208th Coastal Division (Italy)

The 208th Coastal Division (Italian: 208ª 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]

208th Coastal Division
Active1941 – 1943
Country Kingdom of Italy
Branch Royal Italian Army
SizeDivision
EngagementsWorld War II
Insignia
Identification
symbol
208th Coastal Division gorget patches

History

The division was activated on 15 November 1941 in Palermo by reorganizing the VIII 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] The division was responsible for the coastal defense of the coast between, but excluding the cities of Palermo and Trapani.[4]

The division fought against units of the American Seventh Army after the allies landed on Sicily on 10 July 1943. By 21 July 1943 the division had been severely decimated and was therefore officially declared lost due to wartime events.[4]

In July 1943 the 208th division was commanded by General Giovanni Marciani, who doubled as commander of Coastal Troops Command of XII Army Corps.

Organization
  • 208th Coastal Division[1][4]
    • 133rd Coastal Regiment
      • LXI Replacements Battalion
      • CCXLIV Coastal Battalion
      • CDXXIII Coastal Battalion
      • CDXCVIII Coastal Battalion
    • 136th Coastal Regiment (became an autonomous unit responsible for the coast between Palermo and Santo Stefano di Camastra in July 1943)
      • CCCLXXX Coastal Battalion
      • CCCLXXXII Coastal Battalion
      • CDXIII Coastal Battalion
    • 147th Coastal Regiment (joined the division in July 1943)
      • CCCLXXVIII Coastal Battalion
      • CDXXXVIII Coastal Battalion
      • DXXXIX Coastal Battalion
    • 28th Coastal Artillery Regiment
      • XIX Coastal Artillery Group (105/28 howitzers)
      • CXXIV Coastal Artillery Group (75/27 field guns)
      • CCXV Coastal Artillery Group (100/22 howitzers)
      • XLI Coastal Artillery Group (75/27 field guns and 105/28 howitzers; transferred to the XXIX Coastal Brigade - Harbor Defense Command "N")
    • CV Machine Gun Battalion
      • 518th Machine Gun Company
      • 519th Machine Gun Company
      • 618th Machine Gun Company
      • 619th Machine Gun Company
    • 133rd Mixed Engineer Platoon
    • 208th Carabinieri Section
    • 165th 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. 364. 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. "208a 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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