Alpini's Retreat January 1943

Many thanks to Arturo Filippo Lorioli for contributing this article.

Here is a short summary of the retreat of the Alpini Corps from the Don.

Actually it was the second time that Italian troops suffered the ghastly ordeal of a retreat in Russia : the first time it was in 1812, with the 15th Infantry Div. and the Royal Italian Guard Div (both of the Kingdom of Italy Army and part of Napoleon's 4th Army Corps), the 33rd Inf.Div (of the Kingdom of Naples and part of the 11th Corps) and the thousands of soldiers from the Central and North-East Italy that where drafted in the french Army when those regions were annexed by France

January 17th

The Alpini Corps is ordered (too late!) to disengage and retreat. Russian mech and armour units are already behind it at Postojalyi, so the Alpini are expected to break through. Each div. is formed in several columns (that are immediatelly swollen by thousand of stragglers from German and Hungarians units), as follows:

• TRIDENTINA and Corps HQ: toward Podgornoe in 3 columns.
• VICENZA : one column follows the Tridentina, another one moves toward Popovka.
• CUNEENSE:
  
  
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