World War I The division's lineage begins with the Brigade "Spezia" raised on 1 March 1915 with the 125th and 126th infantry regiments. The brigade fought on the
Italian front in
World War I and together with its regiments was disbanded on 29 November 1917 after having been destroyed in the
Battle of Caporetto. The brigade and its two regiments were raised again in
Macedonia on 15 October 1918, but before the brigade could enter the
Macedonian front the war ended. After the war the brigade and its regiments were disbanded in June 1919. and the 126th Infantry Regiment "La Spezia" was raised in Pisa on 5 November 1941 by the
22nd Infantry Regiment "Cremona", while the 80th Artillery Regiment "La Spezia" was raised in Pisa by the
7th Artillery Regiment "Cremona". The division was earmarked for the planned
invasion of Malta and moved in June 1942 to
Apulia in Southern Italy to be near the air bases from which it would depart for
Malta. After the operation was canceled the division was flown from 1 October 1942 to
Libya, where it deployed to
Brega ed
El Agheila by early November. After the
Second Battle of El Alamein Axis forces, including the La Spezia, were driven westwards by the victorious British
Eighth Army. The La Spezia retreated to
Tarhuna-
Al-Khums on 2–14 January 1943, to
Tripoli-
Zawiya on 15–19 January 1943, and finally to the
Mareth Line in
Tunisia between 20 January and 4 February 1943. On 23 February the German-Italian units on the Mareth Line entered the Italian
1st Army. On 6 March 1943 the La Spezia participated in the
Battle of Medenine, and ten days later in the
Battle of the Mareth Line. During the latter battle the division lost half of its strength and on 25 March the division retreated together with the other Axis forces to the prepared defensive position at
Wadi Akarit. On 6–7 April 1943 the British Eighth Army broke through the Axis line in the
Battle of Wadi Akarit and the Italian 1st Army was forced to withdraw
Enfidaville. While the British Eighth Army and Italian 1st Army at Enfidaville remained static, to their North Allied forces overran German and Italian defenses and took
Bizerte and
Tunis. By 12 May 1943 the remaining 80,000 men of the Italian 1st Army were surrounded and the next day its commanding officer General
Giovanni Messe surrendered his army to British General
Bernard Freyberg. The La Spezia was officially declared lost on the 13 May 1943. == Organization ==