The division's lineage begins with the XI Brigade established on 24 June 1859 with the 19th and 20th infantry regiments of the Army of the
United Provinces of Central Italy. On 16 September 1859 the brigade received the name "Ravenna". On 25 March 1860 the Brigade "Ravenna" entered the
Royal Sardinian Army three days after the
Kingdom of Sardinia had annexed the United Provinces of Central Italy. Already before entering the Royal Sardinian Army the brigade's two infantry regiments had been renumbered on 30 December 1859 as 37th Infantry Regiment and 38th Infantry Regiment.
World War I The brigade fought on the
Italian front in
World War I. On 13 October 1926 the brigade was disbanded and its two regiments were reassigned: the
37th Infantry Regiment "Ravenna" to the III Infantry Brigade and the 38th Infantry Regiment "Ravenna" to the
IV Infantry Brigade. The III Infantry Brigade, the former Brigade "Forlì", also included the 43rd Infantry Regiment "Forlì" and the 44th Infantry Regiment "Forlì". The brigade was the infantry component of the 3rd Territorial Division of Alessandria, which also included the
11th Artillery Regiment. In 1930 the division exchanged the 44th Infantry Regiment "Forlì" for the 38th Infantry Regiment "Ravenna" with the
4th Territorial Division of Cuneo. In 1935 the division changed its name to 3rd Infantry Division "
Monferrato". On 1 April 1934 the division exchanged the 38th Infantry Regiment "Ravenna" for
30th Infantry Regiment "Pisa" with the
26th Infantry Division "Assietta". On 25 March 1939 the 38th Infantry Regiment "Ravenna" returned to the division and the 30th Infantry Regiment "Pisa" was transferred back to the Assietta division. On 31 March 1939 the 43rd Infantry Regiment "Forlì" was transferred to the newly activated
36th Infantry Division "Forlì" and on the same date the III Infantry Brigade was dissolved and the two remaining infantry regiments came under direct command of the division, which changed its name to 3rd Infantry Division "Ravenna". At the campaigns conclusions on 24 June 1940 it had reached the village of
Fontan. In preparation for the
Invasion of Yugoslavia the Ravenna was assigned to
XI Army Corps and transferred to the Italian-Yugoslav border near
Kobarid and
Most na Soči in early April 1941. After the Yugoslav surrender the division performed mop-up operations in
Škofja Loka from 14 April 1941 until 17 April 1941, before handing the city over to German forces. Next mop-up operations were undertaken near
Mirna village. In early May 1941 the Ravenna was transferred to
Pivka and then returned to
Alessandria, where it remained until 1942.
Eastern Front The division was one of ten Italian divisions, which served on the
Eastern Front as part of the
Italian Army in Russia. The Ravenna division received orders to move from
Piedmont to Eastern Ukraine in June 1942. Before leaving Italy the Ravenna exchanged artillery regiments with the
104th Infantry Division "Mantova", as the Mantova's
121st Motorized Artillery Regiment was equipped with modern
75/18 Mod. 34 howitzers, which were considered to be of better use in the
Soviet Union than the
World War I vintage
75/27 Mod. 11 field guns of the Ravenna's 11th Artillery Regiment "Ravenna". The Ravenna arrived in Stalino (today
Donetsk) in
Eastern Ukraine in July 1942 and was assigned to the Italian
XXXV Army Corps. They moved from Stalino to Voroshilovgrad (today
Luhansk) on 25 July and then proceeded to the
Don river, where the division took up defensive positions between
Verhny Mamon and
Boguchar. In this sector the Ravenna defeated series of Soviet assault between 20 August and 1 September 1942. On 11 September the Soviet forces renewed their attacks focusing on Solonets, south of
Voronezh. Afterwards the front calmed until by mid-November 1942, German intelligence spotted the massing of the Soviet 5th Tank Army across the Don. A German officer attached to the
5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" wrote, that the morale of the division and the neighbouring Ravenna was confident considering all the difficulties.
Operation Little Saturn On 11 December 1942 Soviet forces began
Operation Little Saturn. The Ravenna division was attacked from either end of the '
pocket' below the Don river held by the Soviets since their August offensive. The division's commander,
Major general Francesco Du Pont, asked for a diversionary attack by the nearest
Alpini division. General
Italo Gariboldi, Commander of the
8th Army, refused because he thought the enemy facing it was too strong and there was too little time. Nor did he deploy the German
27th Panzer Division, which was under his command. The Ravenna destroyed 70 of the 200 Soviet tanks that attacked it, and Du Pont was awarded an
Iron Cross First Class in the field by the Germans. In the following days, however, the intense enemy pressure led to some units of the Ravenna near
Verhny Mamon to fall back, thus opening a gap in the Axis' frontline. By 17 December 1942 Soviet forces reached
Chertkovo in the rear of Axis forces. The Soviet
1st Guards Army and the
3rd Guards Army attacked from the north, attempting to encircle 130,000 soldiers of the Italian Army in Russia and advancing to
Millerovo. On 17 December the bulk of the Ravenna had retreated to Voroshilovgrad, where the division reorganized itself and then returned to the front defending the bridges over the
Donets river at Veselaya Gora-
Stanytsia Luhanska 22–30 December. During the retreat elements of the Ravenna had been separated from the division and been surrounded on 23 December 1942 at
Chertkovo, where they, together with other German and Italian units, resisted repeated Soviet attacks. From 1–6 January 1943 the Ravenna was subordinated the German Armeegruppe
Fretter-Pico and was defending the western bank of the Donets river. On 15 January the Ravenna tried and succeed to break open the encirclement at Chertkovo. After Soviet forces had pierced the Donets front on 24 January the Ravenna was forced to retreat under pressure from Soviet armored spearheads. On 17 January the division's remnants reached
Bilovodsk and were taken out of the frontline. In April 1943 the remnants of the division were transferred back to Italy, where the division was being reformed in
Tuscany. After the announcement of the
Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the division was disbanded by the
invading German forces. == Organization ==