Italian Light Tanks: 1919–45

· New Vanguard Book 191 · Bloomsbury Publishing
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48
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About this ebook

The Italian army, unlike those of the British and French, did not use tanks in combat during World War I and, by November 1918, only one training unit equipped with French Schneider and Renault tanks had been formed. Consequently, during the 1920s the Italian army had just one single tank type in its armoured inventory – the Fiat 3000. Only in 1927 was the first tank unit formed as a branch of the infantry and not as an independent organization, while the cavalry rejected the idea of both tanks and armoured cars and decided to stand by the use of horses for its mounted units. Between 1933 and March 1939, a further 2,724 CV 33 / L 3 tanks were built, 1,216 of which were exported all over the world. By the time Italy entered the war in June 1940, the army had 1,284 light tanks, 855 of which were in combat units, including three armoured divisions. Variants of the CV 33 / L 3 tanks included flame-throwers, bridge-layers, recovery vehicles, and a radio command tank. Some L 3 tanks were still in use in 1945, by both the Germans and the German-allied Italian units of the Repubblica Sociale.

About the author

David Greentree was born in Portsmouth in 1970. He attended Portsmouth Grammar School, where he developed an interest in military history. He studied for a BA in History at York before taking an MA in War Studies at King's College London and qualifying as a lecturer in Further Education at Cardiff. In 1995 he accepted a commission into the Royal Air Force, and has since served in a variety of locations, including Afghanistan. He is currently working in the Ministry of Defence in London.

Mark Stacey was born in Manchester in 1964 and has been a freelance illustrator since 1987. He has a lifelong interest in all periods of history, particularly military history, and has specialized in this area throughout his career. He now lives and works in Cornwall. Mark completed the cover art for this volume.

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