[2] The division was activated on 1 August 1943 in Florence by expanding the XVI Coastal Brigade and adding the Autonomous Sector Piombino-Elba.

The division was assigned to II Army Corps and based its headquarter in Massa Marittima.

The division was also responsible for the defense of the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago and the harbor of Piombino.

[3] After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the division's commander Cesare Maria De Vecchi authorized German forces to enter the port of Piombino and forbade to resist the invading German forces.

The order was ignored by the Royal Italian Navy and army units in Piombino, which supported by the local population, fought a battle against the Germans on 10 September, that left more than 100 Germans dead and about 200 prisoners in Italian hands.