Bridge to Nowhere

In July 1941 Mussolini sent the 62,000-strong CSIR (Italian Expeditionary Corps) to the Eastern Front. Its three divisions and attached troops linked up with the Wehrmacht in Romania, where the corps vehicular transport was pooled in order to completely motorize the 9th “Pasubio” Division. This unit, reinforced with …

1941-08-12

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In July 1941 Mussolini sent the 62,000-strong CSIR (Italian Expeditionary Corps) to the Eastern Front. Its three divisions and attached troops linked up with the Wehrmacht in Romania, where the corps vehicular transport was pooled in order to completely motorize the 9th “Pasubio” Division. This unit, reinforced with corps artillery and motorcycle troops, was ordered to advance quickly to the Bug River, then turn south to cut off the Red Army crossing points. In one typical small-unit action during this period, elements of the division’s advance guard had to force a crossing of a small river in order to continue their advance.

Yasnaya Polyana, Ukraine

During World War II, the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, or CSIR) was a corps-sized expeditionary unit of the Regio Esercito (Italian Army) that fought on the Eastern Front. In July 1942 the CSIR entered the newly formed Italian Army in Russia as XXXV Army Corps. The CSIR was formed in an attempt to provide a somewhat mobile unit to fight on a front where mobility was key. Two of the divisions were truck-moveable and one was a celere (fast) division, drawn from the reserve Army of the Po but this was more on paper than in reality. The CSIR was created by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to show solidarity with Nazi Germany after German dictator Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa and attacked the Soviet Union. Mussolini created the CSIR, despite the lack of enthusiasm shown by Hitler, on 10 July 1941 and between July and August 1941, the units of the CSIR arrived in southern Russia. The CSIR included an Aviation Command (Comando Aviazione) with a limited number of fighters, bombers and transport aircraft. This command was part of the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) and was also known as the Expeditionary Air Corps in Russia (Corpo Aereo Spedizione in Russia). The CSIR was initially subordinated to the German 11th Army (General Eugen Ritter von Schobert). On 14 August 1941, the CSIR was transferred to the control of German Panzer Group 1 (General Ewald von Kleist). On 25 October 1941, Panzer Group 1 was renamed the 1st Panzer Army. The CSIR remained under von Kleist's command until 3 June 1942 when it was subordinated to the German 17th Army (General Richard Ruoff).

Italian

Russian

Scenario Type = Standard