206th Coastal Division (Italy)

Italian soldiers of the 206th Coastal Division, taken prisoner by British forces. Typical of the second-rate equipment issued to the Coastal Divisions, they are wearing Adrian helmets, rather than the more modern M33 helmets.

The 206th Coastal Division was an infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. The division was based in Sicily during the Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky. It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign. Coastal divisions, were second line divisions, usually formed from men in their forties and fifties intended to perform labouring and second lined duties. Recruited locally they were often commanded by officers called out of retirement. Their equipment was also second rate, Mussolini had hoped to obtain large quantities of arms and equipment from the disbanded Vichy French army, but this had often been sabotaged or arrived with no ammunition.

Order of battle

• 122nd Coastal Infantry Regiment
• 123rd Coastal Infantry Regiment
• 146th Coastal Infantry Regiment
• 44th Artillery Group (14 batteries, ad hoc regiment)