| Italian Co-belligerent Army Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano | |
|---|---|
.svg) Flag of Italy with the emblem of Savoia | |
| Active | 1943–1945 |
| Country |  Kingdom of Italy |
| Allegiance | King of Italy and Prime Minister |
| Type | Army |
| Role | Co-belligerent allied-resistance forces of the Kingdom of Italy's government in exile |
| Size | 266,000 to 326,000 |
| Part of |  Royal Italian Army |
| Garrison/HQ | Brindisi |
| Nickname(s) | Army of the South |
| Patron | King |
| Engagements | World War II (Italian Civil War) |
| Commanders | |
| Ceremonial chief | Victor Emmanuel III |
| Notable commanders | |
The Italian Co-belligerent Army (Italian: Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano), or Army of the South (Esercito del Sud), were names applied to various division sets[clarify] of the now former Royal Italian Army during the period when it fought alongside the Allies during World War II from October 1943 onwards. During the same period, the pro-allied Italian Royal Navy and Italian Royal Air Force were known as the Italian Co-belligerent Navy and Italian Co-belligerent Air Force respectively. From September 1943, pro-Axis Italian forces became the National Republican Army of the newly formed Italian Social Republic.
The Italian Co-belligerent Army was the result of the Allied armistice with Italy on 8 September 1943; King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister in July 1943 following the Allied invasion of Southern Italy, and nominated Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia) Pietro Badoglio instead, who later aligned Italy with the Allies to fight the Social Republic's forces and its German allies in Northern Italy.
The Italian Co-belligerent Army fielded between 266,000 and 326,000 troops in the Italian Campaign, of whom 20,000 (later augmented to 50,000, though some sources place this number as high as 99,000) were combat troops and between 150,000 and 190,000 were auxiliary and support troops, along with 66,000 personnel involved with traffic control and infrastructure defence.[1] On the whole, the Italian Co-Belligerent Army made up 1/8 of the fighting force and 1/4 of the entire force of 15th Army Group of the Allied Forces.
- ^ Di Capua, Resistenzialità versus Resistenza, p.87