predided by Marshall Pietro Badoglio (an intriguing dotard considered by many as the main culprits of the Caporetto disaster during WWI) immediately started botched and at times ludicrous secret contacts with the Allies to shift sides. The Germans were perfectly aware of what was happening, and prepared accordingly. On September 8th 1943, after a shameful series of last-minute haggling, Badoglio announced the "Armistice" with the Allies, and promptly fleed with the King and their henchmen to reach the Allies lines, laving our soldiers without any firm directive. The Germans promptly occupied Italy, while the Italian Army largely disbanded.
On September 12th, after weeks of frantic research, the German intelligence services managed to locate where Mussolini was held as prisoner, and liberated him with a succesfull raid organized and performed by German Parachutists (the role of Otto Skorzeny was *absolutely* marginal. He was just a *very* good press-agent of himself!). On September 14th a worn-out Duce arrived at Rastenburg, where he found several of his "hard-liners" fascist gerarchs. After strong pressures by Hitler, Mussolini quite sceptically and grundingly accept to resume a political role, and on September 23rd the Repubblica Sociale Italiana was founded with its capital at Salo', a small village on the Garda Lake. The new governament was a "Republic" (the first Italian Republic since the early 1800 Napoleonic one!) and "Social" (that is introducing very advanced social security and work regulation provisions - like the participation of the workers in the profit of their industries etc).
As a political entity the RSI was a reasonably efficent machine, albeit in times of great economical and social difficulties, and was able to mantain a surprisingly high level of independence forn the Germans. About its military forces, the ones I guess You are more interested about, the situation was as follows:
After the Armistice the great majority of the Italian army, left without orders, disbanded. Thousands of soldiers were killed by the Germans, tens of thousands were disarmed and carried in Germany as prisoners. A few units were able to stand together, some going to the Allies (like the garrisons of Sardegna and Corsica), some other going to the Germans. In this last group was a company from the 10th Arditi Regiment, the "commando" unit of the Italian Army, that joined the 2nd German Parachutist Div. that was based with them at the Pratica di Mare airport near Roma. They fought in Russia (jatomir, Kiev, Novocobiscoia, Kirovgrag etc) and in Holland (Eindhoven-Arnhem) as the recce unit of the 2nd Para, in German uniforms but with still some of their italian recce veichles. Another unit was the "Blacksirt"(Camicie Nere) "M" Assault Legion "Tagliamento",� veterans of the Russian front, who joined the SS forming the SS Polizei Bns "Gorice" (from the Polish town where they were trained) and "Vendetta" ("Revenge"), and who were used as assault troops during the counterattacks on the Anzio bridgehead, performing admirably.
The "Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano" (National Republican Army) of the RSI was recruited at first among volunteers coming both from Italy and from the prison camps in Germany. The RSI authorities were amazed by the very high response of volunteers (over 150,000!), and� it was decided to form four "combat" divisions, to be trained in Germany by German instructors and according German lines. Life in the training camps was miserable, with bare survival meals and incredibly hard phisical and tactical training, but the product was four first-class divisions, with *very* high morale and operative skills, and eager to fight against the Allies invaders. Unfortunately the Germans did not trust the Italians any more (quite understandable!) and when the Divisions returned to Italy they were assigned to counter-insurgency and costal-defence units. The morale of the soldiers quickly shattered, the operational skill diminished, and the desertions rate were soon quite bad.
Besides garrison and (some) anti-partisan activity, the RSI army fought on the North East frontier against the Yugolsavian partisans (that by 1944 were already organized as a regular army) that were advancing against Trieste, Udine and Venezia. The only large offensive operation of the RSI Army against the Allies was a regimental-size tactical counterattack on the Appennines in the Winter of 1944 against US troops. The operartion was a full success, and the RSI troops proved themself very skilled and aggressive. It is a pithy that it was their sole chance to gave proof their value.
After the end of the War, RSI Army troops were butchered all over Italy by rampaging bands of self-proclamed, last-minute partisans. Their only defence was in the hands of the advancing US units or when surrendering to the few "true" partisan combat outfits. Many thousands of them were not that lucky. It was Civil War at the worst of its bestiality, and a shameful (and *totally* neglected) page of our history. The main units of the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano were as follows :
1st (later 4th) Apini Division "Monterosa" ("Pink Mt.", one of the highest of the Alps)
Divisional Headquarters
23rd Recce Bn "Fimme Rosse" (red flames)
1st Alpini Regiment "Monterosa"
������� Alpini Bn "Aosta" (name of a town, like the other bns)
������� Alpini Bn "Intra"
������� Alpini Bn "Bassano"
������� Pack-mules supply column
������� 101st AT coy.
2nd Alpini Regiment "Monterosa"
������� Alpini Bn "Brescia"
������� Alpini Bn "Morbegno"
������� Alpini Bn "Tirano"
������� Pack-mules supply column
������� 102ndt AT coy.
������� 101st Replacements Bn "Ivrea"
1st Alpini Artillery Rgt. "Monterosa"
������� 1st Alpini Arty Bn "Aosta"
������� 2nd Alpini Arty Bn "Bergamo"
������� 3rd Alpini Arty Bn "Verona" (later "Vicenza")
������� 4th Alpini Arty Bn "Mantova"
NOTE: Alpini = Mountain Troops
2nd Infantry Division "Littorio"
Divisional headquarters
2nd Recce Bn
2nd Haevy AT coy
3rd Infantry Regiment "Littorio"
������� 1st Infantry Bn
������� 2nd Infantry Bn
������� 3rd Infantry Bn
������� 103rd AT coy
4th Alpini Regiment "Littorio"
������� 1st Alpini Bn
������� 2nd Alpini Bn
������� 3rd Alpini Bn "Edolo"
������� Pack-mules supply column
������� 104th AT coy
������� 102nd Replacements Bn "Littorio"
2nd Artillery Regiment "Littorio"
������� 1st Arty Bn
������� 2nd Arty Bn
������� 3rd Arty Bn
������� 4th Arty Bn
NOTE: The "Littorio" Division was sometimes called a "Grenadiers" division. It was just a propaganda stunt and morale-bolstering effort, in imitation of the German use to call "Grenadier" all the newly formed infantry units, but the "Littorio" NEVER was a Grenadier unit (in the Italian Army the "Grenadiers" were - and still are - the Guards unit, formed by selected - and *very* tall! - soldiers and wearing special collar-patches. A singleindependent "true" Grenadier bn was part of the RSI Army - see below).
3rd Naval Infantry Division "San Marco" (the Saint-patron of Venice)
Divisional Headquarters
3rd Rece Bn (the former 2nd Bn of the 10th Arditi Regiment)
5th Naval Infantry Regiment "San Marco"
������� 1st Naval Infantry Bn
������� 2nd Naval Infantry Bn
������� 3rd Naval Infantry Bn
6th Naval Infantry Regiment "San Marco"
������� 1st Naval Infantry Bn
������� 2nd Naval Infantry Bn
������� 3rd Naval Infantry Bn
������� 3 x AT coys
������� 53rd Replacements Bn.
3rd Artillery Regiment "San Marco"
������� 1st Arty Bn
������� 2nd Arty Bn
������� 3rd Arty Bn
������� 4th Arty Bn
NOTE: This Division was part of the Army, and NOT of the
Navy as it is often incorrectly reported.
4th (later 1st) Bersaglieri Division "Italia"
Divisional Headquarters
2nd Recce Bn.
7th Bersaglieri Regiment "Italia"
������� 1st Bersaglieri Bn
������� 2nd Bersaglieri Bnb
������� 3rd Bersaglieri Bn
������� 107th AT coy
8th Cacciatori degli Appenninini ("Appennines Hunters") Regiment "Italia"
������� 1st Cacciatori Bn
������� 2nd Cacciatori Bn
������� 3rd Cacciatori Bn
������� 108th AT coy
������� 4th Recce Bn
������� 4th haevy AT coy
������� 104th Replacements Bn "Italia"
4th Artillery Regiment "Italia"
������� 1st Arty Bn
������� 2nd Arty Bn
������� 3rd Arty Bn
������� 4th Arty Bn
NOTE: for all� the Divisions: Each Division had the following support units, numbered (1st - 2nd - 3rd or 4th) according to the Division (the following example is for the 1st Division)
1st Lines-of-Comunication Engineers Bn 1st Mountain Assault Engineers Bn 1st Transport Bn 1st Medical coy 101st Medical coy 1st Medical transport section 1st Field Butchery coy 1st Field Bakery coy 1st Logistic coy 1st Veterinary coy 1st MP section Independent Units : Comando Controguerriglia (counter-guerrilla command) ������� 1 x Cavalry Coy. ������� 1 x 155mm artillery battery Centro Addestramento Reparti Speciali (Special units training center) ������� 1st Grenadiers Bn ������� 2nd Alpini Bn "Cadore" ������� 2nd GNR Bn (GNR=Republican National Guard) ������� 3rd GNR Bn ������� Dismounted cavalry coy Raggruppamento Anti Partigiani (anti-partisans task force) ������� 1st Bn ������� 2nd Bn ������� 3rd Bn Reggimento Volontari Fiumani "Tagliamento" (the name of a River. These volunteers come from the town of Fiume, on the border with Yugolsavia) ������� 1st Bn ������� 2nd Bn ������� 3rd Bn ������� 1st Blackshirts Bn Reggimento Bersaglieri Volontari ������� 15th Costal Defence bn ������� 1st Bersaglieri bn "Mussolini" ������� 2nd Bersaglieri bn "Mameli" ������� 3rd Bersaglieri bn ������� 101st Replacements Bn. Unita' legionarie Italiane ������� Officers Bn ������� "Von Dibio" Group (3 Bns) ������� Brigata d'Assalto Italiana ������� 1st Mot. Infantry Regiment (2 bns) ������� 2nd Mot.Infantry Regiment (2 bns) ������� 4 x Arty Bns Costal Defence units ������� 1st Bersaglieri Bn ������� 2nd Bersglieri Bn ������� 3rd Bersglieri bn ������� 7th Infantry Bn ������� 8th Infantry Bn ������� 9th Infantry Bn ������� 10th Mountain Bn ������� 11th Bersaglieri Bn ������� 12th Infantry Bn ������� 13th Infantry Bn ������� 14th Blackshirts Bn ������� 16th Infantry Bn ������� 17th Infantry Bn ������� 1st Costal Arty Bn (10 batteris) ������� 3rd Costal Arty Bn (8 batteries) ������� 5th Costal Arty Bn (4 batteries) ������� 9th Costal Arty Bn (12 batteries) ������� 13th Costal Arty Bn (8 batteries) ������� 15th Costal Arty Bn (2 batteries) ������� 17th Costal Arty Bn (3 batteries) Field Fortifications Construction Engineers ������� 116th Bn ������� 122nd Bn ������� 123rd Bn ������� 124th Bn ������� 125th Bn ������� 126th Bn ������� 132nd Bn ������� 134th Bn ������� 138th Bn ������� 140th Bn ������� 142nd Bn ������� 143rd Bn������� ������� 145th Bn ������� 146th bn
Elements of other 18 partially disbanded Bns were grouped in a Centro Raccolta Complementi Genio, and other 7 Bns were under re-construction (113th, 115th, 117th, 135th, 119th, 151st, 130th)
Field Engineers ������� 6 bns� (numbered from 1st to 6th) Armour ������� 1st independent Cavalry coy (armoured cars) ������� "M" armoured bn. ������� 3rd Armoured Bn / 31st Rgt In Germany : ������� 5 x "smoke cover" Bns in defence of the Baltic ports ������� 92nd Blackshirt Bn at Vienna In France : ������� militia Volunteers unit ������� Italian Security Bn AOK ������� 6th Haevy Arty Bn In Greece: ������� 2nd Bn, Arty Rgt "Piemonte" ������� 8th MG Bn ������� Elements of the 7th Infantry Rgt. ������� 24th Blackshirts Legion "Carroccio" (1 inf + 1 arty Bns) in Croatia : ������� 49th Blackshirts Legion "Marche" In Montenegro : ������� 72nd Blackshirts Legion (3rd + 72nd Bns) ������� 86th Blackshirts Legion (86th + 94th Bns) ������� 81st, 82nd, 40th, 49th, 33rd, 111st, 114th ind. Blackshirts Bns. In Russia: ������� 834th Field Hospital Others ������� 44 x independent garrison coys ������� 6th Arditi Ufficiali unit (Shock troops - officers) ������� 221st "Italiani all'Estero" legion (volunteers returned to Italy ��������������� from abroad) ������� 6th Artillery bn (3 batteries) ������� "Moschettieri delle Alpi" Bn ������� "Volontari di Sardegna" Bn ������� 1st Assaul Engineers Bn "Forli' "
The bulk of the Italian Fleet did try to "go south", according to the orders given by the High Command (the surrender of the fleet was one of the Armistice conditions). Actualy it is not very clear what Admiral Bergamini, the Fleet Commander, was trying to do. He ordered he fleet to move from La Spezia to the Bocche di Bonifacio, the strait between Sardinia and Corsica, and that is absolutely *not* the correct direction for Malta. Admiral Bergamini was deeply shocked by the order to surrender the fleet, and there is some suspect that he was moving toward Spain to have the fleet "interned" (put under custody by a neutral power - Spain - until the end of the war). As Bergamini was killed in the sinking of the battleship Roma by the Germans, nobody will ever know the truth. A few battered CL, DD and Submarines remained in the ports, often sabotaged by their crews, and were taken over by the Germans, but they were never returned to the Republican Navy in operational conditions. Infact, the bulk of the Republican Navy was the "Divisione Decima", a huge organization born from the 10th MAS Flottilla, the much succesfull underwater raiding unit of the Italian Navy.
The morning after the Armistice� the prince Junio Valerio Borghese, a much medaled, dashing and cosmoplite submarine commander, scion of one of the most ancient aristocratic families of Italy and Commander of the 10th MAS Flottilla commandos, started gathering all the naval personel he could find in La Spezia inside the 10th MAS barracks, and� then went to the local German command offering the services of *his* troops. The German were quite puzzled, then accepted. In the following weeks Borghese run all over Italy, recruiting hundereds of soldiers, until the 10th MAS was of *divisional* strenght. When the Italian Social Republic (RSI - Repubblica Sociale Italiana) was formed, the paper-pushers tried to disband the Decima (Decima = "Tenth"), but Borghese just refused, tratening to shot at sight everyone who dared to come close to the Decima barraks. Thereafter an arrangement was found, and the Decima become officialy part of the Marina Nazionale Repubblicana (National Republican Navy), but remained out of the central command structure of the RSI, and out of the command structure of the Germans too. It was a truly *independent* force, obeying to his beloved "Comandante" who fought *his* war with the same reckless, devil-may-care attitude of a Renaissance "Condottiere" (commander of a "Condotta", i.e. a merchenary unit). Amazing!
The Decima fought as a ground unit against the US and british forces on the Anzio bridgehead, and then in North East Italy against Italian and Yugolsavian communist partisans.� At the top of his strenght the Divisione Fanteria di Marina "Decima" was organized as follows :
1st Combat Group
������� Fusiliers Bn "Barbarigo" (an ancient Venetian admiral - Anzio
veterans)
������� Fusiliers Bn "Lupo" (wolf) (*)
������� Bn "Nuotatori-Paracadutisti" (2 coys of Assault Swimmers and 3 of
Parachutists)
������� Artillery Bn "Colleoni" (a Renaissance Condottiere) (*)
������� 1st Coy, Engineer Bn "Freccia" (arrow)
2nd Combat Group
������� Fusiliers Bn "Fulmine" (lightning - previously called "Maestrale" SW wind) (*)
������� Fusiliers Bn "Sagittario" (archer) (*)
������� Mountain Assault Engineer Bn " Valanga" (avalanche)
������� Recruits Bn "Castagnacci" (from the name of the first Decima KIA)
������� Artillery Bn "Da Giussano" (another Condottiere) (*)
������� Mountain Artillery Bn "San Giorgio" (the saint-patron of Genova)
������� Engineer Bn "Freccia" (2nd and 3rd coy)
Independent units
������� Fusiliers Bn "Risoluti"
������� Fusiliers Bn "Giobbe" (one of the heroes of the 10th MAS Flottilla,
KIA during a raid on Malta -�previously called "Ardimento" - courage)
������� Fusiliers Bn "Longobardo" (an hero of the Italian Submarine forces)
������� Fusiliers Bn "Pegaso" (pegasus) (*)
������� Fusiliers Bn "San Giusto" (the saint-patron of Trieste)
������� Fusiliers Bn "Scire' " (The submarine of Borghese)
������� Fusiliers Bn "Serenissima" (the nickname of Venice)
������� Fusiliers Bn "Vega" (a star) (*)
������� Fusiliers Coy "Adriatica"
������� Fusiliers Coy "D'Annunzio" ( a famous poet and WWI hero)
������� Fusiliers Coy "Sauro" (a WWI naval hero)
������� "Operativa" Coy (no details about that)
������� Fusiliers Coy "Mai Morti" ("never dead")
������� Women Auxiliary Service
NOTE: The translation of the names of the Bns is a litteral one. Several of them, indicated by an (*) were the names of ships of the Italian Royal Navy, whose crews formed the "core" of each bn.
Naval Units: ������� "Comandante Todaro" Raiding Crafts School (both surface and underwater) ������� Underwater Diver School ������� Underwater Operations Group ������� "Gamma" Group (assault swimmers) ������� "Comandante Moccagatta" Surface Crafts Units.
NOTE: Both Commander Todaro and Commander Moccagatta were heroes of the 10th MAS Flottilla, both of them KIA).
Besides the almost-independent "Decima" units, the Marina da Guerra Nazionale Repubblicana did have also the following units :
Minesweepers Flottilla at Venice. Submarine base at Bordeaux (France), defended by a "Divisione Atlantica Fucilieri di Marina" (big name, but just 3 Naval Fusiliers Coys + 1 Arty Bty!) Anti-submarine Flottilla with some light sub-chasers. Midget submarines Flottilla "Longobardo" with 22 boats.
There was surely something else, but my sources are a bit sketchy on the navy.
Contrary to the behaviour of the Navy, the Air Force went almost entirely North, except for a few training and bomber units. This is not surprising, considering that the Regia Aeronautica was the most "Fascist" of our armed forces. The core of the Republican Air Force were its fighter units, that operated strenuously against the Allies haevy bombers. They used at first Italian aircrafts, like the good MC205 and the outstanding G55 and Re.2005, but later were largely equiped with German-made Bf.109s. At the end of the war a small group of Italian pilots was in Germany ready to start training on the Me.163 and Me.262, but the war ended before they started actual training.
The Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana was organized as follows :
Air Force Headquarters Torpedo-Bombers Command Fighter Command Transport Command Anti-Air Artillery Command Air Force Academy (courses "Zodiaco" and "Aquila 2nd"). Fighter Training Flight. 5 x recruits Bns. 9 x anti-parachutists Bns. Reggimento Arditi Paracadutisti "Folgore" ������� 1st Parachutist Bn "Folgore" (lightning) ������� 2nd Parachutist Bn "Nembo" (storm-cloud) ������� 3rd Parachutist Bn "Azzurro" (Bright Blue) 1st Fighter Squadron ������� 1st Flight "Larismont" (an Air-Force hero, as per the other flights names) ������� 2nd Flight "Guido Bobba" ������� 3rd Flight "Dante Ocarso" 2nd Fighter Squadron ������� 1st Flight "Gigi Caneppelle" ������� 2nd Flight "Nicola Magaldi" ������� 3rd Flight "Gianni Graffer" 3rd Fighter Squadron 101st Indipendent Fighter Squadron Independent Fighter Flight "Montefusco" Training Flight "Francesco Baracca" Torpedo-bomber Squadron "Faggioni & Buscaglia" Air Transport Squadron "Terracciano" Air Transport Squadron "Trabucchi" Air Liason Flight 1st Bomber Flight "Ettore Muti" Gliders Flight
Note: Even if officially entitled with the names of Air-Force heroes, each fighter flight was usually called by its nickname, based on the flight's insigna, as follows:
The Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana was formed as a militarized police force, grouping the former Carabinieri (military police), state police, Polizia Africa Italiana (colonial police), frontier guards and blackshirts units, and was later included in the Armed Forces of the RSI. The GNR was used mainly in anti-partisan role, a "dirty war" of reciprocal war crimes that do not give credit to any one of the contendants.
Its "field units" were as follows:
Territorial defence militia: ������� "Isonzo" Rgt ������� "D'Annunzio" Rgt ������� "Istria" Rgt ������� "Tagliamento" Rgt 1st "M" Assault legion "Tagliamento" Special Bn "Trieste" "M" Armoured Bn "Leonessa" Parachutist Bn "Mazzarini" Assault cyclist Bn "Roma" Assault cyclist Bn "Venezia Giulia" Grenadiers Bn "Ruggine" Independent Bns ������� "Bologna" ������� "Ferrara" ������� "Firenze" ������� "Marche" ������� "Perugia" ������� "Romagna" ������� "IX Settembre" 115th "M" Assault Bn "Montebello" 24th "M" Assault Bn 29th "M" Assault Bn Legione "M" "Guardia del Duce" (Mussolini bodyguard) Assault Bn "Pontida" Assault Bn "Fiamme Bianche" (formed by young boys of the party youth organizations) In the Balkans : ������� other 4 legions and 8 independent bns.
Note : the prefix "M" to some units was an honour title for elite units, allowed to wear a special collar-pin reproducing the "M" of Mussolini signature.
Those were a kind of volunteer militia organized by the Republican Fascist Party. They were mostly� old die-hard fascist of the 1920's revolution, with the addition of some fanatic youngsters. They were organized in over 50 "Brigades" (actualy weak bn - reinforced coys in strenght), and used in anti-partisan and garrison duties. With the passing of time they grew more and more desperate, and were guilty of some of the worst atrocities in the anti-partisan warfare. They were not actually part of the RSI "Forze Armate" (armed forces), but were considered as a kind of "auxiliary" units.
All the Black Brigades were entitled to the memory of Fascist heros, and, for the territorial outfits, the name of their recruitement province is given
Territorial Black Brigades:
1st Territorial Black Brigade "Ather Cappelli" - Torino 2nd "Attilio Prato" - Alessandria 3rd "Emilio Picot" - Aosta 4th "Luigi Viale" - Asti 5th "Carlo Lidonnici" - Cuneo 6th "Augusto Cristina" - Novara 7th "Bruno Ponzecchi" - Torino 8th "Aldo Resega" - Milano 9th "Giuseppe Cortesi" - Bergamo 10th "Enrico Tognu' " - Brescia 11th "Cesare Rodini" - Como 12th "Augusto Felisari" - Cremona 13th "Marcello Turchetti" - Mantova 14th "Alberto Alfieri" - Pavia 15th "Sergio Gatti" - Sondrio 16th "Dante Gervasini" - Varese 17th "Bartolomeo Azara" - Venezia 18th "Luigi Begon" - Padova 19th "Romolo Gori" - Rovigo 20th "Francesco Cappellini" - Treviso 21st "Stefano Rizzardi" - Verona 22nd "Antonio Faggion" - Vicenza 23rd "Eugenio Facchini" - Bologna 24th "Igino Ghisellini" - Ferrara 25th "Arturo Capanni" - Forli' 26th "Mirko Pistoni" - Modena 27th "Virginio Gavazzoli" - Parma 28th "Pippo Astorri" - Piacenza 29th "Ettore Muti" - Ravenna 30th "Umberto Rossi" - Reggio Emilia 31st "Silvio Parodi" - Genova 32nd "Antonio Padoan" - Imperia 33rd "Tullio Bertoni" - La Spezia 34th "Giovanni Briatore" - Savona 35th "Don Emilio Spinelli" - Arezzo 36th "Benito Mussolini" - Lucca 37th "Emilio Tanzi" - Pisa 38th "Ruy Blas Biagi" - Pistoia 39th "??" - Siena 40th "Vittorio Ricciarelli" - Apuania (later become a Mobile Black Brigade - see below) 41st "Raffaele Manganiello"" - Firenze Mobile Black Brigades Group: 1st Mobile Black Brigade "Vittorio Ricciarelli" (later renamed 1st Mobile Arditi Black Brigade "I.Barattini") 2nd "Danilo Mercuri" 3rd "Attilio Pappalardo" 4th "Achille Corrao" (previously "Ministerial Black Brigade "Meattini" - see below) 5th "Emilio Quagliata" 6th "Dalmazia" (the Italian province on the Yugoslavian Adriatic Cost) 7th "Tevere" (The river of Rome) 2nd Mobile Arditi Black Brigade - Milano. Independent Black Brigades: Operational Black Brigade "Giuseppe Garibaldi" (not strictly a "fascist" hero!) - Morbegno Ministerial Black Brigade "Meattini" - Brescia Black Brigade "Giovanni Gentile" - Cremona Black Brigade "Tulio Cividino" - Trieste Women Black Brigade "Norma Cosseto" - Trieste Black Brigade of the Youth Action Groups Black Brigade Operational Group-Lombardy "Butti" Black Brigade Indeendent Coy "Fascisti 1" - Rhodes Island - Greece
The Republican Police did activated a few "field units", used in the anti-partisan war, as follows:
Independent Mobile Legion "Ettore Muti" - Milano 1st Mobile Assaut Unit "ISPA" (Special Anti-Partisan Police Inspectorate) - Brescia 2nd Mobile Assaut Unit "ISPA"� - Torino 6 x Police Bns (located at Padova, pavia, Roma, Treviso, Gorizia and Venezia) Police Arditi Legion "Pietro Caruso) - Milano