Italian Tankettes

As discussed before, Italian armored forces have not fared well in the estimation of most historians, to some extent unjustly so, and none have had to endure more derision than the tankette. These light tanks are almost invariably dismissed as totally useless, nothing more than so many helpless targets for British gunners and downright laughable. More than anything else, however, this only displays the ignorance of the ridiculing party. Far too many fail to understand the background of the tankettes. They insist on seeing them through the narrow vision most have become accustomed to, which is to view any tank as being intended to take on other tanks. This was never intended to be the case with the tankette. They were never intended to be thrown into tank-on-tank combat and were intended for a conflict more like what was seen in the First World War rather than the Second. The first Italian light tanks were developed with the understanding that in the future any conflict would likely be focused on where Italy had fought in the First World War against Austria and would probably be aimed at German forces attempting to dominate Austria or, more probably, against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Even if the conflict was to be against France, the situation would still be similar. It would mean fighting in mountainous areas and so armored units were needed that would be small enough and light enough to navigate narrow mountain roads and bridges.

The aim of the tankettes, from the earliest designs to the CV33/L3 that are probably the most familiar, never involved the idea of fighting other tanks but of supporting attacking infantry. They were intended to eliminate 'trouble spots' that would cause heavy casualties among the infantry such as clearing paths through barbed wire and taking out enemy machine gun nests. Later, they were also intended to replace armored cars in performing reconnaissance. Their primary aim was to help attacking infantry overcome problems that would slow them down or cost lives. They were never intended to take on other armored vehicles and so were thinly armored and armed only with machine guns. It was only because of the extreme necessity that arose in World War II that tankettes were forced to take on duties they were not designed for. In that event, although they were facing a hopeless cause, Italian innovation showed itself to be as strong as ever. Tankettes were often modified in the field to try to make them at least somewhat more effective. Some were modified to carry a mortar which could give suppressing fire or to lay smoke screens. Some were equipped with flame throwers and some, to give them at least a somewhat better chance against armored vehicles, were modified with the addition of a 20mm Solothurn anti-tank rifle. Rather than being dismissed, these vehicles should really be viewed in the proper context and valued for the service they gave against daunting odds.

Early Unsung Success in Africa

Throughout World War II, the royal armed forces of Italy were always at a great disadvantage, fighting with undersupplied armies, outdated weapons and in areas that were rarely given top priority. However, in spite of all these difficulties, the courage and tenacity of the Italian soldiers, sailors and airmen were still able to upset the odds and win stunning victories. However, relatively few people (outside Italy at least) are often aware of these heroic battles. Sometimes they are left out of historical accounts altogether. For example, following the first Italian invasion of Egypt, when the British had broken the Italian forces (many of whom were colonial troops) and sweeping across Egypt most accounts state only that the British held back out of caution or stopped from sheer exhaustion and this allowed time for the arrival of the German Afrika Korps under Erwin Rommel which then saved the day and turned the tide of battle. However, that is not the whole truth. The British were actually pushing on quite aggressively to destroy all that remained of the shattered Italian forces and completely crush the remaining Italian front in Cyrenaica. They did not succeed because of a stunning victory won by a totally outmatched group of Italian soldiers who did nothing less than save the Italian army from total disaster.

M11/39 medium tank

On December 9, 1940 the Italian Tummar posts destroyed fourteen British tanks, buying precious time for colonial forces in the area. When the British attacked with their armored forces, consisting of the heavily armored Matilda tanks, the Italian “Maletti Group” rushed in to stop them with totally outmatched M11/39 tanks dismissed by so many as practically useless. Yet, in spite of their deficiencies these Italian M11/39’s managed to destroy 35 of the 57 British Matildas. It was a spectacular feat of arms and due entirely to the courage and skill of the individual Italian tank crews and commanders.

Later, on January 24, 1941 the former commander of the Sirte Division, General Valentino Babini, rushed into service the newly organized Special Armored Brigade (“Brigata Corazzato Speciale”) which managed the seemingly impossible task of halting the British offensive, if only temporarily. The British were driving forward with an awesome attack force of some 177 tanks and the Italian Special Armored Brigade managed to totally destroy or disable 21 of them; a rather spectacular feat given how vastly outmatched the Italian forces were. The first year of the war had been a terrible one for the Italian forces in north Africa, without question, and yet, thanks to hard fought actions like these, the front in Cyrenaica was saved from total collapse. The 10th Army had been practically destroyed but because of the brave men who made huge sacrifices and stood down vastly superior enemy forces, the remaining troops were able to fall back to safety, reform, reorganize and before the British could achieve total victory the first units of the Afrika Korps had arrived and the initiative in the desert shifted to the Axis powers.

It is amazing what a handful of even outmatched M11 tanks can do with enough skill and courage driving them into battle.

The Longest Serving Armor

Possibly the longest serving tank in the armory of the Kingdom of Italy was the small, rugged Fiat 3000 light tank. It was the first tank model to be made in Italy and was the standard armored fighting vehicle for Italian forces after World War I up until almost the start of World War II. Based on the popular French Renault FT of the First World War, it was always more of a World War I tank than a World War II tank being, essentially, an armored machine gun unit. It began service in the Royal Italian Army in 1921 and served throughout the remaining years of the Kingdom of Italy. The original Fiat 3000 M21 was armed with two 6.5mm machine guns but the later Fiat 3000b of 1930 (or M30) was given a 37mm gun, along with a more powerful engine. It had a top speed of 21 kmh (13mph) and was protected by 6-16mm of armor plating and carried a crew of two; one driver and one gunner. When it was designed and built, it must be kept in mind, there was no intention of such a machine ever engaging another tank but, as had been the case with tanks in World War I, was designed to be an anti-infantry vehicle.

The Fiat 3000 saw extensive service in a variety of terrain. During the war for the pacification of Libya, these tanks were brought in to give Italian forces a clear advantage and they performed quite well. This was actually the first time anyone had used tanks in the deserts of north Africa, though it certainly would not be the last. The Fiat 3000 was also used in the conquest of Ethiopia and they were not the first in the country. Back before Ethiopia took a hostile attitude to the Kingdom of Italy, the Duke of Abruzzi had given a Fiat 3000 to the Ethiopian Empress as a gift. In 1928 supporters of the Empress tried to restore her to power and Emperor Haile Selassie, who had seized control of the country from the Empress, used the Italian tank she had been given against her forces. None were used by the Italian forces in the Spanish Civil War but there may have been one that found its way into the army of the Spanish republican forces Italy and the Spanish nationalists were fighting against. By the time World War II broke out, the Fiat 3000 was very much outdated and no longer fit for front-line service.

In spite of this fact, the material shortages Italy suffered throughout the war meant that some Fiat 3000’s had to be pressed into service again when Italy entered the war. A small number saw service in the rugged terrain of southern Albania and northern Greece, however they would have proven less than useless up against even the earliest models of British tanks that Italy was facing in north Africa at the time. They last saw service in 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily when Italy was so hard-pressed that many antiquated weapons, or any weapons of any sort, were thrown into the line in the desperate fight to stop the invaders. In some ways, the defense of Sicily must have seemed reminiscent of the First World War with the Allies coming ashore to be greeted by Italian troops wearing outdated uniforms including Adrian-style steel helmets such as were worn in World War I and equipped with World War I vintage artillery in some cases as well as a few Fiat 3000 light tanks. It was a hopeless fight and by that time they were hopelessly outdated and outclassed, as everyone knew, but still, some respect should be given to the little Fiat 3000 tanks for putting in so many years of service to Italy.

Italian Tanks

Most historians would probably agree that one of the weakest elements of the Royal Italian military was the armored branch. Because Italian industry lagged behind the other major military powers of Europe and because armored units were expensive to design, produce and maintain, Italian tanks were usually at a great disadvantage in World War II. When Italy joined the conflict, shortages meant that tanks were thrown into combat regardless of how outmatched they would be and often Italian tanks were forced to go up against enemies that had them vastly outmatched. Making matters worse was the fact that, because of a shortage of resources, Italian armor developed very little during the conflict, putting them at an ever greater disadvantage as the armored units of other nations (such as the British) continuously improved based on lessons learned in the field. Probably nowhere was this more obvious than in the fact that many Italian armored units still made use of antiquated tankettes that served little more purpose than providing British tanks more targets. With only thin armor and light weapons even the rather mediocre tanks Britain first fielded could pick them off at will while putting themselves in almost no danger at all.

Yet, as in so many other areas, the weakness of Italian armor has been dwelt upon to such an extent as to become rather exaggerated. There is no denying that, on the whole, the armored branch was a weak point for the Royal Italian armed forces, yet not all were so useless as they are often portrayed. In fact, Italy had some tank designs that were quite capable and effective. Not many people realize that in the celebrated campaigns in North Africa in which the German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel gained such an illustrious reputation, most of the armored vehicles under his command were Italian rather than German. Few would dispute that the German models were superior weapons but Rommel still won a great many victories with an armored fighting force that was predominately made up of Italian vehicles. Obviously, under the right circumstances, Italian armored units could be effective and some Italian tanks were quite capable and deadly. Here we will take a look at a few of the Italian tanks that provided good service during World War II.

Starting out modestly, we have the L3/33 tankette. The original CV-33 had a 2-man crew protected by 12mm of welded armor and wielding a 6.5mm machine gun. Obviously, it was not designed for battle against other armored vehicles, certainly not tanks, but was an infantry-support mini-tank meant to accompany an attacking infantry force to keep the flanks clear or to take out enemy machine-gun nests while breaking up any enemy formations. Over the years the L3/33 was often modified for particular tasks such as the L3/Lf which turned the tankette into basically an armored flamethrower team. It was used in Ethiopia, the Spanish Civil War, France, the East African campaign, North Africa and the Balkans. Although it stood no chance against Allied tanks, it was fairly capable in its intended role as an infantry support vehicle and could also be used for reconnaissance operations.

Next we have the Fiat M13/40 medium tank. This was probably the most widely used Italian tank of the war and was designed to be an improvement on the old M11/39 which proved to be about as useless in armored combat as the CV33 tankette. The M13/40, however, was a fairly capable machine. It had a 4-man crew protected by 30mm riveted steel plate armor on the front, 42mm on the turret front, 25mm on the sides and 6mm on the bottom (so landmines were to be avoided). The armament consisted of a 47mm main gun that was capable of penetrated 45mm of armor at 500m (550 yards) along with 3 to 4 machine guns to deal with enemy infantry. One of the most innovating aspects of the M13/40 was its 125hp V8 diesel engine since, at that time, few other countries had yet to realize the benefits of the diesel engine for armored vehicles. It was capable of taking out virtually any light tank the Allies had as well as the British Cruiser tanks (of which the Crusader was the most prominent). Against more modern medium or heavy tanks it was certainly at a disadvantage but it was capable of dealing with most British armored units it would encounter in North Africa. The most significant problems with the M13/40 was its mechanical unreliability (they were rather prone to break-downs) and the lack of radio equipment in all units other than that of the company command tank which made coordination in battle extremely difficult. Nonetheless, the M13/40 gave dedicated service as the "workhorse" of the Axis armored units on the north African front.

One Italian armored vehicle that proved to be very effective was the Semovente 75/18. A self-propelled gun, it was one of the few new weapon designs that the Italian forces received during the course of the war. Artillery Colonel Sergio Berlese first suggested such a design based on the success of the German StuG III assault gun. Intended as something of a stop-gap measure it provided excellent service when shipped to the front. It had a 3-man crew protected by 50mm of riveted steel plate frontal armor and was armed with a 75mm gun. There were some problems with obtaining sufficient engine power and the original 125hp engine was later replaced with a 145hp design and was capable of a top speed of 32kmh (20mph). It was a very formidable weapon that proved itself well when put into action in North Africa. Unfortunately, the Semovente 75/18 was largely a case of 'too little, too late'. Sufficient numbers were not available to make a major difference on the battlefield where inferior tanks and armored vehicles continued to carry the brunt of the burden in combat because there were simply too few Semovente 75/18 units to go around.

Finally we have the Carro Armato P40 heavy tank which may have been the finest armored fighting vehicle Italy produced during the war. The Semovente 75/18 had been intended to make up for the deficiencies of older tank designs until the P40 was ready for service. It had a 4-man crew protected by 60mm of armor on the front and sides of the turret, 50mm on the rear of the turret and 20mm on the top. The main body had 50mm of armor on the front, 40mm on the sides and rear and 14mm on the bottom. It was still riveted armor in typical Italian style but incorporated a new, more sloping design that had proven more effective. The main armament was a 75mm gun and had a 330hp diesel engine capable of a top speed of 40kmh on a smooth surface or 25kmh on rough terrain. The P40 represented the ultimate in the evolution of Italian tanks and we can say with certainty that it would have taken a deadly toll on the Allied forces if it had been widely deployed. However, the P40 simply came about too late and very few units were produced before the armistice of 1943. Some, however, were used by the German occupation forces to great effect such as at the battle of Anzio. Had the P40 been available earlier it would likely have been a "game changer" for the Italian war effort.