206th Coastal Division (Italy)

[2] The division was activated on 15 November 1941 in Catania by reorganizing the VI Coastal Sector Command.

[3] The division was assigned to XVI Army Corps, which was responsible for the defense of the eastern half of the island of Sicily.

[1] The division had its headquarter in Modica and was responsible for the coastal defense of the coast between Punta Braccetto in Santa Croce Camerina and Arenella to the South of Syracuse.

[4] The division defended the beaches where the British Eighth Army landed during the Allied invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943.

On 12 July British troops eliminated the last resistance and the division was declared lost due to wartime events.

206th Coastal Division soldiers taken prisoner by British forces. Typical of the second-rate equipment issued to the coastal divisions, the soldiers are wearing World War I Adrian helmets , rather than the more modern M33 helmets .