Italian Co-belligerent Army

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The Italian Co-belligerent Army (Italian: Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano), or Army of the South (Esercito del Sud), were names applied to various units of the now former Royal Italian Army during the period when they fought alongside the Allies during the Italian Campaign and civil war of 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...

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