After the
Second Italian War of Independence the
Austrian Empire had to cede the
Lombardy region of the
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia to the
Kingdom of Sardinia. After taking control of the region the government of Sardinian ordered the
Royal Sardinian Army on 29 August 1859 to raise five infantry brigades and one grenadier brigade in Lombardy. Subsequently on 1 November 1859 the Brigade "Brescia" was activated with the re-raised 19th Infantry Regiment and
20th Infantry Regiment.
World War I During
World War I the brigade fought initially on the
Italian front, but in April 1918 it was transferred together with the
Brigade "Alpi" Brigade "Napoli", and
Brigade "Salerno" to the
Western Front in
France. There the brigades fought in the
Third Battle of the Aisne,
Second Battle of the Marne, Battle of Saint-Thierry, and the
Hundred Days Offensive. On 6 November 1926 the brigade assumed the name of XXVII Infantry Brigade with the
16th Infantry Regiment "Savona", 19th Infantry Regiment "Brescia", and
20th Infantry Regiment "Brescia". The brigade was the infantry component of the 27th Territorial Division of Catanzaro, which also included the 12th Artillery Regiment. In 1934 the division changed its name to 27th Infantry Division "
Sila".
Second Italo-Ethiopian War In late summer 1935 the division was sent to
Eritrea for the
Second Italo-Ethiopian War and in October 1935 participated in the capture of
Mek'ele. From 4 November 1935 it was stationed in the
Adigrat and in December 1935 it fought in the Ādī K’edawīt - Doghea pass area. The division undertook reconnaissance raids towards Ziban Debrī Bota and Celecot. On 19 January 1936 the Sila broke through the Ethiopian defenses and captured several towns in
Tembien Province. It did not participate in the nearby
First Battle of Tembien and acted only in the final stages of
Battle of Amba Aradam, capturing Āmba Ālagē on 26 February 1936. In March 1936, the Sila moved to Finarwa - Sek'ot'a region where it stayed until the end of war. During the night of 3 May the Australians counterattacked, but the Italian
102nd Motorized Division "Trento" and
17th Infantry Division "Pavia" and German
panzergrenadiers repelled the attack On the night of 16 May the Brescia retaliated with the help of two platoons of the
XXXII Sappers Battalion and breached the defensive perimeter of the Australian 2/9th and 2/10th Battalions. With the obstacles removed, the Brescia troops captured the strongpoints S8, S9 and S10. The Australians fought back and the commanding officer of the XXXII Mixed Engineer Battalion Colonel Emilio Caizzo was killed during a satchel attack and awarded posthumously Italy's highest military honor the
Gold Medal of Military Valor. Among the objectives initially selected during the planning of the British offensive
Operation Brevity was the recapture of S8 and S9. On 24 May the Brescia, which had taken over the western front of Tobruk, repelled an attacking Australian infantry force, which was supported by tanks. On 2 August, another attack was launched to recover the lost strong points, but the attacking forces from the Australian 2/43rd Battalion and 2/28th Battalions were repulsed. This was the last Australian effort to recover the lost fortifications.
Operation Crusader On 27 November 1941 the British offensive
Operation Crusader reached the siege ring around
Tobruk and for the next 13 days the battle to break the siege raged. The Brescia, as part of the besieging forces, held out with the other Axis forces until 8-9 December 1941, when the order to retreat to
Ain el Gazala was given. The Brescia's last action at Tobruk was a fight with the British
70th Division and Polish
Carpathian Rifle Brigade for control of the White Knoll position. On 11 December a retreating battalion of the Brescia came within 50 yards of the
23rd New Zealand Battalion and was cut down by machine gun fire. The Axis forces retreated to Ain el Gazala, where on 15 December, the Brescia held its ground against the
2nd New Zealand Division and Carpathian Rifle Brigade, allowing a strong Italo-German armored force to counterattack and overrun the 1st British Battalion,
The Buffs.. On 18 December British forces outflanked the Brescia in the south and so the division had to retreat to
Ajdabiya, where it arrived on 22 December 1941.
Battle of Gazala In January 1942 the Brescia was defending a front around Qabr al Fārigh, south-west of
Derna. It moved its positions forward to Qabr al Fārigh (south of
Derna, Libya in April 1942. During the
Battle of Gazala, the Brescia played an important role in the capture of 6,000 prisoners on 16 June 1942, after the
101st Motorized Division "Trieste" and
15th Panzer Division had destroyed the British 2nd and 4th Armoured Brigades. operating at Ghawţ al ‘Abīdī depression.
Battle of Mersa Matruh After the successful Battle of Gazala the Brescia advanced, passing to the south of
Tobruk on 20 June 1942 and continuing through
Bardia,
As Sallūm and
Sidi Barrani, the division arrived in
Mersa Matruh on 29 June 1942. During the brief siege of Mersa Matruh in June 1942 Axis forces captured 6,000 British troops and large quantities of supplies.
First and Second Battles of El Alamein During the initial stages of the
First Battle of El Alamein in July 1942 the Brescia was deployed on the El Mreir ridge and repelled a strong attack of the
5th New Zealand Infantry Brigade. Later, during the defense of Ruweisat Ridge, the 19th Infantry Regiment of the Brescia put up a tenacious defense, losing a battalion and three company commanders in this night action, before being partly overrun at dawn on 15 July, delaying the Allied advance long enough for German armored forces to launch a devastating counterattack. Between 21 and 27 July 1942 British counter-attacks were so ferocious that the Brescia was forced end its advance to the south of
El Alamein. During the
Second Battle of El Alamein the Brescia held its positions against British armored attacks from 24 October to 4 November 1942. When the order was given to withdraw the Brescia retreated along the Deir Sha'la -
Fukah route. The lack of transport resulted in Allied units catching up and annihilating the Brescia on 7 November 1942, within the sight of
Fukah, where other shattered Axis units has already gathered. The division was officially dissolved on 25 November 1942. == Organization ==