213th Coastal Division (Italy)


The 213th Coastal Division was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. 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.

History

The division was activated on 15 November 1941 in Catania and assigned to XVI Army Corps, which was responsible for the defense of the eastern half of the island of Sicily. The division was responsible for the coastal defense of the coast between Punta Castelluccio in Agnone Bagni and Moleti south of Messina. The division fought against units of the British Eighth Army after the allies landed on Sicily on 10 July 1943. By 15 July 1943 the division had been severely decimated and was therefore officially declared lost due to wartime events.

Organization July 1943

213th Coastal Division
  • * 135th Coastal Regiment
  • ** CII Coastal Battalion
  • ** LXVI Replacements Battalion
  • ** CCCLXIX Coastal Battalion
  • ** CCCLXXII Coastal Battalion
  • * 140th Coastal Regiment
  • ** CCXXVIII Replacements Battalion
  • ** CCCLXXIII Coastal Battalion
  • * 21st Coastal Artillery Regiment
  • ** XXX Coastal Artillery Group
  • ** CXLIV Coastal Artillery Group
  • ** CCXXX Coastal Artillery Group
  • * 553rd Machine Gun Company
  • * 554th Machine Gun Company
  • * 135th Mixed Engineer Platoon
  • * 213th Carabinieri Section
  • * 166th Field Post Office
  • * Division Services
Attached to the division:

Commanding officers

The division's commanding officers were: