Episode 186 - The Italian Army

It's finally time to take a hard look at the fighting forces of one of the major players in our story. And since this is a new kind of episode for me, I'm happy that I'm taking the baby step of talking about one of the smaller examples. Italy gets maligned a lot during this period, and there are good reasons for this, but today I not only want to cover how its army worked, but also where these deficiencies came from.    Bibliography for this episode:  Gooch, John Mussolini and His Generals Cambridge University Press, 2007 Battistelli, Pier Paolo Mussolini's Army at War Agrafe Books 2021 US Military Intelligence Service Handbook on the Italian Military Forces The Naval and Military Press Ltd 1943 Bishop, Chris The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II Barnes & Noble Inc 1998 Cappellano, F and PP Battistelli Italian Light Tanks 1919-45 Osprey Publishing Ltd 2012 Cappellano, F and PP Battistelli Italian Medium Tanks 1939-45 Osprey Publishing Ltd 2012 Pignato, Nicola Italian Medium Tanks in Action Squadron/Signal Publications 2001   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]