102nd Motorised Division Trento

102nd Motorised Division Trento
102a Motorised Division Trento Insignia
Active	1939–1943
Country	Regno d'Italia Kingdom of Italy
Branch	Regio Esercito Royal Italian Army
Type	Motorised infantry
Size	Division
Part of	Italian XXI Corps
Nickname(s)	Trento
Engagements	Western Desert Campaign

The 102nd Motorised Division Trento (in Italian: 102ª Divisione Fanteria Trento) was a motorised infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was formed in 1939 and kept in reserve in Italy until it was moved to North Africa in February 1941. It took part in Axis attacks across North Africa, following the Allied Operation Compass and suffered heavy losses at Tobruk. The division was then reformed and took part in all of the major battles of the Western Desert Campaign until it was destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein.

The Trento arrived in North Africa to reinforce the Italian Fifth Army following the Allied offensive Operation Compass, a counterattack by British and Commonwealth troops of the Western Desert Force in response to the Italian invasion of Egypt. The offensive resulted in the destruction of the Italian Tenth Army and the Allied occupation of the Italian province of Cyrenaica.

The Trento took part in the Axis counterattack of March 1941 that forced the British and Commonwealth forces into retreat. While the Australian 9th Infantry Division fell back to the fortified port of Tobruk, the remaining British and Commonwealth forces withdrew a further 100 miles (160 km) east to Sollum, on the Libyan–Egyptian border. These moves initiated the 240-day-long Siege of Tobruk, in which the Trento was involved.

After the failure of the Axis attack on El Adem Erwin Rommel, the German officer commanding the counterattack, decided to attack the western sector of the Tobruk perimeter, around Ras el Madauar, on 15 April. He used the 132 Armoured Division Ariete along with the 62 Sicilia Infantry Regiment of the Trento division.