207th Coastal Division (Italy)

The 207th Coastal Division (Italian: 207ª Divisione Costiera) was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II.[1] Royal Italian Army coastal divisions were second line divisions formed with reservists and equipped with second rate materiel. Recruited locally, they were often commanded by officers called out of retirement.[2]

207th Coastal Division
Active1941 – 1943
Country Kingdom of Italy
Branch Royal Italian Army
SizeDivision
Garrison/HQAgrigento
EngagementsWorld War II
Insignia
Identification
symbol
207th Coastal Division gorget patches

History

The division was activated on 15 November 1941 in Palermo by reorganizing the VII Coastal Sector Command.[3] The division was assigned to XII Army Corps, which was responsible for the defense of the western half of the island of Sicily.[1] In January 1942 the division moved its headquarter to Agrigento. The division was responsible for the coastal defense of the coast between Sciacca and Punta Due Rocche to the East of Licata.[4]

The division fought against units of the American Seventh Army after the allies landed on Sicily on 10 July 1943. By 16 July 1943 the division had been severely decimated and was therefore officially declared lost due to wartime events.[4]

Organization
  • 207th Coastal Division, in Agrigento[4][1]
    • 138th Coastal Regiment
      • CCCLXXX Coastal Battalion
      • CCCLXXXVIII Coastal Battalion
      • CDXV Coastal Battalion
      • CDXVII Coastal Battalion
      • CDXX Coastal Battalion
    • 139th Coastal Regiment, in Licata
      • LXII Replacements Battalion
      • CDXIX Coastal Battalion
      • CCCXC Coastal Battalion
    • 12th Coastal Artillery Regiment
      • XXXV Coastal Artillery Group (3x 105/28 and 1x 75/27 batteries)
      • CXLV Coastal Artillery Group (2x 105/28 and 1x 75/34 batteries)
      • CLX Coastal Artillery Group (2x 149/35 and 1x 105mm/27 batteries)
      • CCXXIII Coastal Artillery Group (2x 100/22 batteries)
    • CIX Machine Gun Battalion
      • 510th Machine Gun Company
      • 516th Machine Gun Company
    • 207th Carabinieri Section
    • 164th Field Post Office
    • Division Services

Attached to the division:[1]

Commanding officers

The division's commanding officers were:[1]

References
  1. Bollettino dell'Archivio dell'Ufficio Storico N.II-3 e 4 2002. Rome: Ministero della Difesa - Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito - Ufficio Storico. 2002. p. 202. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  2. Jowett p 6
  3. Circolare n. 19440 del 22/10/1941 dello S.M.R.E. Uff. Ordinamento - 2a Sezione. "Cronistoria dei reparti costieri". Regio Esercito. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  4. "207a Divisione Costiera". Regio Esercito. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  5. "Treni Armati della Marina". Italian Navy. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  • Paoletti, Ciro (2008). A Military History of Italy. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-98505-9.
  • Jowett, Philip S. (2000). The Italian Army 1940-45 (1): Europe 1940-1943. Osprey, Oxford - New York. ISBN 978-1-85532-864-8.


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