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The Italian Somali Divisions were two divisions of colonial soldiers from Italian Somaliland that were formed as part of the Italian Army during World War II. In the Italian Regio Esercito, the units comprised the "101 Divisione Somala" and "102 Divisione Somala", and fought during the East African Campaign in 1941 before disbanding. ==History== After June 1940, when the Kingdom of Italy declared war on the Allies, two divisions of Somalian soldiers were raised in Italian Somaliland. These were designated as the “101 Divisione Somala” and the ”102 Divisione Somala”. The divisions' initial personnel were drawn mainly from some of the colonial brigades that had fought in the conquest of Ethiopia in 1936. But soon after their formation, new recruits were enlisted in order to meet the numbers required for a standard Italian division (around 7,000 soldiers). These recruits received training by Italian NCOs, although this was interrupted in the early stages of the war by the construction of a small new “decauville” railway between Villabruzzi and the Ethiopian frontier. As a result, at the start of World War II there were 20,458 Somalian soldiers in Italian Somaliland, mostly in these two new divisions, but they were not well trained for combat.〔(Italian forces deployed in Italian East Africa, 1 June 1940 )〕 At the end of 1940, the “1st Somalian Division”, commanded by General Carnevali, was sent to defend the Juba river in western Italian Somaliland, in response to Italian concerns of a British attack from British Kenya. The "2nd Somalian Division", commanded by General Santini, remained initially in the area of Mogadishu as a possible reserve force, before moving to the Gelib area in February 1941. In the first days of February 1941 the British attacked the Juba front and after heavy fighting the 101 Divisione Somala, although reinforced by some units of the 102 Divisione Somala, was half destroyed. General Carlo De Simone, commander-in-chief of all Italian forces in Italian Somaliland, ordered the division’s retreat toward Ethiopia. General Baccari subsequently replaced Carnevali, after the latter was wounded in combat and became sick. While in southern Ethiopia, the division was practically dismantled on March 7, when the few surviving brigades reached Harar in central Ethiopia.〔(May 1941: "Comando Scacchiere Sud" of general Pietro Gazzera )〕 Successively some of the 101 Somali Division's Italian officers fought in the reduct of Gondar until November 1941. The "102 Divisione Somala", consisting mainly of new recruits who were not well trained for combat, retreated to Ethiopia after the British crossed the Juba river, following heavy clashes. The soldiers of this colonial division fought hard around Gelib, rolling up the Juba river〔()〕 but were forced to retreat by the better-equipped British force. The division was dismantled in the Ogaden area. Some of its soldiers – mainly the Italian officers – retreated to "Passo Marda" south of Addis Ababa where they made a last stand.〔(Scorzelli: Last stand near Addis Abeba. p 40 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Italian Somali Divisions (101 and 102)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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