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2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca"

military unit

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ3598740 ↗
Source-derived summary

The 2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca" (Italian: 2ª Divisione di fanteria "Sforzesca") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Sforzesca was a mountain-type infantry division, which meant that the division's artillery and logistics were moved by pack mules, while in standard infantry divisions artillery and logistics were moved by horse-drawn limbers and carriages. Italy's real mountain warfare divisions were the six alpine divisions manned by Alpini troops. The Division, with the exception of the 53rd Infantry Regiment based in Biella, was based in Novara and recruited its troops primarily from northern Piedmont. The division was named for the Battle of Sforzesca fought during the First Italian War of Independence in 1849.

History

The division's lineage begins with the Brigade "Umbria" established in Palermo on 16 April 1861 with the 53rd and 54th infantry regiments.

World War I

The brigade fought on the Italian front in World War I. On 1 October 1926 the brigade assumed the name of II Infantry Brigade and received the 68th Infantry Regiment "Palermo" from the disbanded Brigade "Palermo". The brigade was the infantry component of the 2nd Territorial Division of Novara, which also included the 17th Artillery Regiment. In 1934 the division changed its name to 2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca". On 25 April 1939 the II Infantry Brigade was dissolved and the three infantry regiments came under direct command of the division, and the 53rd and 54th infantry regiments and 17th Artillery Regiment changed their names to "Sforzesca". On 24 May 1939 the division ceded the 68th Infantry Regiment "Palermo" to the newly activated 58th Infantry Division "Legnano".

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca"” as military unit. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1849, 1861, 1926, 1934—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1940-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Infantry, Division and Sforzesca can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as military unit. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3598740. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1849, 1861, 1926 and 1934.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca"” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.