Italian Army Guastatori Destruction Group

At the start of Italy’s war, the Italian Army had no assault engineering units designed to take on enemy fortifications. The performance of pioneer units in the German blitzkrieg demonstrated to the Italians the need for such units, leading to the creation of the Guastatori del Genio which began training units in late 1940. By early 1941 these specialised assault engineers were fighting in North Africa, and by mid-1942 they were also on the Eastern Front. During the Sicilian campaign the 11th Guastatori Battalion was attached to the ‘Livorno’ Division, fighting alongside them throughout the campaign. Contains 10 metal Italian Guastatori miniatures: NCO with rifle and pistol 2 x two-man flamethrower teams 2 engineers with rifles and bangalore torpedoes 3 engineers with rifles Plastic bases

U bent nog lijm,verf,kwastje nodig. The Italian paratroopers were hard men, often poorly supplied and supported, but fought and died bravely where they stood rather than give ground. Folgore (Lightning) and Nembo (Nimbus) were the two airborne divisions that fought valiantly for Mussolini and, later, the Italian Social Republic (RSI) until the armistice between Italy and the Allies. Even then, large elements of Nembo sided with the Germans and became the basis of the German 4th Fallschirmjäger division, being one of the last Italian units to surrender in 1945. Contains 9 metal figures: NCO with SMG 1 x two-man LMG team 5 paratroopers with SMG 1 paratroopers with carbine Plastic bases