Italy. A 5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" (5° Divisione Cosseria) Sleeve Badge

Italy (Kingdom); Die-stamped bronze gilt with black enamels, unmarked, 49.5 mm x 61 mm, die-holes at all four points for uniform attachment, chipping evident in the black enamels, scattered gilt wear, very fine. Footnote: The 5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" was an Infantry Division of the Royal Italian Army during the Second World War. It was mobilized in January 1935 and was made up almost totally of Ligurians and Montferratians. The 5th Division "Cosseria" participated in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, with parts of it forming the 105th Division Cosseria II. In August and September, Cosseria was moving to Benghazi, where it stayed until December 1935. Cosseria was transferred to Adi Quala in Eritrea in the beginning of January 1936. It was mostly tasked with population control and supply lines protection behind the front-line. In March, it started to advance to Addi Onfito, reaching Axum in April 1936 and spreading in the Adwa area. It returned to Italy in September 1936 and was reorganized as a binary division on March 25, 1939. It was deployed on June 10, 1940 to the French border, in the strip from Cima Longoira to the sea. On June 20th, the Cosseria division began the assault on French positions at bridges of Via Aurelia (Corso Francia) and Ponte San Luigi over Ro San Luigi river near the coast, and San Paolo mountain pass near I Colletti, in the Ventimiglia commune. Although the thrust through the bridges over the Ro San Luigi river was initially repulsed, Cosseria succeeded in taking over the San Paolo pass on June 22, 1940. As result, the French forces defending the bridges over Ro San Luigi and Mentonarea were outflanked, with the Italians capturing rural areas between Castellar and Roquebrune. Cosseria remained in the occupied territory until the middle of August 1940, then transferred coastal defence duties in Western Liguria. The division was one of the twelve divisions that served on the Eastern Front as part of the Italian Army in Russia. The Cosseria division received orders to move from Liguria to Russia in June 1942, arriving in Horlivka in the beginning of July 1942. It was used initially as the reserve of the 35th Army Corps. Following attacking forces, Cosseria arrived in Donetsk on July 15, 1942 and in Luhansk on July 25, 1942. It crossed the Seversky Donets River at Stanytsia Luhanska. In the first half of August, the Cosseria was transferred to the front-line at the Don river, north of the 3rd Mountain Infantry Division Ravenna, taking positions between Novaya Kalitva and Verhny Mamon. From August 20th until 26 August 26th, the Cosseria repelled a Soviet assault without giving up any ground. Further Soviet attack at Krasno-Orehovo and Derezovka on September 11thsucceeded in pushing back the Cosseria troops, but all losses were recovered by Italian counter-attack on September 12th. Soon after, the division was moved back to the reserve. The Cosseria division was in complete rout by December 24, 1942. The division was relieved of front-line duty by German units. The remains were partly used to reinforce the Ravenna division, and partly used to protect supply lines around Rovenky. But the rapidly deteriorating situation forced the Cosseria remnants to retreat to the south-west, first maintaining the front-line, and then in several columns. The street fighting began in Rovenky on January 2, 1943. During the Voronezh Front operations in the Upper Don area under Golikov, the Soviet cavalry struck out very successfully for Valuiki and under the pale winter sun on January 19th, the horsemen in black capes and flying hoods charged down the hapless Italians, killing and wounding more than a thousand before the brief resistance by the fleeing, hungry and frostbitten men of the 5th Italian Infantry Division ended. The soldiers of Cosseria then reached Izium, where they linked with other Axis forces. The further retreat route was through Kharkiv, Okhtyrka, Romny, Pryluky, Nizhyn, finally reaching Novobelitsa at the southern outskirts of Gomel on March 7, 1943. The division was removed from duty and moved to the Tuscany province of Italy during late April and early May 1943, where it started to re-form. The brief tour to Milan finished on July 25, 1943, with Cosseria later assigned to police duties at Sesto San Giovanni. The division ceased to exist on September 12, 1943, with troops mostly surrendering to the Germans in the aftermath of the Armistice of Cassibile of September 8th.