On 15 July 1937, the II Motor-mechanized Brigade was formed in
Milan, which consisted of the
3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and other minor units. On 1 December 1938 the
32nd Tank Infantry Regiment joined the brigade and the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment was replaced by the
8th Bersaglieri Regiment. On the same date the brigade was renamed II Armored Brigade. On 1 February 1939 the
132nd Motorized Artillery Regiment was formed in
Rovereto and assigned to the brigade, which on that date was renamed 132nd Armored Division "Ariete" (the Italian word
ariete means
ram). During the
invasion of France in June 1940, the division was kept in reserve. By that time the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment had grown to eight battalions: three equipped with
L3/35 tankettes, two equipped with
M11/39 tanks, and three equipped with
M13/40 tanks. Four of the latter battalions were transferred in the second half of 1940 to
Libya: the I and II tank battalions "M" equipped with M11/39 tanks were transferred on 11 June 1940 to the
4th Tank Infantry Regiment and shipped to Libya, where the two battalions joined the
Maletti Group. The III and V tank battalions "M" equipped with M13/40 tanks shipped to Libya in October respectively November and joined the
Special Armored Brigade, which was also known as
Babini Group. Both, the Maletti Group and the Special Armored Brigade, were part of the Italian
10th Army, which had
invaded Egypt on 9 September 1940. In December 1940 the British
Western Desert Force annihilated the Italian 10th Army during
Operation Compass: the I Tank Battalion "M" was destroyed in
Egypt during the
Attack on Nibeiwa, while the II Tank Battalion "M" was lost in the
fall of Tobruk. The
III Tank Battalion "M" and
V Tank Battalion "M" were destroyed during the failed breakout attempt at the
Battle of Beda Fomm on 6–7 February 1941.
Western Desert Campaign (centre) with two officers of the Ariete Division in North Africa After the rout of Italian forces during
Operation Compass the Italians and Germans transferred reinforcements to Libya. The Ariete's first units disembarked
Tripoli on 24 January 1941. From February 1941 to November 1942, the Ariete fought alongside the German
Afrika Korps in the
Western Desert Campaign. The Ariete was assigned on 15 August 1941 to the Italian Maneuver Army Corps, which on 10 March 1942 was renamed
XX Army Corps. The Ariete participated in the Axis counter-offensive to retake the
Cyrenaica and the following
Siege of Tobruk. On 1 May 1941, the Germans and Italians attacked Tobruk in strength. Their attack pierced the Australian defences: the Ariete captured the R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 strongpoints, On 3 May the Australians launched a counter-attack with the 18th Brigade. The counter-attack only recaptured one strong point from what Australian historian
Mark Johnston reported to be Italian defenders. This action was later known as the Battle of the Salient. On 1 September the division activated the
132nd Tank Infantry Regiment and split the
32nd Tank Infantry Regiment. On 18 November 1941, the British launched
Operation Crusader to relieve Tobruk. On 19 November 1941, the Ariete
clashed at Bir el Gubi with the British
22nd Armoured Brigade and inflicted heavy losses on the inexperienced British forces. On 23 November, the
15th Panzer Division attacked the
5th South African Brigade defending Sidi Rezegh and that evening, the Ariete came up in support and the ridge was taken along with 3,400 prisoners. On 29 November the Ariete engaged the New Zealand
2nd Division at the
Battle of Point 175. On 7 December 1941, Axis forces withdrew to the Gazala position and on 15 December they continued their withdrawal to El Agheila. The Ariete retreated through the Djebel Mountain towards El Agheila; by this time the division had lost almost all its tanks. On 8 January 1942, the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment was disbanded and in February 1942 the Ariete was reorganized and reinforced. captured 1,000 troops. On 29 May and 5 June 1942 the Ariete repelled British armored counterattacks. Axis forces then surged forward, took Tobruk, invaded Egypt and were stopped by British forces at
El Alamein.
El Alamein Only part of the Ariete had reached El Alamein on 3 July 1942 during the initial stage of the
First Battle of El Alamein. The division's artillery was caught on the move by British forces engaged in a flanking attack and suffered heavy casualties in the ensuing clash. On 30 August 1942 the Ariete participated in the
Battle of Alam el Halfa, but the Axis plan to outflank and encircle the British forces at El Alamein failed. On 4 November 1942 during the
Second Battle of El Alamein the Ariete was surrounded by advancing enemy forces and the division's commander General
Francesco Antonio Arena broadcast the division's last message: Of the division's units only the
XIII Tank Battalion "M" and about 200
Bersaglieri with six
75/18 self-propelled guns escaped, but were overtaken and destroyed by British forces on the coastal road near Fuka on 5–6 November 1942. Rommel mourned the loss of the division, writing that its final action had been conducted with exemplary courage and that "in the Ariete we lost our oldest Italian comrades, from whom we had probably always demanded more than they, with their poor armament, had been capable of performing". The 132nd Armored Division "Ariete" was declared lost due to wartime events on 8 December 1942.
Post War On 23 May 1948 the
Italian Army raised the
Armored Brigade "Ariete" in
Rome, which on 1 October 1952 was expanded to
Armored Division "Ariete". == Organization ==