Queries for anyone knowledgeable!
(1) Milmart Legions were part of the Blackshirts; how were the Milmart Legions organised as part of MVSN?
(2) In 1943 the Italian troops at Augusta-Syracuse included a battalion of sailors and an air force battalion. How would these have been organised or were they just adhoc local formations?
OOOPHHSSS.....Hammurabi sorry but in a hurry I posted the answer describing the MACA...now I'll post the right one about the MIlmart....thanks
Milmart
The Coastal Defense Militia was born on 21 January 1935, from the Dicat soldiers who supplied personnel to the coastal defense batteries of the Royal Navy. The first denomination obtained for the newly formed specialty was Militia for coastal defense, (M. da Cos.). M. from Cos. it depended on the General Inspectorate M.Di.CAT . and from Cos. and included two Legions and two Cohorts. From (year) the General Inspectorate assumed the name of M.Di.CAT Command . and from Cos. From 1939 the name of the specialty was changed again, from M. da Cos. in MILMART, or Maritime Artillery Militia. The command on which it depended also took on the new name of Anti-aircraft and maritime artillery command. Heir to the traditions and tasks of the old Coast Artillery, it had replaced its specialty and absorbed the service, freeing the Army. Milmart was particularly entrusted with the land defense of maritime military strongholds including naval bases. organized into 10 Legions, with officers and volunteer troops recruited with the same criteria as those belonging to the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Militia, the Milmart absorbed over 25,000 men for the 1940/1943 war.
Coastal defense.
There were many CC.NN battalions. who, before or after being used in combat on the various fronts (France, Albania, Yugoslavia and Russia) provided surveillance and defense organization services on the Italian coasts. And this began even before Italy's entry into the war, since the time of non-belligerence.
The fighting battalions we report here certainly served in various periods and in different coastal areas:
Btg . CC.NN. | Dislocation area |
XXX (Novara) | Cesarano area (Lecce) |
XIV (Bergamo) and XV (Brescia) | in the Nicastro area |
XXXIV (Savona) and XXXVIII (Asti) | S. Marinella area, Palo, Ostia |
IX (Sondrio) and X (Voghera) | Calabrian area |
CLV (Matera) | peninsula Salento |
XXXIII (Imperia), XXXVI (Genoa), XXXV (La Spezia), LX (Pula) | ?? |
VI (Vigevano), XLIX (Venice), LVIII (Trieste), LXI (Rijeka) | ?? |
XLI (Trent) | in Calabria with the «Pistoia» division |
LXII (Gorizia) | in Spezzano Calabrian |
LXXVI ( Copparo ) | ?? |
LXXI (Faenza), LXXXI (Ravenna), XC (Pisa), LXXXV (Apuania) | ?? |
LXXXVIII (Livorno), XCVIII (Grosseto), CLI (Bari), CVIII (Ancona) | ?? |
CM (Pesaro), CXVII (Civitavecchia), CXL (Salerno), CXXIX (Pescara) | ?? |
CXXXVIII (Naples), CXLV (Castellamare di Stabia), CL (Barletta) | ?? |
CLIII (Brindisi), CLIV (Taranto), CLXIV (Catanzaro), CLXIII (Reggio Calabria) | ?? |
CXLVI ( Consilina Room )2 | ?? |
1) after the Greek campaign and before going to Russia.
2) this Btg . CC.NN. it was transformed into a cycling battalion in May-June 1943, under the «Piceno» Division, and was destined, together with a battery of the 152nd divisional Artillery Regiment, for the mobile defense of the S. Pancrazio Salentino airport . He had previously served in the 210 8th Coastal Division, in the Nardò area (Lecce).
It should be noted that of these battalions, some had been reconstituted because they had been lost with the CC.NN Divisions. in the period November 1940 - February 1941 in Libya. From the same depot legions, in the same recruitment areas, new volunteers rushed to train them and offered to replace their brothers who had fallen or remained prisoners. Of the 24 battalions lost in Libya, 10 were reconstituted: LXXI (Faenza), LXXXI (Ravenna), CII (Perugia), sent with the 108th Legion to Albania, CXLIII (Benevento), destined to form the 90th Legion ), CL (Barletta), CLIV (Taranto), CXXIX (Pescara), CXXXVIII (Naples), CXL (Salerno, CXLV (Castellamare di Stabia). The above regarding the use of fighting battalions for coastal defense purposes. For this use specifically, another 81 CC.NN Coastal battalions were created. These battalions were made up of the Legions which once again functioned as a depot and had the same numbering as the Legion that formed them increased by three hundred (for example the 1st and 2nd Legions ) . Turin constituted the 301st and 302nd coastal battalions respectively) . to carry out garrison, bridge guard and garrison services within the national territory. Like the previous ones, these departments also took on the number of the Legion that formed them, increased by three hundred. With more modest tasks, 23 coastal centuries of CC.NN were also established.
The order of MILMART in 1939 was as follows:
Legion Commands | Site |
1 MILMART Legion | Venice |
2 MILMART Legion | Spice |
3 MILMART Legion | The Magdalene |
4 MILMART Legion | Cagliari |
5 MILMART Legion | Taranto |
6 MILMART Legion | Messina |
7 MILMART Legion | Augusta |
8 MILMART Legion | Trapani |
9 MILMART Legion | Pantelleria |
14 MILMART Legion | Reggio Calabria |
Groups autonomous :
Site |
Syracuse |
Tripoli |
Asmara |
Mogadishu |
CENTURIES OF COASTAL DEFENSE
Given the impossibility of defending Sicily only with the 6th, 7th and 8th MILMART Legion (the 9th MILMART Legion was in Pantelleria), 23 special Centurie CC.NN were created by the Sicilian Legions.
Legion Commands | Site | Centuries |
166 Legion | Messina | 50 , 51y , 52 , 53 , 54y , 55 |
168 Legion | Ragusa | 58th , 59th |
159 Legion | Syracuse | 60 , 63 |
170 Legion | Agrigento | 67 , 68 |
172 Legion | Enna | 72nd , 73rd , 74th |
173 Legion | Caltanissetta | 75 |
174 Legion | Trapani | 76 , 77 , 78 , 79y , 80y , 81y , 82y |