shadowsrider
06-14-2010, 05:53 AM
Despite typical opinion of lack of bravery of Italian soldiers I found a good example of opposite behavior.
During British-Italian war in Eastern Africa a brave Italian officer mounted surprising cavalry charge against British Sikh artillery positions. First charge of 50 men surprised Sikhs but all the charging cavalrymen were anihilated.
Soon Italians repeated their attempt:
"When the British Army invaded in 1940 Guillet took to the desert with his force. In January 19, 1941 he led a remarkable charge through a British tank column that was all but forgotten in the sands of that desert sideshow. At the gorge of Cheru, Guillet, mounted on his champion white Arabian ‘Sandor’, Guillet led more than 500 of his troopers in a wild charge along the exposed flanks of the British 4/11th Sikhs Regiment of the 5th Indian Division. They charged the Indian soldiers, throwing grenades and firing at anything that moved at point blank range. They literally ran through the entire Indian formation and only narrowly missed capturing an English Brigadier. Sadly of the 500 men who charged more than 180 were left behind on the battlefield in the Indian positions, dead in their mounts. His force crippled, Guillet led his remaining men deeply into the desert, covering the Italian retreat.
Read more at Suite101: Amedeo Guillet Cavalry Hero of WWII: The Last Italian Knight and Legend of the Desert http://ww2history.suite101.com/article.cfm/amedeo_guillet_cavalry_hero_of_wwii#ixzz0qoqagxsU"
Also Americans and Britts had their WW2 cavalry charges:
The year 1942 saw the embattled US and Filipino army fighting for their lives in Bataan against an invading Japanese army. On January 16, 1942 a young Lt Ed Ramsey led his 27-man Troop G of the US 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) in a charge against Japanese infantry in the village of Morong. Mounted on his horse Bryn Awryn, a chestnut gelding, Lt Ramsey led the last American cavalry charge to victory and was awarded the Silver Star after the war. The American cavalry carried no swords, since April 18, 1934, the issuance of swords to US cavalry troopers was discontinued, but they were packing the ubiquitous Colt 1911. The last British charge was made just two months later by Capt. Arthur Sandeman and 60 Sikh horsemen mounted on short Burmese horses of the Burma Field Force. They blundered into a force of entrenched Japanese soldiers and were repulsed after taking heavy losses. Capt Sandeman was killed with his saber in hand.
Read more at Suite101: The Last Cavalry Charges: Mounted on Horses they Rode into Battle in WWII http://ww2history.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_last_cavalry_charges#ixzz0qoqlpu00
And the greatest Italian cavalry charge:
On August 24, 1942, after a day of masking movements and light skirmishing Colonel Bettoni decided a charge against the Soviet positions stood a chance of stopping them. At dawn of the next day, on a wet Ukrainian morning the regiment assembled. Mounting the charge to flying regimental flags, bugles, drawn sabers and a combined cry of hundreds of men calling “Savoia!, Savoia!” and “Caricat” (charge) the three mounted squadrons of Italians rode forward at a gallop into the Soviet lines. They transitioned through the traditional thousand year old practice of starting at a trot, then a canter then a full gallop. Supported by the dismounted 4th Squadron and the regiment’s machine gun squadron they broke the back of the 2000-strong Siberian 812th Infantry Regiment. In the victorious charge the Italians lost 40 cavalrymen (including the commander of the 4th Squadron, Captain Abba) with another 79 wounded and almost 100 precious horses but they inflicted over 150 casualties on the Soviets and captured some 900 unfortunate Siberians along with a collection of sixty mortars, artillery pieces and machine guns. The regiment, founded in 1692, by Gian Piossasco de Rossi from one of the oldest Italian noble families, won two gold medals and 54 silver medals for that day….and every old horse soldier in Valhalla shed a tear.
Read more at Suite101: The Most Famous Cavalry Charge of WWII: Last Hurrah of the Savoia Cavalry Regiment in 1942 http://militaryhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_most_famous_cavalry_charge_of_wwii#ixzz0qorSdpjU
During British-Italian war in Eastern Africa a brave Italian officer mounted surprising cavalry charge against British Sikh artillery positions. First charge of 50 men surprised Sikhs but all the charging cavalrymen were anihilated.
Soon Italians repeated their attempt:
"When the British Army invaded in 1940 Guillet took to the desert with his force. In January 19, 1941 he led a remarkable charge through a British tank column that was all but forgotten in the sands of that desert sideshow. At the gorge of Cheru, Guillet, mounted on his champion white Arabian ‘Sandor’, Guillet led more than 500 of his troopers in a wild charge along the exposed flanks of the British 4/11th Sikhs Regiment of the 5th Indian Division. They charged the Indian soldiers, throwing grenades and firing at anything that moved at point blank range. They literally ran through the entire Indian formation and only narrowly missed capturing an English Brigadier. Sadly of the 500 men who charged more than 180 were left behind on the battlefield in the Indian positions, dead in their mounts. His force crippled, Guillet led his remaining men deeply into the desert, covering the Italian retreat.
Read more at Suite101: Amedeo Guillet Cavalry Hero of WWII: The Last Italian Knight and Legend of the Desert http://ww2history.suite101.com/article.cfm/amedeo_guillet_cavalry_hero_of_wwii#ixzz0qoqagxsU"
Also Americans and Britts had their WW2 cavalry charges:
The year 1942 saw the embattled US and Filipino army fighting for their lives in Bataan against an invading Japanese army. On January 16, 1942 a young Lt Ed Ramsey led his 27-man Troop G of the US 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) in a charge against Japanese infantry in the village of Morong. Mounted on his horse Bryn Awryn, a chestnut gelding, Lt Ramsey led the last American cavalry charge to victory and was awarded the Silver Star after the war. The American cavalry carried no swords, since April 18, 1934, the issuance of swords to US cavalry troopers was discontinued, but they were packing the ubiquitous Colt 1911. The last British charge was made just two months later by Capt. Arthur Sandeman and 60 Sikh horsemen mounted on short Burmese horses of the Burma Field Force. They blundered into a force of entrenched Japanese soldiers and were repulsed after taking heavy losses. Capt Sandeman was killed with his saber in hand.
Read more at Suite101: The Last Cavalry Charges: Mounted on Horses they Rode into Battle in WWII http://ww2history.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_last_cavalry_charges#ixzz0qoqlpu00
And the greatest Italian cavalry charge:
On August 24, 1942, after a day of masking movements and light skirmishing Colonel Bettoni decided a charge against the Soviet positions stood a chance of stopping them. At dawn of the next day, on a wet Ukrainian morning the regiment assembled. Mounting the charge to flying regimental flags, bugles, drawn sabers and a combined cry of hundreds of men calling “Savoia!, Savoia!” and “Caricat” (charge) the three mounted squadrons of Italians rode forward at a gallop into the Soviet lines. They transitioned through the traditional thousand year old practice of starting at a trot, then a canter then a full gallop. Supported by the dismounted 4th Squadron and the regiment’s machine gun squadron they broke the back of the 2000-strong Siberian 812th Infantry Regiment. In the victorious charge the Italians lost 40 cavalrymen (including the commander of the 4th Squadron, Captain Abba) with another 79 wounded and almost 100 precious horses but they inflicted over 150 casualties on the Soviets and captured some 900 unfortunate Siberians along with a collection of sixty mortars, artillery pieces and machine guns. The regiment, founded in 1692, by Gian Piossasco de Rossi from one of the oldest Italian noble families, won two gold medals and 54 silver medals for that day….and every old horse soldier in Valhalla shed a tear.
Read more at Suite101: The Most Famous Cavalry Charge of WWII: Last Hurrah of the Savoia Cavalry Regiment in 1942 http://militaryhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_most_famous_cavalry_charge_of_wwii#ixzz0qorSdpjU