Royal Corps of Colonial Troops

The Royal Corps of Colonial Troops (Italian: Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali) was a corps of the Italian armed forces, in which all the Italian colonial troops were grouped until the end of World War II in Africa.

Structure
Since the beginning of the colonial conquest the Kingdom of Italy created military units with colonial soldiers. The main units included as parts of the "Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali" were:


 * Libya: Libyan troops, which included the Libyan Meharisti, the Savari and the Spahis.
 * Eritrea: Eritrean troops, mainly the Eritrean Ascari.
 * Somalia: Somalian troops, which included the Dubats and Somali Zaptié.
 * Ethiopia: Ethiopian troops (after 1937), which included the Group "Bande Amhara" of Amedeo Guillet.

All these military units underwent a reorganization in the 1930s, but remained active until 1943, when Italy was defeated in WWII.

Structure after 1936
The Italian Army started to modernize the colonial troops in the mid 1930s, and during the conquest of Ethiopia (1936) and at the beginning of World War II created some Infantry Divisions with colonial soldiers:
 * in Libya, the Italian Libyan Colonial Division, the 1st Libyan Division "Sibelle" and the 2nd Libyan Division "Pescatori".
 * in Eritrea, the Italian 1st Eritrean Division and the Italian 2nd Eritrean Division.
 * in Somalia, the Italian 101 Somalian Division and the Italian 102 Somalian Division.

In those years there were even "special units" made mainly of colonial troops, like the Maletti Group, the Libyan paratroopers (Ascari del Cielo) and the Italian Africa Police.

History
These troops were deployed on all fronts in Africa from the First Italo-Ethiopian War, the Italian-Turkish war, the conquest of Ethiopia, until World War II. The colonial soldiers always showed courage and in some cases (like the Eritrean Ascari) fought with heroism.

"Except for the German parachute division in Italy and the Japanese in Burma no enemy with whom the British and Indian troops were matched put up a finer fight than those Savoia battalions at Keren (Eritrea). Moreover, the Colonial troops, until they cracked at the very end, fought with valour and resolution, and their staunchness was a testimony to the excellence of the Italian administration and military training in Eritrea"

The colonial troops were commanded by Italian officers and NCOs, while soldiers came from the Italian colonial territories (and to a small extent also from neighboring Yemen).

In 1940 in the Italian Royal Army were present 256,000 "Askaris" (as were called the colonial soldiers) in Italian Africa, of whom 182,000 were recruited in Italian East Africa (Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia) and 74,000 in Libya.

Honours
The Royal Corps of Colonial Troops has been awarded 4 Gold Medals of Military Valor ("Medaglia d'oro al valor militare"):


 * Royal Corps of Eritrean Colonial Troops.

Two Gold Medal of Military Valor:

''In one hundred and fifty battles gloriously sustained in the service of His Majesty the King of Italy, gave constant evidence of strong heroic military discipline, of fierce warrior spirit, of unquestioned loyalty and value, lavishing their blood with a zeal and devotion than never had limitations. Eritrea - Tripoli - Cyrenaica, from 1889 to 1929.'' - May 12, 1930

''With the courage of their race, fueled by love for the flag and the belief in the higher destinies of Italy in Africa, gave during the war, many proofs of the most brilliant heroism. With great generosity, and similar faithfulness, gave their blood for the consecration of the Italian Empire. Italo-Ethiopian War, October 3, 1935 - May 5, 1936.'' - November 19, 1936.


 * Royal Corps of Libyan Colonial Troops

One Gold Medal of Military Valor:

''With the courage of their race - fueled by love for the flag and the belief in the higher destinies of Italy in Africa, gave during the war, many proofs of the most brilliant heroism. With great generosity, and similar faithfulness, gave their blood for the consecration of the Italian Empire. Italo-Ethiopian War, October 3, 1935 - May 5, 1936.'' - November 19, 1936.


 * Royal Corps of Somalian Colonial Troops.

One Gold Medal of Military Valor:

''With the courage of their race - fueled by love for the flag and the belief in the higher destinies of Italy in Africa, gave during the war, many proofs of the most brilliant heroism. With great generosity, and similar faithfulness, gave their blood for the consecration of the Italian Empire. Italo-Ethiopian War, October 3, 1935 - May 5, 1936.'' - November 19, 1936.