The governmental seat and military headquarters for Libya was located at Tripoli. The colony was governed by a Governor who was also commander of the ground, land, and sea forces of the colony. A vice-Governor was located in Benghazi.
From Libya an Italian Army could invade Egypt and secure the Suez Canal. This could have threatened the British position in the Middle East, Sudan, the Eastern Mediterranean and a pathway to India. Italians could have then proceeded to dominate the Red Sea, secure her lines of communication with Italian East Africa, and force the British Navy to abandon the Eastern Mediterranean. This would be the ultimate strategic goal of Fascist Italy, the strategic theater commander Marshal Graziani, and later, after the initial Italian defeat, General Irwin Rommel, commander of Panzer Army Africa.
The Libyan Desert can be divided into two zones, the inner and outer zone. The outer desert consists of an inverted "L" of land, which stretches southward up the West Bank of the Nile River and westward along the Mediterranean coast. Across the northern portion of this "L" is the inner desert which is the coastal portion of Libya. This northern zone of the desert is where most of the fighting would take placing from 1940-1943. The most significant feature of this battlefield was that troops, equipment, supplies, and water had to be brought vast distances to where they were to be employed.
The western province of Libya, Tripolitania, is bounded on the west by Tunisia and southern Algeria and extends south to the 29th parallel. It is bounded on the east by Sirte. Tripoli was the major military base for the Army and was also the major port and base for the entire colony of Libya and a vital link to sustain the forces of the empire.
The area between Tripolitania and Cyrenaica was known as Sirte. It was located to the east of the town of Misurata in Tripolitania. The Sirte is a vast desert region, which separated the two Italian colonies from each other, forming a natural obstacle between the two provinces in Libya. Throughout the course of the campaigns in the desert, Sirte would be a natural obstacle and a location for the Axis forces to regroup and re-consolidate.
The eastern province of Libya, Cyrenaica, was bordered in the east by Egypt and in the west by Tripolitania. The main town and port was Benghazi. It contained the headquarters of the naval, army, and air force units stationed in Cyrenaica, as well as the local Fascist and government organizations. The area of Cyrenaica from the Gulf of Bomba east to the Egyptian border was called Marmarica. This area was extremely poor and devoid of water and trees. The most important center was the harbor town and naval base of Tobruk. The harbor gave excellent protection and was suitable for cruisers, light naval forces, submarines, merchant ships, and light craft. Tobruk was a fortified city with extensive fortifications constructed to protect it from a seaward or land attack and would play a dominant role as a military center in the campaigns in the western desert. It was an ideal strategic location for supplying and supporting an army in the desert.
The easternmost settlement of Cyrenaica was the harbor town of Bardia. It was the most eastern settlement in Libya and closest to Egypt. Bardia would be the forward logistical and command control center for the Italian Army during the invasion of Egypt in September 1940. To the south of Bardia, a number of oases stretched into the Sahara desert along the Egyptian border. These oases were Gialo, Garabub, and Cufra. They all had military garrisons and forts, constructed to protect these important sites in the otherwise waterless Sahara desert. These garrison posts helped protect the long border between Egypt and Libya and could assist in any defensive or offensive operations.
The "frontier wire" was established in the Second Senussi War. It was designed to stop the traffic of supplies and tribesmen between Libya and Egypt. The fence, itself, consisted of iron pickets ten centimeters in diameter set on concrete bases of 30 centimeters square. Italian outposts and mobile patrols performed surveillance on the wire and then reacted to any attempted penetrations. Three main forts and six smaller forts guarded the length of the wire. The three large forts were located at Amseat, Scegga, and Giarabub. The six smaller forts were located at Ramleh, Sidi Ornar, Sceferzen, Vescechet, Garnul Grein, and El Aamara. They were "Beau Geste" type forts, armed with modem weapons.
In 1939 there were 11,064 kilometers of road within the colony. The coastal road was known as the Litoranea Libica. This hard-surfaced road stretched the length of the colony for a distance of 1,822 kilometers. The road was 4.8 meters wide and could take loads up to 10 tons. It was completed in 1937 and was widely known as the Via Balbia.
From http://www.theegyptianchronicles.com/
Setting the stage
When Benito Mussolini did declare war on 10 June 1940 he did so understanding the strategic implications of this act. He intended to have Italy in a grand strategic position of power from a short duration war with Great Britain and France. From this position of power he could talk with strength at the peace tables to gain concessions from the defeated enemies. Fascist Italy had the resources and material to impact one strategic goal if they committed their main effort to achieving this goal. This was due to the limited resources and material at her disposal and her dependence on critical imports to fuel her industry. Libya was one place where Italy could attain significant gains.
The Italian Army in North Africa consisted of two distinct armies under one overall command structure. The two Italian armies in Libya were the 5th and 10th Italian Armies. The 5th Italian Army was oriented toward the French colony of Tunisia centered on Tripoli. The 10th Italian Army was orientated against the British in Egypt centered on the towns of Tobruk and Bardia. Originally at the outset of the war the Italian forces were almost equally divided between the two armies. The 5th Army had three corps consisting of eight divisions. The 10th Army had three corps consisting of six divisions. The strength of these armies was rather impressive when one looks at the numbers of material, resources and personnel at their disposal.
On 10 June 1940 there was 221,530 Italian and native troops in Libya. These troops were organized into 14 infantry divisions and numerous smaller formations and were armed with 339 armored vehicles, 306 aircraft of all types, 1427 artillery pieces and 8039 motor vehicles. This Italian force was in a position, but not with overwhelming force, to strike either to the west against French North Africa or east against the British in Egypt. The Italian Army in North Africa consisted primarily of non-motorized infantry divisions but had the ability and resources to fully motorize some of their formations and combine them with the existing armor in the theater of operations to form a motorized force centered on the armor available to them.
The Divisions consisted of three distinct types: the regular Italian Army formations; Blackshirt (Camicie Nere) formations; and Libyan formations. The basic structure of each division was the same, but equipment, training, and readiness was different in each type of formation.
The Italian regular infantry divisions represented the professional and regular military establishment, which set
the standard for all other Italian military organizations.
All infantry divisions were to be based on a binary design. This means that each division would have two regiments instead of the typical three-regiment structure found in most European armies of the period. The change from going from a ternary to a binary division structured affected a critical area for the Italian divisions and that was logistical support. The support services in binary divisions were reduced and the non-motorized divisions had to rely on road networks and horses for sustainable operations.
The Regular Italian Army formations were the most numerous in Libya. There were nine Italian Infantry divisions in Libya on 10 June 1940. The 5th Italian Army had six of these divisions: the 17th Pavia, 25th Bologna, 27th Brescia, 55th Savona, 60th Sabratha, and 61st Sirte, in two separate corps, the XX, and X. The Italian 10th Army had three of these divisions, 62nd Marmarica, 63rd Cirene, and 64th Catanzaro in two separate corps, the XXI and XXII. The training level and readiness of the Italian army divisions was not equal across the scope and depth of the formations. The divisions in the Italian 10th Army were the most recently formed and lack the necessary depth in training.
The Blackshirt (Camicie Nere) Infantry Divisions contributed three divisions to the Italian order of battle in North Africa. The Camicie Nere (CCNN) was composed of Fascist volunteers and was originally the militia for the Italian Fascist Party and the North Africa campaign would see the largest independent CCNN formations employed during the entire war. The CCNN division of World War II had two legions. The legion was the basic unit of the CCNN, corresponding to the army's regiment and was based on a triad organization of three cohorts, each cohort divided into three centuries, the century into three maniples, each formed by three squads.
In 1939 four new infantry divisions were formed for service in North Africa to replace the Blackshirt divisions that were used during the Ethiopia campaign. They were named 'Libyan' Blackshirt Divisions". The training readiness of the Blackshirt formations was not on par with the regular Italian formations in North Africa due to being recently formed.
The four Libyan CCNN divisions that were deployed to North Africa had the names 23 Marzo, 28 Ottobre, 21 Aprile, and 3 Gennaio, named after famous dates in Fascist history. The divisions were mobilized in September 1939, and they were immediately sent to Libya and were incorporated into two Army Corps upon arriving, the XXII CCNN Corps and the XXIII CCNN Corps. The XXII Corps was assigned to the 10th Army and had one regular Army division and one Blackshirt division. The XXIII Army Corps assigned to the 5th Army had two Blackshirt divisions.
In May 1940 the 21 April Libyan CCNN division was disbanded and its Blackshirt personnel were used to strengthen the other three Blackshirt divisions. This was due to the fact that they were not manned to their full strength for personnel. The army personnel (which made up most of the supporting services) were used to help form the 64th Catanzaro Infantry division for the same reasons. This reorganization started in May 1940 was not yet finished as of June 1940.
From this reorganization only one battalion survived from the 21 Aprile Libyan CCNN division. This battalion was the 81st CCNN and it was absorbed into the 3 Gennaio CCNN division. The 154th CCNN battalion was disbanded and replaced by the 81st CCNN battalion. So the structure remained the same for the three remaning CCNN Blackshirt divisions in North Africa. Due to the reorganizations and lack of training these formations were not the best Italian formations in Libya.
Additional CCNN formations were raised from within the colony of Libya itself.·These formations were independent town or city legions. Four Black Shirts battalions were raised from the legions of the towns of Tripoli (1st CCNN battalion), Misratah (2nd CCNN battalion), Benghazi (3rd CCNN battalion) and Dema (4th CCNN battalion). The individual town legions were not well trained or organized. From these town legions an outstanding volunteer battalion would be formed in late 1940 to serve in the defense of Tobruk, the Volontari Della Libia. It fought well during the fall of Tobruk in January 1941 and was captured at the surrender of the port city. Even though these formations were not the best Italian formations in Libya, CCNN formations would play a major role in the initial Italian invasion into Egypt.
In addition to the ethnic Italian forces, there were Libyan forces in the Italian order of battle. On the first of March 1940 the 1st and 2nd Libyan Divisions were formed. These Libyan Infantry divisions were organized along the lines of the binary Italian infantry division. The 5th Italian Army received the 2nd Libyan Infantry division which it incorporated into the XXIII corps. The Italian 10th Army received the 1st Libyan Infantry Division which it incorporated into the reserve.
The Italian Libyan infantry divisions were colonial formations with native troops from the coastal Libyan populations. In addition to the traditional infantry formations the Libyans would form other special purpose units. In June 1940, the Libyan Parachute regiment consisted of two airborne battalions.
A number of independent Libyan coastal formations were raised for coastal and city defense of the colony. The combat value of these forces to maneuver warfare was limited as they were designed for positional warfare. These Italian Libyan formations would play a major role in the initial Italian invasion into Egypt. Most notable were the motorized Raggruppamento. Maletti’s Raggruppamento was formed on 8 July 1940 in the city of Dema in Libya. This was the primary motorized formation available to the Italian 10th Army. It had motorized infantry battalions and an armor element when initially formed. The motorized infantry battalions consisted of seven Libyan battalions. The armor element consisted of one Medium Tank Company, M.11 tanks, and one light tank, L.3, company. The supporting services consisted of motorized artillery and logistics. The armored element would later be raised to a medium armored battalion, solely comprising M.11 tanks. This in a sense was the first true combined arms formation among the Italian forces in North Africa.
The Italian Army in North Africa had 6 light armored battalions and numerous companies available to it in June of 1940. These forces were assigned to the corps and divisional level to support the infantry formations. The initial strength in armored forces in Libya consisted of 339 armored vehicles, 322 L.3 tanks and 17 armored cars.
Additional light and medium armored battalions would be introduced into the theater of operations as the campaign continued. These included the first-generation M.11 tank, and the second-generation M.13 tank. These medium tanks would give the Italian army the capability to deal with the British light and medium tank threat they faced.
Italian artillery was to play a major role in the Italian formations in North Africa supporting the maneuver forces both motorized and non-motorized. The Italian artillery did have its own unique problems. The Italians had over 54 different artillery types when the war was declared; most of the Italian artillery was of World War I vintage. Italy had just begun its new rearmament program when war was declared and only limited numbers of new artillery systems were available to the units in the field.
The Guardia alla Frontieri (GAF) were the frontier Guards. At this time it was made responsible for the defense of the frontier districts and fortress locations. These formations were given supporting arms and freedom of independent action. Their primary role was that of a covering force for the main Italian armies in the time of war and protection of the frontiers in peacetime.
The British Armies in the Middle East consisted of only 86,000 soldiers in June of 1940. This command stretched through eight countries and two continents. These forces were spread out between Egypt, Sudan, Aden, British Somalia, Palestine, Cyprus, and Malta. The British forces in Egypt had at their disposal some 50,000 soldiers, and 205 airplanes.
Once war was declared the most pressing danger, which faced the British was the Italian 10th Army on Egypt's western frontier. Facing this threat was only the 7th Armored Division, the newly arrived 4th Indian Division, and one infantry brigade forward at Mersa Matruh. The 7th Armored Division and 4th Indian Division were both in the process of receiving new equipment, and both needed additional training. The 7th Armored Division had been in Egypt since 1935 and was the best-trained formation in the theater but lacked modem tanks. Once it received new tanks it would require time to train on these new systems. The only forces capable of dealing with the initial Italian threat were the British forces forward at Mersa Matruh.
The British force at Mersa Matruh was a motorized force. Its equipment was old and out of date. The armored cars were World War I vintage Rolls-Royces. Its tanks consisted of old Light MK IV tanks. The British forces in Egypt were well trained and because the smaller forces were more mobile than their Italian counterparts, this was their initial advantage at the opening stages of the campaign.
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