12th Infantry Division Sassari

12th Infantry Division Sassari
12th Infantry Division Sassari Insignia
Active	1939–1943
Country	Italy
Branch	Italian Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Nickname(s)	Sassari
Engagements	World War II Battle of the Neretva
Commanders
Notable commanders	General Giacomo Castagna

The 12th Infantry Division Sassari was an Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. After the end of World War I the Italian Army disbanded all brigades raised during the war with the exception of the Sassari Infantry Brigade and three further brigades, which also had distinguished themselves during the war: Liguria, Arezzo and Avellino. The brigade moved to Trieste as part of the 12th Infantry Division Timavo'. In 1926 the brigade gained the 12th Infantry Regiment Casale and changed its name to XII Infantry Brigade. Along with the 34th Artillery Regiment the brigade were the only units of the 12th Division. In 1939 the brigade lost the 12th Infantry regiment and was renamed 12th Infantry Division Sassari. This binary division consisted of only two infantry regiments (151st and 152nd) and the 34th Field Artillery Regiment. To increase the weak strength of the division in 1941 the division was joined by the 73rd Blackshirt Assault Legion Boiardo, a battalion sized militia unit of the Italian Fascist Party.

10 June 1940, the Sassari division was deployed on border defence duties at Venezia Giulia valley (near Borjana) As part of the Italian V Corps the division remained in Istria on garrison duty until 6 April 1941 when Axis forces began the invasion of Yugoslavia. The first Yugoslav cities to fall were Prezid and Čabar on 12 April, followed Novi Lazi and Borovec on 14 April. On 19 April the division reached Delnice, the following day Knin. For the next two years the division command remained in Knin, while the divisions units were continuously employed in anti-Partisan operations: in Šibenik, Brod na Kupi, Gračac, Petrovac and Drvar. The heaviest fighting occurred during July 1942 when the division tried to clean the Velebit mountains of Partisan forces.