When tested on the field of battle, Blackshirt units performed with mixed results. Their overall performance during the 1935–36 war was good, much less so during the Spanish Civil War and in the early stages of World War II, when only some legioni and battalions proved themselves competent in battle. Later on, Blackshirt units gave good accounts of themselves on the Eastern Front, and in the Balkans where, in a sense, they felt at home fighting against Tito’s partisans. The main shortcomings among the Blackshirt units were their lack of service elements and their armament, which they shared with the army.
One of the most common weapons used by the Blackshirts was the 9mm Beretta 34 automatic pistol, for officers and those soldiers armed with automatic guns; it was small and reliable, but not very effective. Rifles, all of them Mannlicher Carcano 6.5mm, ranged from the long-barrelled rifle model 91 with bayonet to the smaller model 91, either with or without the folding bayonet. Their small calibre and lack of power made them largely inferior to those of most of their enemies, at least after the war against Ethiopia. The Breda model 30 automatic rifle was innovative for its time, roughly comparable to the American Browning Automatic Rifle, though not quite as effective; it used the same 6.5mm round as the rifles but this time inserted in a fixed cartridge clip of 20 rounds, which greatly hampered its effectiveness in spite of the rate of fire, which was 400–500 rounds per minute. Machine guns varied from the water-cooled 6.5mm Fiat-Revelli model 14, largely used in 1935–36, to the modern 8mm Breda model 37 (which could fire 450 rounds per minute, though this was hampered by the use of 20-round ammunition clips) and the inferior 6.5mm Fiat-Revelli model 35.
From 1942 onwards, a few of the ‘M’ battalions (the amphibious ones and those sent to the Eastern Front) were also armed with the highly reliable and effective 9mm Beretta machine pistol; this was only issued to officers and NCOs. Hand grenades (OTO model 35, SRCM model 35, and Breda model 35) were light, weighing 200–300g, but were not very effective. The 45mm Brixia model 35 mortar was a much better weapon, actually more effective than the heavier 81mm mortar model 35. Field guns used included the 65mm infantry gun 65/17, a solid weapon but dating back to World War I, and the 47mm anti-tank gun 47/32 model 37, which, in 1941–42, was obsolete.
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1a DIVISIONE CAMICIE NERE ‘23 MARZO’, LIBYA, SPRING 1940 The four Blackshirt divisions deployed in Libya at the end of 1939 (reduced to three in May 1940) were a kind of hangover from the Blackshirt divisions formed in 1935 for the war against Ethiopia. Until the summer of 1940 the continental grey-green uniforms (and often shirts too, replacing the unsuitable black ones) were still quite common, especially because they were more comfortable in winter in certain areas of Libya. The tropical uniform had the same shape as the model 1940 continental wartime uniform, but it was made of lightweight, khaki-greenish cotton. The sahariana tropical uniform was widely appreciated, though still mostly used by officers only; it was available both in the pre-1940 and 1940 models (there were minor differences between them). Here, the sotto capo manipolo (second lieutenant) is wearing the sahariana; together with a primo capo squadra (lance sergeant), he is watching a group of Blackshirts improvising their supper having returned from their duties. The Blackshirts, like their Italian Army counterparts, had no separate arrangements for the rank and file mess; this was only available to officers and NCOs. The topee was the most common form of headgear in Libya in 1940 (steel helmets were rarely used), though the Blackshirts preferred to wear their fez when off duty. |