| Prime Minister and Dictator Il Duce Benito Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) inspects the Quarto Divisione Alpina Monterosa (“Fourth Alpine Monterosa Division”) with Commanding General Mario Carloni (December 27, 1894 – January 30, 1962) at the Altes Lager Münsingen (“Old Training Grounds”). Behind them are General der Artillerie Heinz Ziegler (May 19, 1894 – August 21, 1972), Special Employment with Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) and Maresciallo d’Italia Rodolfo Graziani (August 11, 1882 – January 11, 1955), Ministro delle Forze Armate della Repubblica Sociale Italiana (“Minister of Defence of the Italian Social Republic”) After the Italian armistice in September 1943, Nazi German Fallschirmjäger rescued Mussolini from Gran Sasso, where the Allied-friendly government of Prime Minister Marshal Pietro Badoglio (September 28, 1871 – November 1, 1956), had incarcerated him. In Berlin, Mussolini signed the Rastenburg Protocol on October 16. The Italian Social Republic, the new Fascist Government in Salo headed by Mussolini, was permitted to raise a new Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano (ENR – “Republican National Army”) of 56,000 men in 4 divisions. Quarto Divisione Alpina Monterosa was the ENR’s 1st division. As the Italian Royal Army disintegrated in Stpemerb 1943, much of the Regia Marina (“Italian Royal Navy”) and Aeronautica Italiana (“Royal Italian Air Force”) went over to the Allies. However, the Regio Esercito (“Italian Royal Army”) did not successfully transition to the Allied cause; some units joined, but many sided with Mussolini, and others were captured by the Nazi Germans. Incomplete orders and lack of urgency and poor communications failed to direct mid-level officers. 1 out of 5 soldati in the Quarto Divisione Alpina Monterosa were Prisoners of War, captured by the Nazi Germans in September 1943. They were screened for pro-Fascist or anti-Allied sentiment. The other 80 percent were drafted. Training at Münsingen and Heuberg lasted from December 1943 to July 1944. While the Division was designated as a mountain warfare unit, they never received alpine training. The Nazi Germans gave them direction equal to their own divisions. They had a mot of equipment – 1,000 MG-42 machine guns; obsolete Italian field guns and howitzers; 87 millimeter (3 inch) Panzerabwehrkanone 40 anti-tank guns, the only modern artillery; Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust antitank weapons; 32 millimeter (.78 caliber) antiaircraft guns; 2 dozen flamethrowers; 6 armored cars. The division arrived in Italy in July 1944 and was attached to the Liguria Army. Initially, they were used in static and anti-partisan activities. Despised by Italian civilians and partisans, the Nazi Germans mistrusted the Monterosa Division and failed to supply them. Reprisals by partisans and the Monterosa Division became commonplace and viscious. Desertions, common in the bitter fighting in Italy across Allied and Axis forces, rose quickly. Some elements of the Monterosa Division would stay on garrison on the Gothic Line for the rest of World War II. Nearly half of the Monterosa Division arrived at the Garfagnana front in December 1944 and formed the “Fretter-Pico Group” with the German 148th Infantry Division. It successfully took part in Operation Wintergewitter, while the other half of the Division continued its garrison duties. This small offensive, the last successful large Axis operation in Italy, the German assault column entered Pian di Coreglia. Some patrols went forward as far as the relatively distant village of Calavorno. They reported the enemy continues in full retreat. Recriminations among the United States Army 92nd Infantry Division included incorrect assumptions about the morale of the Quarto Divisione Alpina Monterosa. On February 6, 1945, United States Army Air Force pilot 2nd Lieutenant Alfred R. Lyth (September 24, 1922 – February 8, 1945) was shot down during a ground strafing run over Torrite. Captured by Monterosa Division soldiers, he was shot after interrogation outside their headquarters in Camporgiano. Captain Italo Simonitti (1909 – January 27, 1947) ordered Private Benedetto Pilon (???? – ????) to shoot Lyth. As his trial, Pion stated, “Lyth was taken at night from German intelligence headquarters to a cemetery near Scamporgiano. We made him walk ahead and after some indecision as to who should do the shooting. I shot him at a signal from Captain Simonitti. I did this because I saw to what these people had reduced my country.” Simonitti then shot Lyth 2 more times himself. Carloni was also indicated as Commanding Officer of the Monterosa Division; but he was acquitted. Pion was declared a political prisoner in 1951 by an Italian judge and freed, creating outrage in the United States. At the end of fighting in Italy in April 1945, partisans often murdered surrendering Monterosa Division ufficiale and soldati. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0667.jpg |
| Image Size | 474.10 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2456 x 1581 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 15, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Münsingen |
| State or Province | Baden-Württemberg |
| Country | Germany |
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| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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