1943. Armored vehicles in the battles for Corsica. Controcarri vs StuG
Translation of the article "Panzergefechte auf Korsika. Selbstfarlafetten L.40 da 47/32 gegen Sturmgeschütze der Sturm-Brigade "Reichsfuerer SS". Part II", published in the German military-historical in the magazine "Zeitgeschichte" (Nos. 11-12 for 2025).
Author: Sergio Corbatti
Translation: Slug_BDMP
Continuation of the story about the military operations on the island of Corsica in 1943 and the role of armored vehicles in these events, begun in the material “1943. Armored vehicles in the battle for Corsica. Introduction»
On September 12, the RFSS Assault Brigade advanced from the Bonifacio area along the eastern coastal road toward Bastia. The unit set out without two 8,8-cm batteries and the 3rd Battalion of the 870th Grenadier Regiment, which remained to guard the ongoing landing of the 90th Panzergrenadier Division (PGD)—an operation that lasted until September 17. The assault brigade was reinforced by several small naval units, as well as units of the 90th PGD.
The combat area of the Reichsführer-SS assault brigade in Corsica
Two engineer squads were assigned to the column's lead patrol to clear any obstacles encountered along the approximately 150-kilometer route to Bastia. The march proceeded so quickly that the assault brigade reached Casamozza by 6:00 PM. This came as a complete surprise to the important Italian stronghold, which controlled a key road junction as well as two road and rail bridges crossing the Golo River.
General Hugo De Laurencis (center). Eastern Front, Millerovo, August 1942.
The strong point was already occupied by machine gunners, mortarmen and anti-tank units. artillery, on the same day was to be reinforced by the so-called "Southern Column" of the "Friuli" Division, which included the I and II battalions of the 87th Infantry Regiment and the II group of guns 75/27 of the 35th Artillery Regiment (in the original - II Gruppe. Note Slug_BDMP) under the command of Brigadier General Hugo De Lorenzis.
(Source - Ugo de Lorenis, “Dal primo all ultimo giorno- Ricordi de guerra 1939-1945”. Milan, 1971, p. 262)
StuG III Ausf.G in Corsica
According to General De Lorenzis's report, the assault brigade commander sent envoys to the strongpoint and, in a friendly manner, requested free passage to Bastia, from where they intended to board ships and leave Corsica. However, even as negotiations were underway, German units suddenly broke into the strongpoint, and the Germans Tanks The artillery opened fire. The dry brush around the village immediately caught fire, furthering the confusion in the Italian camp. Moreover, at this point, the first units of the Italian "Southern Column" began to arrive, having not yet had time to properly orient themselves. Therefore, Italian resistance was disorganized and was soon crushed by the Germans. Italian sappers, however, managed to blow up the road bridge. For unknown reasons, De Lorenzis continues, the railway bridge remained intact and was used by the Germans to cross the Golo River unhindered.
A brief German eyewitness account, however, presents a different version of events:
In one village in front of the Borgo airfield, the Italians allowed several German units to pass, but then suddenly opened fire as an infantry company passed through the village and blew up a large bridge. We suffered losses in this battle. (Source: Report of Untersturmführer Alfred Thos, September 15, 1943. Freiburg Military Archives. No. 756-173)
A dead RFSS fighter in Corsica
The "mystery" of why the railway bridge was not destroyed is clarified by the testimony of SS-Oberscharführer Herbert Vollmer, who commanded one of the two sapper squads of the German vanguard:
Around 6:00 PM, I received the mission: determine whether the village and road bridge were clear of enemy forces and whether the bridge was still serviceable. The result: the road bridge was completely destroyed, but the railway bridge, clearly visible through binoculars, was still in good working order. We quickly returned, and I reported the situation.
New mission: capture the railway bridge intact, if possible. We carefully crept up to the bridge, secured it, crawled onto the bridge, and then made a swift dash to the opposite bank. I quickly cut the explosive wires. Then a firefight with the enemy guards ensued. During a brief pause, we removed the charges. After that, the enemy attacked again. Another firefight, then a brief lull. The remaining charges were removed, and the flares went up. missilesThere was gunfire, then hand grenades exploded. Finally, there was silence again.
Now the enemy obviously knew the bridge was firmly in our hands. All of this was accomplished without losses by young soldiers with no combat experience. By 22 p.m., the bridge was open to vehicle traffic. I sent a liaison officer back. Assault guns arrived. One Untersturmführer, a tank commander, called out to me by name. Then we climbed onto the tanks and continued on to Bastia. Unfortunately, we were unable to remove the explosive charge from the middle abutment of the bridge: it was deeply embedded and heavily covered with sandbags. After 20 kilometers, we suddenly stopped—we had separated too far from the column.
New mission: capture the railway bridge intact, if possible. We carefully crept up to the bridge, secured it, crawled onto the bridge, and then made a swift dash to the opposite bank. I quickly cut the explosive wires. Then a firefight with the enemy guards ensued. During a brief pause, we removed the charges. After that, the enemy attacked again. Another firefight, then a brief lull. The remaining charges were removed, and the flares went up. missilesThere was gunfire, then hand grenades exploded. Finally, there was silence again.
Now the enemy obviously knew the bridge was firmly in our hands. All of this was accomplished without losses by young soldiers with no combat experience. By 22 p.m., the bridge was open to vehicle traffic. I sent a liaison officer back. Assault guns arrived. One Untersturmführer, a tank commander, called out to me by name. Then we climbed onto the tanks and continued on to Bastia. Unfortunately, we were unable to remove the explosive charge from the middle abutment of the bridge: it was deeply embedded and heavily covered with sandbags. After 20 kilometers, we suddenly stopped—we had separated too far from the column.
(Source: publication of the RFSS Veterans' Association "Im gleichen Schritt und Tritt", Müpnchen, 1998, p. 39)
RFSS soldiers with a Steyer 1500 vehicle. Corsica, 1943.
After an overnight halt, the German column's march resumed on the morning of September 13. By midday, the assault brigade approached Bastia.
At precisely 12 noon that same day, on the Italian side, the 1st Platoon of the XX Anti-Tank Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Moroncelli, and the command tank of Captain Assanti's 1st Company were ordered to advance toward the coastal road near Furiani with the mission of suppressing German fire positions and evacuating several wounded. Much to their surprise, the Italian self-propelled guns encountered the vanguard of a German column, led by several armored vehicles. These were likely StuG III assault guns from the assault gun battalion of the assault brigade.
A battle immediately ensued, during which the superiority of the German assault guns over the Italian self-propelled guns became clear. The war diary of the XX Anti-Tank Battalion (Controcarri, CC) states:
Our self-propelled guns managed to score several hits even at short range (200-400 meters), but without success. Captain Assanti, having discovered the ineffectiveness of the 47/32mm gun against the enemy tanks' armor, received orders from a superior officer to retreat to their original positions. Under a continuous hail of enemy shells, all five self-propelled guns managed to retreat.
General De Lorenzis also emphasizes the ineffectiveness of Italian artillery against German armored vehicles:
In the afternoon, due to the impossibility of stopping the German offensive, especially the tanks, which seemed to be insensitive even to numerous hits from our 75mm shells, […] our actions turned from offensive to defensive.
(Source: De Lorenzis, p. 266)
(Source: De Lorenzis, p. 266)
Unfortunately, no detailed German evidence of this battle has survived. Untersturmführer Thoss limited himself to the following remark:
Well-equipped batteries fired from the mountains and held back our advance, which was hampered by our being pinned down to the only coastal road. The Italians fought with exceptional tenacity!
During this battle, Captain Assanti, Lieutenant Moroncelli, and two armored car drivers were wounded. After the return of the self-propelled guns, Lieutenant Colonel Minelli deployed six Solothurn anti-tank rifles to cover the road near Biguglia, and the self-propelled guns to guard the approaches to Bastia. Meanwhile, the 1st Platoon of the 1st Company and two rifles were held in reserve at the command post. It was here that afternoon that one armored car driver was killed by German artillery fire, and five others were wounded.
At 7:00 PM, German armored vehicles approached the positions of the XX Anti-Tank Battalion and, supported by artillery, opened fire. One self-propelled gun from the 1st Platoon of the 1st Company was hit, caught fire, and was declared a complete loss.
By this point, the Italian positions extended as far as the Bastia cemetery, located at one of the few approaches to the state road leading to the Teguime Pass. Shortly before nightfall on September 13, this line was stormed by an assault brigade. Below is a German account of this attack, left by Oberscharführer Sepp Schor, a platoon commander in the 2nd RFSS Company:
About halfway through Corsica, near a small port town, our company deployed for an attack on Bastia. I myself commanded one of the infantry squads. We all mounted our prepared assault guns and moved toward Bastia in the evening twilight. After some time, we reached the heights near Bastia Airport in our combat vehicles (Author's note: this was the Borgo airfield). At the airfield itself, only a German fire brigade was stationed, which managed to prevent the Italian planes from taking off. We then advanced to the Bastia racecourse (Author's note: it was located in Biguglia), where our 8,8-cm anti-aircraft artillery was already positioned, providing us with fire support. By this time, it was already dark.
(Source: “Im gleichen Schritt und Tritt”, p. 34)
(Source: “Im gleichen Schritt und Tritt”, p. 34)
German mortarmen in Corsica. They are likely from the 3rd Battalion of the 870th Grenadier Regiment.
The Italian soldiers blew their trumpets, urging an attack against us. The Italian artillery began shelling, and the Italian soldiers dug in behind the cemetery and opened fire on us from there. Then our commander (Sturmbannführer Max Dallinger) told us: "If we don't break through tonight, we won't break through. After that, we fired with all our guns at the Italians entrenched behind the cemetery (Author's note: this was the Montesoro cemetery, next to which, on the road to the Teguime Pass, were the self-propelled guns of the XXth Anti-Tank Battalion), and rocket launchers also joined the shelling. When the Italian soldiers saw us attacking, they began to retreat. After that, we advanced through the city of Bastia all the way to the port.
Crew of an 8,8 cm gun of the RFSS brigade in Corsica
In fact, the situation of the Italian troops became critical around 19:00, as a message was received that German units had reached Oletta and were thus threatening to outflank the Italian positions at the Teguime Pass.
To avoid encirclement, Lieutenant Colonel Minelli ordered a withdrawal to the Tegime road, along a dirt road that, after approximately 200 meters, connected to the national highway. This withdrawal is likely the one referred to in Shore's report; other Italian units present likely also participated in it, also seeking to escape the threat of envelopment.
After the battalion's forces, as well as units at the command post and the nearby San Giuseppe barracks, had moved out, the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Minelli, remained behind to ensure all vehicles had left and no one was left behind. At that moment, a shell exploded near his vehicle, seriously wounding him and the driver. Taken to a first aid station in Patrimonio, Minelli died shortly thereafter. First Lieutenant Carlo Centrone assumed command of the battalion in his stead.
Despite the road being under German artillery fire, the entire battalion - with the exception of one truck and one cargo tricycle of the 1st Company - reached its objective at the Teguime Pass, from where General De Lorenzis ordered it to be withdrawn further to Ponte Leccia.
Thus, the battle between the Italian L.40 self-propelled guns and the German StuG III assault guns ended rather quickly, since the superiority of the German equipment was clearly revealed: the 47/32 mm gun of the Italian vehicles turned out to be too weak to penetrate the 80 mm frontal armor of the German self-propelled guns.
The XXth Antitank Battalion suffered one officer killed and two wounded; the armored vehicle crews suffered two killed, seven wounded, and eleven missing. One self-propelled gun, an OM Taurus truck, a tricycle, a Fiat 1100 passenger car, and a Sertum motorcycle were lost. Captain Rodolfo Assanti and Private Piero Cervo were awarded the Bronze Medal for Bravery.
Italian soldiers inspect destroyed German assault guns.
The history of the German assault brigade states that two assault guns were lost in the fighting that led to the capture of Bastia. However, the cause of their loss is not specified. Clearly, they were not destroyed by the self-propelled guns of the XX Tank Battalion. It is more likely that they were hit by Italian artillery on the afternoon of September 13, as General De Lorenzis reports:
The units from the Bastia area, after they had also withstood enemy infiltrations, during which the enemy lost several tanks hit by our 105 mm guns, […] withdrew to the Teguime Pass.
(Source: De Lorenzis, p. 266)
(Source: De Lorenzis, p. 266)
A StuG III in the port of Bastia. SS runes and a rare "Balnenkreuz" variant are clearly visible.
The second battle between self-propelled guns of the XX PT Battalion and German armored vehicles took place on September 29 during preparatory actions to recapture Bastia.
On September 29, the 3rd Battalion of the 88th Infantry Regiment of the Friuli Division, supported by Italian artillery and self-propelled guns of the XX Tank Battalion, was to advance south from Monte Cupieta with the goal of capturing the crossroads at Nonza. This was intended to ease the task of the French troops, who had already landed in Corsica to support the Italians and were intended for an enveloping attack from the north, ensuring their rapid advance to the Colle San Lorenzo area.
The operation involved the 2nd Platoon of the 2nd Company, commanded by Lieutenant Oreste Moroncelli, with three armored vehicles. Due to the difficult terrain, the self-propelled guns were forced to move several hundred meters ahead of the infantry and follow the San Fiorenzo (Saint-Florent) - Patrimonio road, unable to deviate from it.
After crossing the intersection at Nontsa:
The platoon, forced to move along the road in a single column, advanced to the first houses in Patrimonio, where the lead vehicle was struck by a 75mm shell fired by an enemy 28-ton tank positioned along the road. The shell literally pierced the frontal armor plate, over 30mm thick, and disabled the 47mm gun. […] Realizing the situation, the platoon commander ordered a retreat to their original positions. This decision was made in good time, as the other two vehicles would have found themselves locked in an unequal battle with a tank that significantly outgunned them in both firepower and armor protection, and they had no way to operate off the road.
(Source: AUSSME, DS, no. 20325)
(Source: AUSSME, DS, no. 20325)
The identification of a German armored vehicle as a "28-ton tank" is, at the very least, an unusual characteristic, which unfortunately does not allow for a precise determination of the tank type. Armored vehicles armed with a 75mm gun in Corsica at that time were limited to the following models: the StuG III Ausf. G assault gun, which equipped the assault brigade, the 90th Panzergrenadier Division, and the 242nd assault gun battalion; the Pz.Kpfw IV Ausf. H, which was part of the 90th Infantry Division but weighed approximately 25 tons; and the Pz.Kpfw III Ausf. N, also in service with the 90th Infantry Division and weighing almost 22 tons.
The lack of documentation from the German side makes it impossible to determine which specific units were in the Patrimonio area. Therefore, it is no longer possible to accurately determine the type of armored vehicle responsible for the destruction of the Italian self-propelled gun. However, even in this case, the clear superiority of German equipment and, consequently, the helplessness of the Italian vehicles, which had no chance of survival in combat against modern models, are clearly evident.
The destroyed self-propelled gun belonged to platoon commander Lieutenant Oreste Moroncelli, who, along with his other crew members—NCO Achille Del Bianco and Private Romano—was seriously wounded. Despite their injuries, Moroncelli and Del Bianco managed to get their self-propelled gun, immobilized by the hit, moving again before losing consciousness. Both Moroncelli and Del Bianco were awarded the Silver Medal for Bravery.
Another Italian anti-tank battalion, the CXXI Battaglione Controcarri, also operated in Corsica. It was part of the Cremona Infantry Division and also armed with 47/32 self-propelled guns. However, there is no information about this unit's engagements with German armored vehicles.
The 90th Infantry Division also had armored vehicles. Tanker Hans Eckstein, in his memoirs, "Rommel's Last Tank Crew" ("Rommels letzter Panzerkommandant" (Carpe Diem Publishing, 2024) recounts on pages 131–135 that a number of his division's Pz IV tanks were in the "RFSS" combat formations. According to Eckstein's recollections, they did not engage enemy armored vehicles, but they did fire high-explosive shells at Italian positions along the coastal road. He also claims that during the march to Bastia, the division lost five Pz IV tanks: one hit a mine, and four were knocked out by 8,8 cm anti-aircraft guns that fell into enemy hands. This occurred during the battle for the Bastia cemetery. According to Eckstein, the guns were fired by Corsican partisans. But this is ruled out, so it seems more likely that they were Italian crews. More likely, they were Italian 90/53 guns, which the Germans mistook for "acht-acht" guns. They did indeed look similar.
A Pz IV tank in Bastia
Bastia during the fighting in 1943
But Eckstein's recollections are not supported by official documents from the 90th Infantry Division. According to them, the division suffered no losses of Pz IV tanks in Corsica. However, one Pz III Ausf.H, one forward artillery observer vehicle based on the Pz III, and one StuG III Ausf.G were lost.
(Source: Militärarchiv Freiburg. Tank losses - RH10-61, pp. 64, 93. Self-propelled gun losses - RH10-62)
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