166a Legione in Ethiopia 1936 - Which Division?

[JAMPETDEL]

Hello all,

My Nonno served in Ethiopia and I have his MVSN ID book the 'Carta Di Riconoscimento'. It says he was in, what appears to read 'Legione 166a'

I have been unable to determine which CC.NN Division this Legion was a part of.

Hoping somebody may be able to assist!

Many thanks in advance.

 

[diciassette2000]

The majority of the CCNN battalions in East Africa were not undivisional but were generally held as sector reserves. The 166th battalion which was a battalion mobilised by the 4th AOI Legion always remained at the disposal of the Amara Troop Command then Northern Exchequer. It always remained in that area until the Amhara Defensive System was attacked by British and Ethiopian troops. It was then positioned at Azozò in the Magash Sector which it defended from November 1941 until its fall.
All the best
Maurizio

 

[JAMPETDEL]

Thank you so much for the information Maurizio! Greatly appreciated. It gives me a new direction to research. I should've also mentioned I believe his service was limited to 1935 - 1939. (He then migrated to Australia and avoided internment during WW2 - strange for a Camicia Nera!) Are there any good resources for MVSN/Blackshirts you can recommend? (I do have Guido Rosignoli's MVSN Book and the Soldati D'Africa series.)

Grazie Mille!

 

[diciassette2000]

Unfortunately if your grandfather's service was limited to the pre-war period, things get even more complicated because texts on the Militia during the war period are rare for the obvious reasons that in Italy the word Camicia Nera after the war had become synonymous with convinced fascist and therefore few texts talked about it. If we then refer to the colonial period, as far as I know there are even fewer. However, I have already consulted three of those texts and unfortunately they do not mention any of the battalions formed in AOI in that period and even the most exhaustive text on the subject speaks about it in a weak manner. However, that text is Storia delle unità combattenti della MVSN-Lucas De Vecchi -EDizioni Volpe-Roma - 1976. Unfortunately it is a rare text to find because it has been out of print for some time. Another book that could help you is Marte in Orbace-Ilari-Sema-Editore Nuove Ricerche-1988
All the best
Maurizio

 

[JAMPETDEL]

Unfortunately if your grandfather's service was limited to the pre-war period, things get even more complicated because texts on the Militia during the war period are rare for the obvious reasons that in Italy the word Camicia Nera after the war had become synonymous with convinced fascist and therefore few texts talked about it. If we then refer to the colonial period, as far as I know there are even fewer. However, I have already consulted three of those texts and unfortunately they do not mention any of the battalions formed in AOI in that period and even the most exhaustive text on the subject speaks about it in a weak manner. However, that text is Storia delle unità combattenti della MVSN-Lucas De Vecchi -EDizioni Volpe-Roma - 1976. Unfortunately it is a rare text to find because it has been out of print for some time. Another book that could help you is Marte in Orbace-Ilari-Sema-Editore Nuove Ricerche-1988
All the best
Maurizio

That's fantastic Maurizio thank you! That makes perfect sense. I wrote a letter to the Italian Ministry of Defence seeking information also and they did not have anything. I will track down those books you recommended. Thanks again!