XXXII Sappers Battalion

On 1 December 1940 the Royal Italian Army Sappers School in Civitavecchia formed the 3rd Sappers Company "Folgore" ("Thunderbolt") and the 4th Sappers Company "Uragano" ("Hurricane"). At the same time the school also trained the personnel, which would go on to form the VIII, XXX, and XXXI sappers battalions. On 14 January 1941 the two companies were sent to Libya, where they formed a provisional battalion under the 1st Special Engineer Grouping. As part of Rommel's Afrika Korps the battalion participated in Rommel's first offensive Operation Sonnenblume. On 15 August 1941, congruent to the activation of Panzer Army Africa, the battalion was renamed XXXII Sappers Battalion and participated in all battles of the Western Desert Campaign until the battalion was disbanded on 1 August 1942 after having suffered heavy casualties during the First Battle of El Alamein. The 70 survivors of the battalion were transferred to the XXXI Sappers Battalion, which was attached to the 185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" for the Second Battle of El Alamein. After the defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein the XXXI Sappers Battalion retreated with the rest of the Italian-German forces to Tunisia, where it surrendered at the end of the Tunisian Campaign on 13 May 1943.^[4][1] For its service in North Africa the XXXII Sappers Battalion was awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valor.^[2]

XXX Sappers Battalion

The XXX Sappers Battalion command was activated on 15 March 1941 by the depot of the 4th Engineer Regiment in Verona with the 5th Sappers Company "Tormenta" ("Blizzard"), 6th Sappers Company "Teste Dure" ("Hard Skulls"), and 9th Sappers Company "Valanga" ("Avalanche"), which had all been formed earlier by the Sappers School in Civitavecchia. At the time of the battalion's founding the three companies were fighting in the Greco-Italian War and the headquarters quickly travelled to Albania to take command of the companies. After the German invasion of Greece and the Greek surrender the battalion returned to Italy and was garrisoned in Ronchi dei Legionari. During this time the 6th Sappers Company was transferred to the 80th Airlanding Division "La Spezia" and the 5th Sappers Company changed its number to 6th.^[5]

On 17 March 1942 the battalion was assigned to support the Alpini of the Alpine Army Corps of the 8th Italian Army, which was sent to the Eastern Front. The battalion left Italy on 21 July 1942 and arrived in Voroshilovgrad in early September 1942 and entered soon after the front on the Don river. The battalion retreated with the Alpine Corps after Soviet forces had broken through the front on both flanks of the Italian 8th Army in Operation Little Saturn. The retreat through the frozen steppe and constant skirmishes with Soviet forces decimated the XXX Sappers Battalion, which barely escaped annihilation during the Battle of Nikolayevka. Of the 23 officers, 30 non-commissioned officers and 427 enlisted present on 1 January 1943 only 121 survived the retreat from the Don and the Battle of Nikolayevka. The battalion was disbanded in late January for the losses it had suffered and in 1988 the XXX Sappers Battalion was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor for its conduct in Ukraine and Russia.^[2][5]