The division's lineage begins with the Brigade "Torino" established in
Turin on 1 November 1884 with the 81st and 82nd infantry regiments.
World War I The brigade fought on the
Italian front in
World War I. On 25 November 1926 the brigade and
82nd Infantry Regiment "Torino" were disbanded, while the 81st Infantry Regiment "Torino" was assigned to the XXII Infantry Brigade of the
22nd Territorial Division of Perugia. On 5 June 1940 the division split from the Central Military Schools Command and activated as 52nd Infantry Division "Torino", with the 81st and 82nd infantry regiments, and the 52nd artillery regiment. On 17 September it deployed to the right of the
3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" in the
Dnjepropetrowsk area on the
Dnieper river, where it was immediately engaged by enemy units. Between 27 and 30 September 1941, the division participated in the
Battle of Petrikowka. Between 20 October and 2 November 1941, the division assaulted the city of Stalino (today
Donetsk) in
Eastern Ukraine, and occupied the neighbouring towns of
Horlivka and
Yenakiieve. In November the Torino was on the
Krynka river to protect the southern flank of the 3rd Cavalry Division and on 6 December it attacked Chazepetowka and reach the village after two days of struggle. On 12 December 1941 the division's commander General
Ugo de Carolis was killed and posthumously awarded the
Knight's Cross by the Germans. On 25-26 December the division faced Russian attacks at Malo Orlovka and, in the course of a counter attacks, occupied Plosky and Vife Ostraja, where it repelled violent enemy counterattacks. The Torino remained with
1st Panzer Army until 3 June 1942 when it was subordinated to the German
17th Army. In July 1942 it entered the newly arrived
Italian Army in Russia/8th Army, which formed the left flank of the German
6th Army during the
Battle of Stalingrad. The 8th Army suffered heavy losses during the Soviet
Operation Little Saturn in winter of 1942/43 and was destroyed by March 1943. Some 8,000 men of the 13,500 men of the Torino were killed or missing in Russia, including 2,814 of the 81st Infantry Regiment, 2,608 of the 82nd Infantry Regiment, 1,283 of the 52nd Artillery Regiment, 483 of the XXVI Mortar Battalion, 208 of the LII Mortar Battalion, 154 of the 52nd Transmission Company, 114 of the 171st Anti-Tank Company, and 102 of the 52nd Medical Section. The survivors of the division returned to Italy, where on 1 June 1943 the
159th Infantry Division "Veneto" was renamed 52nd Infantry Division "Torino". The reformed Torino was disbanded by the Germans following the
Armistice of Cassibile. == Organization 1941 ==