Mussolini's Army against Greece by Richard Carrier

Author:Richard Carrier [Carrier, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, World War II, Europe, Italy, Greece
ISBN: 9780429015328
Google: 5QAWEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2021-03-08T16:02:48+00:00

5Weapons and equipment

Old, faulty, and insufficient

The RE fought the Albanian-Greek campaign with materiel1 that impacted on its battlefield performance.2 In an invasion of a poor country like Greece, without an industrial base and armaments industries, it would be natural to believe that the Italian combatants would technically prevail.3 Indeed, as we know, the Greek forces fought not only with courage and determination but also using its weapons and equipment to its best. Additionally, mountain warfare in fall and winter conditions, as well as poor or very poor transportation networks in most sectors of operations had an equalising effect on armies of infantrymen. As Montanari noted, despite distinctive advantages – the Centauro Armd. div. and a far superior air force – the Italians struggled in combat.4 In truth, some of the weapons available and used had serious flaws. Moreover, thrown into a campaign without proper logistical preparation, many units ran short of basic equipment and food, a situation that was never totally overcome. The next pages offer an analysis of the material available to the infantry, artillery, and armoured units, comparing as often as needed with the Greek weapons. The chapter concludes with a brief evaluation of some items of equipment available, or not, among the Italian units.

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