The division was formed in 1935 and named for the city of Trento, where its infantry and artillery regiments were based.

The Trento served in the Western Desert Campaign and was destroyed in the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942.

[1][2] The division's lineage begins with the Brigade "Sicilia" established in Naples on 16 April 1861 with the 61st and 62nd infantry regiments.

The brigade was the infantry component of the 8th Territorial Division of Piacenza, which also included the 21st Field Artillery Regiment.

[2] In December 1940 the British Western Desert Force commenced the Operation Compass to expel the Italian 10th Army from Egypt.

[1] While the Australian 9th Infantry Division fell back to the fortified port of Tobruk,[8] British and other Commonwealth forces withdrew a further 100 miles (160 km) east to Sollum, on the Libyan–Egyptian border.

[10] The principal Axis opposition was Kampfgruppe von Herff, which included a battalion of the 62nd Infantry Regiment "Trento".

On 15 June 1941 the 62nd Infantry Regiment "Trento" was attacked by British forces during Operation Battleaxe.

[1] On 18 November 1941 the British Eighth Army launched Operation Crusader to relieve the siege of Tobruk.

[1] The Trento put up a tenacious defense on Miteirya, delaying the Allied advance for several hours and allowing an Italian armored reconnaissance force to launch a devastating counterattack.

By 5 September 1942 the Axis forces had fallen back to their starting positions and began to dig in for the expected British counterattack.

[19] The intense combat continued until 4 November when General Erwin Rommel ordered his divisions to retreat.

However the Trento and the 132nd Armored Division "Ariete" were surrounded by British forces at Bir el Abd and destroyed.