Christmas Battle (1941)

Christmas Battle (1941)
Part of Eastern Front of World War II

Giovanni Messe inspecting his troops in Russia
Date25 December 1941 – 28 December 1941
Location
Petrykivka, Soviet Union
Result Italian victory[1]
Belligerents
Supported by:
 Germany
Supported by:
 United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of Italy Giovanni Messe Soviet Union Unknown
Strength
  • 3 divisions
    • 3rd Cavalry Division
    • 9th Infantry Division
    • 52nd Infantry Division
 1 rifle division
2 cavalry divisions
at least 128 tanks
Casualties and losses
2,000+ Russians dead, 1,200 captured and 24 artillery pieces captured[2]

The Christmas Battle[3] (Italian: La battaglia di natale) was fought between forces of the Soviet Red Army and the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia from 25 December to 28 December, 1941.

Battle

On Christmas Day 1941, Soviet forces attacked the Italian Celere Cavalry Division with the 35th and 68th Cavalry Divisions and the 136th Rifle Division.[4] The Italians, later supported by parts of the Torino and Pasubio infantry divisions, managed to hold their lines despite being outnumbered. By December 27, a counterattack by Italian and German troops regained all lost ground. The battle ended with about 168 Italians killed and 207 missing, while Soviet losses were over 2,000 dead and 1,200 captured, along with many guns and vehicles. The Italian success was helped by good coordination between infantry and artillery, and the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment played a key role in both defense and counterattack.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ Bastian Matteo Scianna, "The Italian War on the Eastern Front", September 2019, p. 111.
  2. ↑ Bastian Matteo Scianna, "The Italian War on the Eastern Front", September 2019, p. 111.
  3. ↑ Scianna, Bastian Matteo (2019-09-09). The Italian War on the Eastern Front, 1941–1943: Operations, Myths and Memories. Springer Nature. p. 111. ISBN 978-3-030-26524-3.
  4. ↑ RAM, Prof (2014-08-27). UNTIL WHEN, MY DEAR GOD, UNTIL WHEN!. Dorrance Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4809-1059-1.
  5. ↑ Garson, Paul (2020-05-30). Bersaglieri: The Devil's Griffins-A Visual History of Italy's Elite Plumed Warriors. Fonthill Media. p. 155.
  6. ↑ Knott, Richard (2015-08-03). The Trio: Three War Correspondents of World War Two. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6565-1.
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