The Italian Liberation Corps (Italian: Corpo Italiano di Liberazione (CIL)) was a corps of the Italian Co-belligerent Army during the Italian campaign of World War II. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the Italian government began the formation of units to fight on the allied side against Germany. On 18 April 1944 the Italian Liberation Corps was formed, which after an intense cycle of combat operations was disbanded on 24 September 1944 to form division-sized combat groups.[1]
History
Constitution
Prince Umberto inspecting a Guard of Honour during his visit to the Italian Liberation Corps in Sparanise, May 1944
On 13 October 1943 Italy declared war on Germany and the Italian government began with the formation of military units to fight on the allied side. The first large unit to be raised was the brigade-sized I Motorized Grouping activated on 27 November 1943 in San Pietro Vernotico near Brindisi with units and personnel of the 58th Infantry Division "Legnano" and 18th Infantry Division "Messina".[2][3]
On 18 April 1944 the I Motorized Grouping was expanded to division-size and renamed Italian Liberation Corps. With the arrival of the 184th Infantry Division "Nembo" from Sardinia on 26 May 1944 did the Italian Liberation Corps reach corps-size. On 27 May 1944 the corps was assigned to the Polish II Corps and in July 1944 it participated in the Battle of Ancona.[3][1]
On 24 September 1944 the corps was disbanded its units and personnel used to form the combat groups "Folgore" and "Legnano".[4][5]
Organization
The Italian Liberation Corps organization from 26 May until 24 September 1944 was:[1]
