Black Brigades
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Black Brigades (Italian: Brigate Nere) were one of the Fascist paramilitary groups operating in the Italian Social Republic (in northern Italy), during the final years of World War II, and after the signing of the Italian Armistice in 1943.
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was arrested after the Italian Grand Council of Fascism (Gran Consiglio del Fascismo), with the support of King Vittorio Emanuele III, overthrew him and began negotiations with the Allies for Italy's withdrawal from the war. Mussolini was rescued by German paratroopers led by Otto Skorzeny. He was then installed by the Germans as the President of the Italian Social Republic (RSI). The RSI was to be an Italian regime which was to nominally administer the German-occupied northern Italy. As the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN, also known as "Black Shirts") was disbanded by the terms of the armistice, the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana was formed on 24 November 1943. The "Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana" was formed out of carabinieri, ex-army, and others still loyal to the fascist cause.
The Black Brigades were formed from members of the Fascist Republican Party. Formation of the Black Brigades was sanctioned by a Fascist Republican Party law dated 30 June 1944. The brigade members not only fought the Allies and the Italian partisans, but they also fought against political opponents and other Black Brigade members whose support of "the cause" was deemed less than exuberant. Many Black Brigade members were killed in this type of in-fighting.
The Black Brigades were not actually brigade-sized units. The Italian word brigata has a looser meaning as a synonym of "group" or "rassemblement". The Black Brigades were typically weak battalions or strong companies, each comprised of 200 to 300 men. There were 41 territorial brigades. The territorial brigades were numbered 1 through 41. There were also seven "independent" and eight "mobile" brigades. The mobile brigades were numbered 1 through 7, plus the Second Arditi Brigade. Although members of Black Brigades were issued standard Italian army uniforms, they tended to wear a black shirt or black sweater. They sometimes wore this with a windproof jacket in solid or camouflage colors. Members of Black Brigades tended to wear the grey-green uniform pants. The badge or insignia of the Black Brigades was the jawless death's head, or one of assorted Italian versions. The majority of Black Brigade members wore Italian army ski caps or berets dyed black. Some photos show members also wearing German-style caps.
[edit] The Black Brigades
PIEMONTE Regional Inspectorate successivamente ISPETTORATO BRIGATE NERE DEL PIEMONTE L'elenco delle brigate nere era:
- I^ Brigata Nera "Ather Capelli" Torino
- II^ Brigata Nera "Attilio Prato" Alessandria
- III^ Brigata Nera "Emilio Picot" Aosta
- IV^ Brigata Nera "Luigi VIale" Asti
- V^ Brigata Nera "Carlo Lidonnici" Cuneo
- VI^ Brigata Nera "Augusto Cristina" Novara
- VII^ Brigata Nera "Bruno Ponzecchi" Vercelli
LOMBARDY Regional Inspectorate successivamente ISPETTORATO BRIGATE NERE DELLA LOMBARDIA
- VIII^ Brigata Nera "Aldo Resega" Milano
- IX^ Brigata Nera "Giuseppe Cortesi" Bergamo
- X^ Brigata Nera "Enrico Tognu" Brescia
- XI^ Brigata Nera "Cesare Rodini" Como
- XII^ Brigata Nera "Augusto Felisari" Cremona
- XIII^ Brigata Nera "Marcello Turchetti" Mantova
- XIV^ Brigata Nera "Alberto Alfieri" Pavia
- XV^ Brigata Nera "Sergio Gatti" Sondrio
- XVI^ Brigata Nera "Dante Gervasini" Varese
VENETO regional Inspectorate successivamente ISPETTORATO BRIGATE NERE DEL VENETO
- XVII^ Brigata Nera "Bartolomeo Asara" Venezia
- XVIII^ Brigata Nera "Luigi Begon" Padova
- XIX^ Brigata Nera "Romolo Gori" Rovigo
- XX^ Brigata Nera "Francesco Cappellini" Treviso
- XXI^ Brigata Nera "Stefano Rizzardi" Verona
- XXII^ Brigata Nera "Antonio Faggion" Vicenza
ISPETTORATO REGIONALE DELL'EMILIA successivamente ISPETTORATO BRIGATE NERE DELL'EMILIA
- XXIII^ Brigata Nera "Eugenio Facchini" Bologna
- XXIV^ Brigata Nera "Igino Ghisellini" Ferrara
- XXV^ Brigata Nera "Arturo Capanni" Forlì
- XXVI^ Brigata Nera "Mirko Pistoni" Modena
- XXVII^ Brigata Nera "Virginio Gavazzoli" Parma
- XXVIII^ Brigata Nera "Pippo Astorri" Piacenza
- XXIX^ Brigata Nera "Ettore Muti" Ravenna
- XXX^ Brigata Nera "Umberto Rosi" Reggio Emilia
ISPETTORATO REGIONALE DELLA LIGURIA successivamente ISPETTORATO BRIGATE NERE DELLA LIGURIA
- XXXI^ Brigata Nera "Generale Silvio Parodi" Genova
- XXXII^ Brigata Nera "Antonio Padoan" Imperia
- XXXIII^ Brigata Nera "Tullio Bertoni" La Spezia
- XXXIV^ Brigata Nera "Giovanni Briatore" Savona
BRIGATE NERE DELLA TOSCANA
- XXXV^ Brigata Nera "Don Emilio Spinelli" Arezzo
- XXXVI^ Brigata Nera "Benito Mussolini" Lucca
- XXXVII^ Brigata Nera "Emilio Tanzi" Pisa
- XXXVIII^ Brigata Nera "Ruy Blas Biagi" Pistoia
- IXL^ Brigata Nera Siena
- XL^ Brigata Nera "Vittorio Ricciarelli" Apuania
- XLI^ Brigata Nera "Raffaele Manganiello" Firenze
RAGGRUPPAMENTO BRIGATE NERE MOBILI
- I^ Brigata Nera Mobile "Vittorio Ricciarelli" Milano
- II^ Brigata Nera Mobile "Danilo Mercuri" Padova
- III^ Brigata Nera Mobile "Attilio Pappalardo" Bologna
- IV^ Brigata Nera Mobile "Aldo Resega" Dronero-Cuneo
- V^ Brigata Nera Mobile "Enrico Quagliata" Val Camonica
- VI^ Brigata Nera Mobile "Dalmazia" Milano
- VII^ Brigata Nera Mobile "Tevere" Milano
- II^ Brigata Nera Mobile Arditi Milano
BRIGATE NERE AUTONOME
- Brigata Nera Autonoma "Giovanni Gentile"
- Brigata Nera Autonoma Operativa "Giuseppe Garibaldi"
- Brigata Nera Autonoma Ministeriale
- Brigata Nera Autonoma - Marche
- Brigata Nera Autonoma - Gorizia
- Brigata Nera Autonoma - Udine
- Brigata Nera Autonoma "Tullio Cividino" - Trieste
BRIGATE NERE AUTONOME OLTREMARE
- Compagnia Complementare Fascisti - Rodi
