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838304065_21830-21938 | On this tenth day of June 1940 , the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_21939-22182 | The Italian entry into the war opened up new fronts in North Africa and the Mediterranean . After Italy entered the war , pressure from Nazi Germany led to the internment in the Campagna concentration camp of some of Italy 's Jewish refugees . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_22312-22725 | In June 1940 , after initial success , the Italian offensive into southern France stalled at the fortified Alpine Line . On 24 June 1940 , France surrendered to Germany . Italy occupied a swathe of French territory along the Franco - Italian border . During this operation , Italian casualties amounted to 1,247 men dead or missing and 2,631 wounded . A further 2,151 Italians were hospitalised due to frostbite . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_22726-22955 | Late in the Battle of Britain , Italy contributed an expeditionary force , the Corpo Aereo Italiano , which took part in the Blitz from October 1940 until April 1941 , at which time the last elements of the force were withdrawn . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_22956-23724 | In November 1942 , the Italian Royal Army occupied south - eastern Vichy France and Corsica as part of Case Anton . From December 1942 , Italian military government of French departments east of the Rhône River was established , and continued until September 1943 , when Italy quit the war . This had the effect of providing a de facto temporary haven for French Jews fleeing the Holocaust . In January 1943 the Italians refused to cooperate with the Nazis in rounding up Jews living in the occupied zone of France under their control and in March prevented the Nazis from deporting Jews in their zone . German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop complained to Mussolini that `` Italian military circles ... lack a proper understanding of the Jewish question . '' | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_23725-24133 | The Italian Navy established a submarine base at Bordeaux , code named BETASOM , and thirty two Italian submarines participated in the Battle of the Atlantic . Plans to attack the harbour of New York City with CA class midget submarines in 1943 were disrupted when the submarine converted to carry out the attack , the Leonardo da Vinci , was sunk in May 1943 . The armistice put a stop to further planning . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_24350-25359 | The Italians fared poorly in North Africa almost from the beginning . Within a week of Italy 's declaration of war on 10 June 1940 , the British 11th Hussars had seized Fort Capuzzo in Libya . In an ambush east of Bardia , the British captured the Italian 10th Army Engineer - in - Chief , General Lastucci . On 28 June Marshal Italo Balbo , the Governor - General of Libya , was killed by friendly fire while landing in Tobruk . Mussolini ordered Balbo 's replacement , General Rodolfo Graziani , to launch an attack into Egypt immediately . Graziani complained to Mussolini that his forces were not properly equipped for such an operation , and that an attack into Egypt could not possibly succeed ; nevertheless , Mussolini ordered him to proceed . On 13 September , elements of the 10th Army retook Fort Capuzzo and crossed the border into Egypt . Lightly opposed , they advanced about 100 km ( 62 mi ) to Sidi Barrani , where they stopped and began entrenching themselves in a series of fortified camps . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_25360-26634 | At this time , the British had only 36,000 troops available ( out of about 100,000 under Middle Eastern command ) to defend Egypt , against 236,000 Italian troops . The Italians , however , were not concentrated in one location . They were divided between the 5th army in the west and the 10th army in the east and thus spread out from the Tunisian border in western Libya to Sidi Barrani in Egypt . At Sidi Barrani , Graziani , unaware of the British lack of numerical strength , planned to build fortifications and stock them with provisions , ammunition , and fuel , establish a water pipeline , and extend the via Balbia to that location , which was where the road to Alexandria began . This task was being obstructed by British Royal Navy attacks on Italian supply ships in the Mediterranean . At this stage Italian losses remained minimal , but the efficiency of the British Royal Navy would improve as the war went on . Mussolini was fiercely disappointed with Graziani 's sluggishness . However , according to Bauer he had only himself to blame , as he had withheld the trucks , armaments , and supplies that Graziani had deemed necessary for success . Wavell was hoping to see the Italians overextend themselves before his intended counter at Marsa Matruh . General | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_26654-27390 | Graziani and his staff lacked faith in the strength of the Italian military . One of his officers wrote : `` We 're trying to fight this ... as though it were a colonial war ... this is a European war ... fought with European weapons against a European enemy . We take too little account of this in building our stone forts ... We are not fighting the Ethiopians now . '' ( This was a reference to the Second Italo - Abyssinian War where Italian forces had fought against a relatively poorly equipped opponent . ) Balbo had said `` Our light tanks , already old and armed only with machine guns , are completely out - classed . The machine guns of the British armoured cars pepper them with bullets which easily pierce their armour . '' | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_27391-28095 | Italian forces around Sidi Barrani had severe weaknesses in their deployment . Their five main fortifications were placed too far apart to allow mutual support against an attacking force , and the areas between were weakly patrolled . The absence of motorised transport did not allow for rapid reorganisation , if needed . The rocky terrain had prevented an anti-tank ditch from being dug and there were too few mines and 47 mm anti-tank guns to repel an armoured advance . By the summer of 1941 , the Italians in North Africa had regrouped , retrained and rearmed into a much more effective fighting force , one that proved to be much harder for the British to overcome in encounters from 1941 to 1943 . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_28255-29175 | On 8 December 1940 , the British launched Operation Compass . Planned as an extended raid , it resulted in a force of British , Indian , and Australian troops cutting off the Italian 10th Army . Pressing the British advantage home , General Richard O'Connor succeeded in reaching El Agheila , deep in Libya ( an advance of 500 miles ( 800 km ) ) and taking some 130,000 prisoners . The Allies nearly destroyed the 10th Army , and seemed on the point of sweeping the Italians out of Libya altogether . Winston Churchill , however , directed the advance be stopped , initially because of supply problems and because of a new Italian offensive that had gained ground in Albania , and ordered troops dispatched to defend Greece . Weeks later the first troops of the German Afrika Korps started to arrive in North Africa ( February 1941 ) , along with six Italian divisions including the motorized Trento and armored Ariete . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_29176-29849 | German General Erwin Rommel now became the principal Axis field commander in North Africa , although the bulk of his forces consisted of Italian troops . Though subordinate to the Italians , under Rommel 's direction the Axis troops pushed the British and Commonwealth troops back into Egypt but were unable to complete the task because of the exhaustion and their extended supply lines which were under threat from the Allied enclave at Tobruk , which they failed to capture . After reorganising and re-grouping the Allies launched Operation Crusader in November 1941 which resulted in the Axis front line being pushed back once more to El Agheila by the end of the year . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_29850-30845 | In January 1942 the Axis struck back again , advancing to Gazala where the front lines stabilised while both sides raced to build up their strength . At the end of May , Rommel launched the Battle of Gazala where the British armoured divisions were soundly defeated . The Axis seemed on the verge of sweeping the British out of Egypt , but at the First Battle of El Alamein ( July 1942 ) General Claude Auchinleck halted Rommel 's advance only 90 mi ( 140 km ) from Alexandria . Rommel made a final attempt to break through during the Battle of Alam el Halfa but Eighth Army , by this time commanded by Lieutenant - General Bernard Montgomery , held firm . After a period of reinforcement and training the Allies assumed the offensive at the Second Battle of Alamein ( October / November 1942 ) where they scored a decisive victory and the remains of Rommel 's German - Italian Panzer Army were forced to engage in a fighting retreat for 1,600 mi ( 2,600 km ) to the Libyan border with Tunisia . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_30846-31659 | After the Operation Torch landings in the Vichy French territories of Morocco and Algeria ( November 1942 ) British , American and French forces advanced east to engage the German - Italian forces in the Tunisia Campaign . By February , the Axis forces in Tunisia were joined by Rommel 's forces , after their long withdrawal from El Alamein , which were re-designated the Italian First Army ( under Giovanni Messe ) when Rommel left to command the Axis forces to the north at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass . Despite the Axis success at Kasserine , the Allies were able to reorganise ( with all forces under the unified direction of 18th Army Group commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander ) and regain the initiative in April . The Allies completed the defeat of the Axis armies in North Africa in May 1943 . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_31807-32013 | In addition to the well - known campaigns in the western desert during 1940 , the Italians initiated operations in June 1940 from their East African colonies of Ethiopia , Italian Somaliland , and Eritrea . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_32014-32335 | As in Egypt , Italian forces ( roughly 70,000 Italian soldiers and 180,000 native troops ) outnumbered their British opponents . Italian East Africa , however , was isolated and far from the Italian mainland , leaving the forces there cut off from supply and thus severely limited in the operations they could undertake . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_32336-32661 | Initial Italian attacks in East Africa took two different directions , one into the Sudan and the other into Kenya . Then , in August 1940 , the Italians advanced into British Somaliland . After suffering and inflicting few casualties , the British and Commonwealth garrison evacuated Somaliland , retreating by sea to Aden . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_32662-33028 | The Italian invasion of British Somaliland was one of the few successful Italian campaigns of World War II accomplished without German support . In the Sudan and Kenya , Italy captured small territories around several border villages , after which the Italian Royal Army in East Africa adopted a defensive posture in preparation for expected British counterattacks . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_33029-33465 | The Regia Marina maintained a small squadron in the Italian East Africa area . The `` Red Sea Flotilla '' , consisting of seven destroyers and eight submarines , was based at the port of Massawa in Eritrea . Despite a severe shortage of fuel , the flotilla posed a threat to British convoys traversing the Red Sea . However , Italian attempts to attack British convoys resulted in the loss of four submarines and one destroyer . Italian | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_33500-33899 | On 19 January 1941 , the expected British counter-attack arrived in the shape of the Indian 4th and Indian 5th Infantry Divisions , which made a thrust from the Sudan . A supporting attack was made from Kenya by the South African 1st Division , the 11th African Division , and the 12th African Division . Finally , the British launched an amphibious assault from Aden to re-take British Somaliland . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_33900-34372 | Fought from February to March , the outcome of the Battle of Keren determined the fate of Italian East Africa . In early April , after Keren fell , Asmara and Massawa followed . The Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa also fell in April 1941 . The Viceroy of Ethiopia , Amedeo , Duke of Aosta , surrendered at the stronghold of Amba Alagi in May . He received full military honours . The Italians in East Africa made a final stand around the town of Gondar in November 1941 . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_34373-34841 | When the port of Massawa fell to the British , the remaining destroyers were ordered on final missions in the Red Sea , some of them achieving small successes before being scuttled or sunk . At the same time , the last four submarines made an epic voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to Bordeaux in France . Some Italians , after their defeat , waged a guerilla war mainly in Eritrea and Ethiopia , that lasted until fall 1943 . Notable among them was Amedeo Guillet . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_35072-35827 | In early 1939 , while the world was focused on Adolf Hitler 's aggression against Czechoslovakia , Mussolini looked to the Kingdom of Albania , across the Adriatic Sea from Italy . Italian forces invaded Albania on 7 April 1939 and swiftly took control of the small country . Even before the invasion , Albania had been politically dominated by Italy ; after the invasion it was formally made part of Italy and the Italian king took the Albanian crown . Along with the intervention in the Spanish Civil War and the invasion of Abyssinia , the invasion of Albania was part of the Italian contribution to the disintegration of the collective security the League of Nations instituted after World War I. As such , it was part of the prelude to World War II . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_35856-36966 | On 28 October 1940 , Italy started the Greco - Italian War by launching an invasion of the Kingdom of Greece from Albania . In part , the Italians attacked Greece because of the growing influence of Germany in the Balkans . Both Yugoslavia and Greece had governments friendly to Germany . Mussolini launched the invasion of Greece in haste after the Kingdom of Romania , a state which he perceived as lying within the Italian sphere of influence , allied itself with Germany . The order to invade Greece was given by Mussolini to Badoglio and Army Chief of Staff Mario Roatta on 15 October , with the expectation that the attack would commence within 12 days . Badoglio and Roatta were appalled given that , acting on his orders , they had demobilised 600,000 men three weeks prior . Given the expected requirement of at least 20 divisions to facilitate success , the fact that only eight divisions were currently in Albania , and the inadequacies of Albanian ports and connecting infrastructure , adequate preparation would require at least three months . Nonetheless , D - day was set at dawn on 28 October . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_36967-37701 | The initial Italian offensive was quickly contained , and the invasion soon ended in an embarrassing stalemate . Taking advantage of Bulgaria 's decision to remain neutral , the Greek Commander - in - Chief , Lt Gen Alexandros Papagos , was able to establish numerical superiority by mid-November , prior to launching a counter-offensive that drove the Italians back into Albania . In addition , the Greeks were naturally adept at operating in mountainous terrain , while only six of the Italian Army 's divisions , the Alpini , were trained and equipped for mountain warfare . Only when the Italians were able to establish numerical parity was the Greek offensive stopped . By then they had been able to penetrate deep into Albania . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_37702-38823 | An Italian `` Spring Offensive '' in March 1941 , which tried to salvage the situation prior to German intervention , amounted to little in terms of territorial gains . At this point , combat casualties amounted to over 102,000 for the Italians ( with 13,700 dead and 3,900 missing ) and fifty thousand sick ; the Greek suffered over 90,000 combat casualties ( including 14,000 killed and 5,000 missing ) and an unknown number of sick . While an embarrassment for the Italians , losses on this scale were devastating for the less numerous Greeks ; additionally , the Greek Army had bled a significant amount of materiel . They were short on every area of equipment despite heavy infusion of British aid in February and March , with the army as a whole having only 1 month of artillery ammunition left by the start of April and insufficient arms and equipment to mobilize its reserves . Hitler later stated in hindsight that Greece would have been defeated with or without German intervention , and that even at the time he was of the opinion that the Italians alone would have conquered Greece in the forthcoming season . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_38824-39937 | After British troops arrived in Greece in March 1941 , British bombers operating from Greek bases could reach the Romanian oil fields , vital to the German war effort . Hitler decided that a British presence in Greece presented a threat to Germany 's rear and committed German troops to invade Greece via Yugoslavia ( where a coup had deposed the German - friendly government ) . The Germans invaded on April 6 1941 , smashing through the skeleton garrisons opposing them with little resistance while the Italians continued a slow advance in Albania and Epirus as the Greeks withdrew , with the country falling to the Axis by the end of the month . The Italian Army was still pinned down in Albania by the Greeks when the Germans began their invasion . Crucially , the bulk of the Greek Army ( fifteen divisions out of twenty - one ) was left facing the Italians in Albania and Epirus when the Germans intervened . Hitler commented that the Italians `` had so weakened ( Greece ) that its collapse had already become inevitable '' , and credited them with having `` engaged the greater part of the Greek Army . '' | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_40013-40713 | On 6 April 1941 , the Wehrmacht invasions of Yugoslavia ( Operation 25 ) and Greece ( Operation Marita ) both started . Together with the rapid advance of the German forces the Italians attacked Yugoslavia in Dalmatia and pushed the Greeks finally out of Albania . On 17 April , Yugoslavia surrendered to the Germans and the Italians . On 30 April , Greece too surrendered to the Germans and Italians , and was divided into German , Italian and Bulgarian sectors . The invasions ended with a complete Axis victory in May when Crete fell . On 3 May , during the triumphal parade in Athens to celebrate the Axis victory , Mussolini started to boast of an Italian Mare Nostrum in the Mediterranean sea . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_40714-41396 | Some 28 Italian divisions participated in the Balkan invasions . The coast of Yugoslavia was occupied by the Italian Army , while the rest of the country was divided between the Axis forces ( a German and Italian puppet State of Croatia was created , under the nominal sovereignty of Prince Aimone , Duke of Aosta , but actually governed by the Croatian fascist Ante Pavelić ) . The Italians assumed control of most of Greece with their 11th Army , while the Bulgarians occupied the northern provinces and the Germans the strategically most important areas . Italian troops would occupy parts of Greece and Yugoslavia until the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943 . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_41397-41759 | In spring 1941 , Italy created a Montenegrin client state and annexed most of the Dalmatian coast as the Governorship of Dalmatia ( Governatorato di Dalmazia ) . A complicated four - way conflict between the puppet Montenegro regime , Montenegrin nationalists , Royalist remnants of the Yugoslav government , and Communist Partisans continued from 1941 -- 1945 . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_41760-41862 | In 1942 the Italian military commander in Croatia refused to hand over Jews in his zone to the Nazis . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_42022-42869 | In 1940 , the Italian Royal Navy ( Regia Marina ) could not match the overall strength of the British Royal Navy in the Mediterranean Sea . After some initial setbacks , the Italian Navy declined to engage in a confrontation of capital ships . Since the British Navy had as a principal task the supply and protection of convoys supplying Britain 's outposts in the Mediterranean , the mere continued existence of the Italian fleet ( the so - called `` fleet in being '' concept ) caused problems to Britain , which had to utilise warships sorely needed elsewhere to protect Mediterranean convoys . On 11 November , Britain launched the first carrier strike of the war , using a squadron of Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers . This raid at Taranto left three Italian battleships crippled or destroyed for the loss of two British aircraft shot down . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_42870-43601 | The Italian navy found other ways to attack the British . The most successful involved the use of frogmen and riding manned torpedoes to attack ships in harbour . The 10th Light Flotilla , also known as Decima Flottiglia MAS or Xa MAS , which carried out these attacks , sank or damaged 28 ships from September 1940 to the end of 1942 . These included the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and Valiant ( damaged in the harbour of Alexandria on 18 December 1941 ) , and 111,527 long tons ( 113,317 t ) of merchant shipping . The XMAS used a particular kind of torpedo , the SLC ( Siluro a Lenta Corsa ) , whose crew was composed of two frogmen , and motorboats packed with explosives , called MTM ( Motoscafo da Turismo Modificato ) . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_43602-44322 | Following the attacks on these two battleships , an Italian - dominated Mediterranean Sea appeared much more possible to achieve . However , this was only a brief happy time for Mussolini . The oil and supplies brought to Malta , despite heavy losses , by Operation Pedestal in August and the Allied landings in North Africa , Operation Torch , in November 1942 , turned the fortunes of war against Italy . The Axis forces were ejected from Libya and Tunisia in six months after the Battle of El Alamein , while their supply lines were harassed day after day by the growing and overwhelming aerial and naval supremacy of the Allies . By the summer of 1943 the Allies were poised for an invasion of the Italian homeland . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_44443-44686 | In July 1941 , some 62,000 Italian troops of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia ( Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia , or CSIR ) left for the Eastern Front to aid in the German invasion of the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ) . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_44687-45285 | In July 1942 , the Italian Royal Army ( Regio Esercito ) expanded the CSIR to a full army of about 200,000 men named the Italian Army in Russia ( Armata Italiana in Russia , or ARMIR ) . The ARMIR was also known as the `` Italian 8th Army . '' From August 1942 -- February 1943 , the Italian 8th Army took part in the Battle of Stalingrad . At Stalingrad , the 8th Army suffered heavy losses ( some 20,000 dead and 64,000 captured ) when the Soviets isolated the German forces in Stalingrad by attacking the over-stretched Hungarian , Romanian , and Italian forces protecting the German 's flanks . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_45286-45497 | By the summer of 1943 , Rome had withdrawn the remnants of these troops to Italy . Many of the Italian POWs captured in the Soviet Union died in captivity due to the harsh conditions in the Soviet prison camps . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_45757-46259 | On 10 July 1943 , a combined force of American and British Commonwealth troops invaded Sicily . German generals again took the lead in the defence and , although they lost the island after weeks of bitter fights , they succeeded in ferrying large numbers of German and Italian forces safely off Sicily to the Italian mainland . On 19 July , an Allied air raid on Rome destroyed both military and collateral civil installations . With these two events , popular support for the war diminished in Italy . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_46260-47041 | On 25 July , the Grand Council of Fascism voted to limit the power of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and handed control of the Italian armed forces over to King Victor Emmanuel III . The next day Mussolini met with the King , was dismissed as prime minister , and was then imprisoned . A new Italian government , led by General Pietro Badoglio and Victor Emmanuel III , took over in Italy . Although they publicly declared that they would keep fighting alongside the Germans , the new Italian government began secret negotiations with the Allies to come over to the Allied side . On 3 September , a secret armistice was signed with the Allies at Fairfield Camp in Sicily . The armistice was publicly announced on 8 September . By then , the Allies were on the Italian mainland . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_47042-47482 | On 3 September , British troops crossed the short distance from Sicily to the ' toe ' of Italy in Operation Baytown . Two more Allied landings took place on 9 September at Salerno ( Operation Avalanche ) and at Taranto ( Operation Slapstick ) . The Italian surrender meant that the Allied landings at Taranto took place unopposed , with the troops simply disembarking from warships at the docks rather than assaulting the coastline . German | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_47507-48465 | Because of the time it took for the new Italian government to negotiate the armistice , the Germans had time to reinforce their presence in Italy and prepare for their defection . In the first weeks of August they increased the number of divisions in Italy from two to seven and took control of vital infrastructure . Once the signing of the armistice was announced on 8 September , German troops quickly disarmed the Italian forces and took over critical defensive positions in Operation Achse . This included Italian - occupied southeastern France and the Italian - controlled areas in the Balkans . Only in Sardinia , Corsica , and in part of Apulia and Calabria were Italian troops able to hold their positions until the arrival of Allied forces . In the area of Rome , only one infantry division -- the Granatieri di Sardegna -- and some small armoured units fought with commitment , but by 11 September they were overwhelmed by superior German forces . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_48466-49375 | King Victor Emmanuel III and his family , with Marshal Badoglio , General Mario Roatta , and others , abandoned Rome on 9 September . General Caroni , who was tasked with defending Rome , was given duplicitous orders to have his troops abandon Rome ( something he did not want to do ) , and essentially to provide rear guard protection to the King and his entourage so they could flee to the Abruzzi hills , and later out to sea . They later landed at Brindisi . Most importantly , Badoglio never gave the order `` OP 44 '' for the Italian people to rise up against the Germans until he knew it was too late to do any good ; that is , he belatedly issued the order on 11 September . However , from the day of the announcement of the Armistice , when Italian citizens , military personnel and military units decided to rise up and resist on their own , they were sometimes quite effective against the Germans . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_49376-49626 | On 9 September , two German Fritz X guided bombs sank the Italian battleship Roma off the coast of Sardinia . A Supermarina ( Italian Naval Command ) broadcast led the Italians to initially believe this attack was carried out by the British . Italian | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_49694-50162 | On the Greek island of Cephallonia , General Antonio Gandin , commander of the 12,000 - strong Italian Acqui Division , decided to resist the German attempt to forcibly disarm his force . The battle raged from 13 -- 22 September , when the Italians were forced to surrender after suffering some 1,300 casualties . The ensuing massacre of several thousand Italian prisoners of war by the Germans stands as one of the worst single war crimes committed by the Wehrmacht . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_50163-50587 | Italian troops captured by the Germans were given a choice to keep fighting with the Germans . About 94,000 Italians accepted and the remaining 710,000 were designated Italian military internees and were transported as forced labour to Germany . Some Italian troops that evaded German capture in the Balkans joined the Yugoslav ( about 40,000 soldiers ) and Greek Resistance ( about 20,000 ) . The same happened in Albania . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_50588-51186 | After the German invasion , deportations of Italian Jews to Nazi death camps began . However , by the time the German advance reached the Campagna concentration camp , all the inmates had already fled to the mountains with the help of the local inhabitants . Rev. Aldo Brunacci of Assisi , under the direction of his bishop , Giuseppe Nicolini , saved all the Jews who sought refuge in Assisi . In October 1943 Nazis raided the Jewish ghetto in Rome . In November 1943 Jews of Genoa and Florence were deported to Auschwitz . It is estimated that 7,500 Italian Jews became victims of the Holocaust . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_51365-51727 | About two months after Benito Mussolini was stripped of power , he was rescued by the Germans in Operation Eiche ( `` Oak '' ) . The Germans re-located Mussolini to northern Italy where he set up a new Fascist state , the Italian Social Republic ( Repubblica Sociale Italiana or RSI ) . Many Italian personalities joined the RSI , like General Rodolfo Graziani . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_51728-52653 | The Allied armies continued to advance through Italy despite increasing opposition from the Germans . The Allies soon controlled most of southern Italy , and Naples rose against and ejected the occupying German forces . The Allies organized some Italian troops in the south into what were known as `` co-belligerent '' or `` royalist '' forces . In time , there was a co-belligerent army ( Italian Co-Belligerent Army ) , navy ( Italian Co-Belligerent Navy ) , and air force ( Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force ) . These Italian forces fought alongside the Allies for the rest of the war . Other Italian troops , loyal to Mussolini and his RSI , continued to fight alongside the Germans ( among them were the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano , the National Republican Army ) . From this point on , a large Italian resistance movement located in northern Italy fought a guerilla war against the German and RSI forces . Mussolini | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_52772-53810 | Winston Churchill had long regarded southern Europe as the military weak spot of the continent ( in World War I he had advocated the Dardanelles campaign , and during World War II he favoured the Balkans as an area of operations , for example in Greece in 1940 ) . Calling Italy the `` soft underbelly '' of the Axis , Churchill had therefore advocated this invasion instead of a cross-channel invasion of occupied France . But Italy itself proved anything but a soft target : the mountainous terrain gave Axis forces excellent defensive positions , and it also partly negated the Allied advantage in motorized and mechanized units . The final Allied victory over the Axis in Italy did not come until the spring offensive of 1945 , after Allied troops had breached the Gothic Line , leading to the surrender of German and RSI forces in Italy on 2 May shortly before Germany finally surrendered ending World War II in Europe on 8 May . Mussolini was captured and killed on 28 April 1945 by the Italian resistance while attempting to flee . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_53856-54571 | Japan reacted with shock and outrage to the news of the surrender of Italy to the Allied forces in September 1943 . Italian citizens residing in Japan and in Manchukuo were swiftly rounded up and summarily asked whether they were loyal to the King of Savoy , who dishonoured their country by surrendering to the enemy , or with the Duce and the newly created Repubblica Sociale Italiana , which vowed to continue fighting alongside the Germans . Those who sided with the King were interned in concentration camps and detained in dismal conditions until the end of the war , while those who opted for the Fascist dictator were allowed to go on with their lives , although under strict surveillance by the Kempeitai . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_54572-54767 | The Italian concession of Tientsin was occupied by Japanese troops after resistance from its garrison . The Social Republic of Italy later formally gave it to the Japanese puppet state in China . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_54768-55592 | The news of Italy 's surrender did not reach the crew members of the three Italian submarines Giuliani , Cappellini and Torelli travelling to Singapore , then occupied by Japan , to take a load of rubber , tin and strategic materials bound for Italy and Germany 's war industry . All the officers and sailors on board were arrested by the Japanese army , and after a few weeks of detention the vast majority of them chose to side with Japan and Germany . The Kriegsmarine assigned new officers to the three units , who were renamed as U-boat U. IT. 23 , U. IT. 24 and U. IT. 25 , taking part in German war operations in the Pacific until the Giuliani was sunk by the British submarine HMS Tally - ho in February 1944 and the other two vessels were taken over by the Japanese Imperial Navy upon Germany 's surrender in 1945 . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_55593-56335 | Alberto Tarchiani , an anti-fascist journalist and activist , was appointed as Ambassador to Washington by the cabinet of Badoglio , which acted as provisional head of the Italian government pending the occupation of the country by the Allied forces . On his suggestion , Italy issued a formal declaration of war on Japan on 14 July 1945 . The purpose of this act , which brought no military follow - up , was mainly to persuade the Allies that the new government of Italy deserved to be invited to the San Francisco Peace Conference , as a reward for its co-belligerence . However , the British Prime Minister Churchill and John Foster Dulles were resolutely against the idea , and so Italy 's new government was left out of the Conference . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_56336-56487 | Italy and Japan negotiated the resumption of their respective diplomatic ties after 1951 , and later signed several bilateral agreements and treaties . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_56706-56906 | Nearly four million Italians served in the Italian Army during the Second World War and nearly half a million Italians ( including civilians ) lost their lives between June 1940 and May 1945 . Fascist | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_57012-57116 | The official Italian government accounting of World War II 1940 -- 45 losses listed the following data : | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_57117-58161 | Total military dead and missing from 1940 -- 45 : 291,376 Losses prior to the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943 : 204,346 ( 66,686 killed , 111,579 missing , 26,081 died of disease ) Losses after the Armistice : 87,030 ( 42,916 killed , 19,840 missing , 24,274 died of disease ) . Military losses in Italy after the September 1943 Armistice included 5,927 with the Allies , 17,488 Italian resistance movement fighters and 13,000 Italian Social Republic ( RSI ) Fascist forces . Losses by branch of service : Army 201,405 Navy 22,034 Air Force 9,096 Colonial Forces 354 Chaplains 91 Fascist militia 10,066 Paramilitary 3,252 Not indicated 45,078 Military losses by theatre of war : Italy 74,725 ( 37,573 post armistice ) France 2,060 ( 1,039 post armistice ) Germany 25,430 ( 24,020 post armistice ) Greece , Albania and Yugoslavia 49,459 ( 10,090 post armistice ) Soviet Union 82,079 ( 3,522 post armistice ) Africa 22,341 ( 1,565 post armistice ) At sea 28,438 ( 5,526 post armistice ) Other and unknown 6,844 ( 3,695 post armistice ) . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_58241-58385 | Updated studies ( 2010 ) by the Ufficio dell'Albo d'Oro of the Italian Ministry of Defence have however revised the military deaths to 319,207 : | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_58386-58488 | Army 246,432 ; Navy 31,347 ; Air Force 13,210 ; Partisan formations 15,197 ; RSI armed forces 13,021 . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_58489-58854 | Civilian losses were 153,147 ( 123,119 post armistice ) including 61,432 ( 42,613 post armistice ) in air attacks . A brief summary of data from this report can be found online . There were in addition to these losses the deaths of African soldiers conscripted by Italy which were estimated by the Italian military at 10,000 in East African Campaign of 1940 -- 41 . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_58855-59217 | Civilian losses as a result of the fighting in Italian Libya were estimated by an independent Russian journalist to be 10,000 . Included in the losses are also 64,000 victims of Nazi reprisals and genocide including 30,000 POWs and 8,500 Jews Russian sources list the deaths of 28,000 of the 49,000 Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union ( 1942 -- 1954 ) . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_59218-59327 | The genocide of Roma people was 1,000 persons . Jewish Holocaust victims totalled 8,562 ( including Libya ) . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_59328-59713 | After the armistice with the Allies , some 650,000 members of the Italian armed forces who refused to side with the occupying Germans were interned in concentration and labour camps . Of these , around 50,000 died while imprisoned or while under transportation . A further 29,000 died in armed struggles against the Germans while resisting capture immediately following the armistice . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_59733-60702 | The Treaty of Peace with Italy , 1947 spelled the end of the Italian colonial empire , along with other border revisions . The Paris Peace Treaties , 1947 compelled Italy to pay $360,000,000 ( US dollars at 1938 prices ) in war reparations : $125,000,000 to Yugoslavia , $105,000,000 to Greece , $100,000,000 to the Soviet Union , $25,000,000 to Ethiopia and $5,000,000 to Albania . Italy also agreed to pay £ 1,765,000 to Greek nationals whose property in Italian territory had been destroyed or seized during the war . In the Italian constitutional referendum , 1946 the Italian monarchy was abolished , having been associated with the deprivations of the war and the Fascist rule . Unlike in Germany and Japan , no war crimes tribunals were held against Italian military and political leaders , though the Italian resistance summarily executed some of them ( such as Mussolini ) at the end of the war . Mussolini was killed by Italian partisans on April 28 , 1945 . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_60744-61655 | Allied press reports of Italian military prowess in the Second World War were almost always dismissive . British wartime propaganda trumpeted the destruction of the Italian 10th Army by a significantly smaller British force during the early phase of the North African Campaign . The propaganda from this Italian collapse , which was designed to boost British morale during a bleak period of the war , left a lasting impression . The later exploits of Rommel and German accounts of events tended to disparage their Italian allies and downplay their contributions ; these German accounts were used as a primary source for the Axis side by English - language historians after the war . Kenneth Macksey wrote in 1972 , that after the split in the Italian state and the reinforcement of fascist Italy by German troops , `` the British threw out the Italian Chicken only to let in the German Eagle '' , for example. . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_61656-64219 | James Sadkovich , Peter Haining , Vincent O'Hara , Ian Walker and others have attempted to reassess the performance of the Italian forces . Many previous authors used only German or British sources , not considering the Italian ones , hampered by few Italian sources being translated into English . Contemporary British reports ignored an action of Bir El Gobi , where a battalion of Giovani Fascisti held up the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade and destroyed dozens of tanks of the 22nd Armoured Brigade . Sadkovich , Walker and others have found examples of actions where Italian forces were effective , yet are rarely discussed by most histories . During the Tunisian Campaign , where Italian units were involved in most encounters , such as Kasserine Pass , Mareth , Akarit and Enfidaville , it was observed by General Alexander , `` ... the Italians fought particularly well , outdoing the Germans in line with them '' . Rommel also conceded praise on several occasions . Other times , German mistakes were blamed on Italians , or the Germans left the Italians in hopeless situations where failure was unavoidable . Questionable German advice , broken promises and security lapses had direct consequences at the Battle of Cape Matapan , in the convoy war and North Africa . According to Sadkovich , Rommel often retreated leaving immobile infantry units exposed , withdrew German units to rest even though the Italians had also been in combat , would deprive the Italians of their share of captured goods , ignore Italian intelligence , seldom acknowledge Italian successes and often resist formulation of joint strategy . Alan J. Levine , an author who has also extensively worked with Italian sources , points out that while Allied efforts to choke off Rommel 's supply lines were eventually successful and played the decisive role in the Allied victory in Africa , the Italians who defended it , especially navy commanders , were not feeble - minded or incompetent at all . He criticises Rommel for ignoring the good advice of Italians during the Crusader Offensive ( although he also presents a positive picture of the Field Marshal in general ) , and in review of Sadkovich 's work The Italian Navy in World War II , criticises it for being unreliable and recommends Bragadin and the Italian official history instead . Gerhard L. Weinberg , in his 2011 George C. Marshall Lecture `` Military History -- Some Myths of World War II '' ( 2011 ) complained that `` there is far too much denigration of the performance of Italy 's forces during the conflict . '' | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_64220-64383 | In addition , Italian ' cowardice ' did not appear to be more prevalent than the level seen in any army , despite claims of wartime propaganda . Ian Walker wrote : | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_64384-65336 | ... it is perhaps simplest to ask who is the most courageous in the following situations : the Italian carristi , who goes into battle in an obsolete M14 tank against superior enemy armour and anti-tank guns , knowing they can easily penetrate his flimsy protection at a range where his own small gun will have little effect ; the German panzer soldier or British tanker who goes into battle in a Panzer IV Special or Sherman respectively against equivalent enemy opposition knowing that he can at least trade blows with them on equal terms ; the British tanker who goes into battle in a Sherman against inferior Italian armour and anti-tank guns , knowing confidently that he can destroy them at ranges where they can not touch him . It would seem clear that , in terms of their motto Ferrea Mole , Ferreo Cuore , the Italian carristi really had `` iron hearts '' , even though as the war went on their `` iron hulls '' increasingly let them down . -- | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_65344-66149 | The problems that stand out to the vast majority of historians pertain to Italian strategy and equipment . Italian equipment was , in general , not up to the standard of either the Allied or the German armies . An account of the defeat of the Italian 10th Army noted that the incredibly poor quality of the Italian artillery shells saved many British soldiers ' lives . More crucially , they lacked suitable quantities of equipment of all kinds and their high command did not take necessary steps to plan for most eventualities . This was compounded by Mussolini 's assigning unqualified political favourites to key positions . Mussolini also dramatically overestimated the ability of the Italian military at times , sending them into situations where failure was likely , such as the invasion of Greece . | Military history of Italy during World War II |
838304065_66150-66939 | Historians have long debated why Italy 's military and its Fascist regime were so remarkably ineffective at an activity - war - that was central to their identity . MacGregor Knox says the explanation , `` was first and foremost a failure of Italy 's military culture and military institutions . '' James Sadkovich gives the most charitable interpretation of Italian failures , blaming inferior equipment , overextension , and inter-service rivalries . Its forces had `` more than their share of handicaps . '' Donald Detwiler concludes that , `` Italy 's entrance into the war showed very early that her military strength was only a hollow shell . Italy 's military failures against France , Greece , Yugoslavia and in the African Theatres of war shook Italy 's new prestige mightily . '' | Military history of Italy during World War II |
837589071_127-389 | This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . ( November 2010 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message ) Lord | Page (servant) |
837589071_461-955 | A page or page boy is traditionally a young male attendant or servant , but may also have been used for a messenger at the service of a nobleman . The origin of the term is uncertain , but it may come either from the Latin pagus ( servant ) , possibly linked to peasant , or an earlier Greek word παῖς ( pais = child ) . During wedding ceremonies , a page boy is often used as a symbolic attendant to carry the rings , a role comparable to the scattering of flower petals by flower girls . | Page (servant) |
837589071_1168-1685 | In medieval times , a page was an attendant to a nobleman , a knight , a Governor or a Castellan . Until the age of about seven , sons of noble families would receive training in manners and basic literacy from their mothers or other female relatives . Upon reaching seven years of age , a boy would be sent to the castle , great house or other estate of another noble family . This would match the age at which apprenticeships or servants ' employment would be entered into by young males from lower social classes . | Page (servant) |
837589071_1686-2938 | A young boy served as a page for about seven years , running messages , serving , cleaning clothing and weapons , and learning the basics of combat . He might be required to arm or dress the lord to whom he had been sent by his own family . Personal service of this nature was not considered as demeaning , in the context of shared noble status by page and lord . It was seen rather as a form of education in return for labour . While a page did not receive reimbursement other than clothing , accommodation and food , he could be rewarded for an exceptional act of service . In return for his work , the page would receive training in horse - riding , hunting , hawking and combat -- the essential skills required of adult men of his rank in medieval society . Less physical training included schooling in the playing of musical instruments , the composition and singing of songs , and the learning of board games such as chess . The initial education received as a child in reading and writing , would be continued to a level of modest competence under the tuition of a chaplain or other cleric , and possibly from a grammar master . They also learned courtly manners and , in attending to the needs of their master , a degree of temporary humility . | Page (servant) |
837589071_2939-3423 | Medieval pages might accompany their lords to war . While their roles in battle were generally limited to secondary assistance and minor support functions , pages might expect to participate directly in siege situations . This could occur when a castle was under attack and crossbows were available for use by pages among the defenders . The mechanical and long - range nature of these devices made them almost the only medieval weapon which could be employed effectively by a youth . | Page (servant) |
837589071_3424-3993 | At age fourteen , the young noble could graduate to become a squire , and by age 21 , perhaps a knight himself . These boys were often the scions of other great families who were sent to learn the ways of the manorial system by observation . Their residence in the house served as a goodwill gesture between the two families involved and helped them gain social and political contacts for their adult lives . A reference to this kind of page is found in the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslaus : `` Hither , page , and stand by me , if thou know'st it , telling ... '' | Page (servant) |
837589071_3994-4170 | This type of page is almost unheard of today outside of royal residences , although the functions and status of legislative pages are a clear continuation of the earlier role . | Page (servant) |
837589071_4199-4543 | Until the early 20th century , boys of humble background might gain a similar place in a great house . According to the International Butler Academy , these pages were apprentice footmen . Unlike the hall boys , who did heavy work , these pages performed light odd - jobs and stood in attendance wearing livery when guests were being received . | Page (servant) |
837589071_4645-4958 | During and following the Renaissance , it became fashionable for black boys and young men to be decorative pages , placed into fancy costumes and attending fashionable ladies and lords . This custom lasted for several centuries and the `` African page '' became a staple accoutrement of baroque and rococo style . | Page (servant) |
837589071_5050-5596 | In the Grace Kelly film , To Catch a Thief , an undercover detective wears the costume of her `` African page '' to a costume ball . Valentine Nwanze played an `` African page '' attending James Graham , Marquess of Montrose in the film Rob Roy . `` Koko '' , the fictional manservant of an opera diva , is cast as her African page in A Nut at the Opera by Maurice Vellekoop . Decorative pages feature in a drawing room scene in Persuasion . In the 2012 historical drama film A Royal Affair , Christian VII has an African page boy named Moranti . | Page (servant) |
837589071_5597-5727 | Similarly , Oriental pages were periodically in fashion , e.g. in Napoleonic France since Bonaparte 's conquest of Ottoman Egypt . | Page (servant) |
837589071_5792-5959 | While the traditional pages are rare in the modern private workforce , US television network NBC 's page program is a notable example of contemporary workplace pages . | Page (servant) |
818712336_291-823 | A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through an electrochemical reaction of hydrogen fuel with oxygen or another oxidizing agent . Fuel cells are different from batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen ( usually from air ) to sustain the chemical reaction , whereas in a battery the chemical energy comes from chemicals already present in the battery . Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied . | Fuel cell |
818712336_824-1354 | The first fuel cells were invented in 1838 . The first commercial use of fuel cells came more than a century later in NASA space programs to generate power for satellites and space capsules . Since then , fuel cells have been used in many other applications . Fuel cells are used for primary and backup power for commercial , industrial and residential buildings and in remote or inaccessible areas . They are also used to power fuel cell vehicles , including forklifts , automobiles , buses , boats , motorcycles and submarines . | Fuel cell |
818712336_1355-2835 | There are many types of fuel cells , but they all consist of an anode , a cathode , and an electrolyte that allows positively charged hydrogen ions ( protons ) to move between the two sides of the fuel cell . At the anode a catalyst causes the fuel to undergo oxidation reactions that generate protons ( positively charged hydrogen ions ) and electrons . The protons flow from the anode to the cathode through the electrolyte after the reaction . At the same time , electrons are drawn from the anode to the cathode through an external circuit , producing direct current electricity . At the cathode , another catalyst causes hydrogen ions , electrons , and oxygen to react , forming water . Fuel cells are classified by the type of electrolyte they use and by the difference in startup time ranging from 1 second for proton exchange membrane fuel cells ( PEM fuel cells , or PEMFC ) to 10 minutes for solid oxide fuel cells ( SOFC ) . Individual fuel cells produce relatively small electrical potentials , about 0.7 volts , so cells are `` stacked '' , or placed in series , to create sufficient voltage to meet an application 's requirements . In addition to electricity , fuel cells produce water , heat and , depending on the fuel source , very small amounts of nitrogen dioxide and other emissions . The energy efficiency of a fuel cell is generally between 40 -- 60 % ; however , if waste heat is captured in a cogeneration scheme , efficiencies up to 85 % can be obtained . | Fuel cell |
818712336_2836-2929 | A related technology is flow batteries , in which the fuel can be regenerated by recharging . | Fuel cell |
818712336_2930-3063 | The fuel cell market is growing , and in 2013 Pike Research estimated that the stationary fuel cell market will reach 50 GW by 2020 . | Fuel cell |
818712336_4072-4946 | The first references to hydrogen fuel cells appeared in 1838 . In a letter dated October 1838 but published in the December 1838 edition of The London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science , Welsh physicist and barrister William Grove wrote about the development of his first crude fuel cells . He used a combination of sheet iron , copper and porcelain plates , and a solution of sulphate of copper and dilute acid . In a letter to the same publication written in December 1838 but published in June 1839 , German physicist Christian Friedrich Schönbein discussed the first crude fuel cell that he had invented . His letter discussed current generated from hydrogen and oxygen dissolved in water . Grove later sketched his design , in 1842 , in the same journal . The fuel cell he made used similar materials to today 's phosphoric - acid fuel cell . | Fuel cell |
818712336_4947-6382 | In 1939 , British engineer Francis Thomas Bacon successfully developed a 5 kW stationary fuel cell . In 1955 , W. Thomas Grubb , a chemist working for the General Electric Company ( GE ) , further modified the original fuel cell design by using a sulphonated polystyrene ion - exchange membrane as the electrolyte . Three years later another GE chemist , Leonard Niedrach , devised a way of depositing platinum onto the membrane , which served as catalyst for the necessary hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions . This became known as the `` Grubb - Niedrach fuel cell '' . GE went on to develop this technology with NASA and McDonnell Aircraft , leading to its use during Project Gemini . This was the first commercial use of a fuel cell . In 1959 , a team led by Harry Ihrig built a 15 kW fuel cell tractor for Allis - Chalmers , which was demonstrated across the U.S. at state fairs . This system used potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte and compressed hydrogen and oxygen as the reactants . Later in 1959 , Bacon and his colleagues demonstrated a practical five - kilowatt unit capable of powering a welding machine . In the 1960s , Pratt and Whitney licensed Bacon 's U.S. patents for use in the U.S. space program to supply electricity and drinking water ( hydrogen and oxygen being readily available from the spacecraft tanks ) . In 1991 , the first hydrogen fuel cell automobile was developed by Roger Billings . | Fuel cell |
818712336_6383-6581 | UTC Power was the first company to manufacture and commercialize a large , stationary fuel cell system for use as a co-generation power plant in hospitals , universities and large office buildings . | Fuel cell |
818712336_6582-6851 | In recognition of the fuel cell industry and America 's role in fuel cell development , the US Senate recognized 8 October 2015 as National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day , passing S. RES 217 . The date was chosen in recognition of the atomic weight of hydrogen ( 1.008 ) . | Fuel cell |
818712336_6890-7373 | Fuel cells come in many varieties ; however , they all work in the same general manner . They are made up of three adjacent segments : the anode , the electrolyte , and the cathode . Two chemical reactions occur at the interfaces of the three different segments . The net result of the two reactions is that fuel is consumed , water or carbon dioxide is created , and an electric current is created , which can be used to power electrical devices , normally referred to as the load . | Fuel cell |
818712336_7374-7927 | At the anode a catalyst oxidizes the fuel , usually hydrogen , turning the fuel into a positively charged ion and a negatively charged electron . The electrolyte is a substance specifically designed so ions can pass through it , but the electrons can not . The freed electrons travel through a wire creating the electric current . The ions travel through the electrolyte to the cathode . Once reaching the cathode , the ions are reunited with the electrons and the two react with a third chemical , usually oxygen , to create water or carbon dioxide . A | Fuel cell |
818712336_8013-8524 | The electrolyte substance . The electrolyte substance usually defines the type of fuel cell . The fuel that is used . The most common fuel is hydrogen . The anode catalyst breaks down the fuel into electrons and ions . The anode catalyst is usually made up of very fine platinum powder . The cathode catalyst turns the ions into the products like water or carbon dioxide . The cathode catalyst is often made up of platinum or platinum - group metals and it can also be made of non-platinum metals such as iron . | Fuel cell |
818712336_8525-8670 | A typical fuel cell produces a voltage from 0.6 V to 0.7 V at full rated load . Voltage decreases as current increases , due to several factors : | Fuel cell |
818712336_8671-8892 | Activation loss Ohmic loss ( voltage drop due to resistance of the cell components and interconnections ) Mass transport loss ( depletion of reactants at catalyst sites under high loads , causing rapid loss of voltage ) . | Fuel cell |
818712336_8893-9309 | To deliver the desired amount of energy , the fuel cells can be combined in series to yield higher voltage , and in parallel to allow a higher current to be supplied . Such a design is called a fuel cell stack . The cell surface area can also be increased , to allow higher current from each cell . Within the stack , reactant gases must be distributed uniformly over each of the cells to maximize the power output . | Fuel cell |
818712336_9416-9915 | In the archetypical hydrogen -- oxide proton exchange membrane fuel cell design , a proton - conducting polymer membrane ( typically nafion ) contains the electrolyte solution that separates the anode and cathode sides . This was called a `` solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell '' ( SPEFC ) in the early 1970s , before the proton exchange mechanism was well understood . ( Notice that the synonyms `` polymer electrolyte membrane '' and `` proton exchange mechanism '' result in the same acronym . ) | Fuel cell |
818712336_9916-10509 | On the anode side , hydrogen diffuses to the anode catalyst where it later dissociates into protons and electrons . These protons often react with oxidants causing them to become what are commonly referred to as multi-facilitated proton membranes . The protons are conducted through the membrane to the cathode , but the electrons are forced to travel in an external circuit ( supplying power ) because the membrane is electrically insulating . On the cathode catalyst , oxygen molecules react with the electrons ( which have traveled through the external circuit ) and protons to form water . | Fuel cell |
818712336_10510-11137 | In addition to this pure hydrogen type , there are hydrocarbon fuels for fuel cells , including diesel , methanol ( see : direct - methanol fuel cells and indirect methanol fuel cells ) and chemical hydrides . The waste products with these types of fuel are carbon dioxide and water . When hydrogen is used , the CO2 is released when methane from natural gas is combined with steam , in a process called steam methane reforming , to produce the hydrogen . This can take place in a different location to the fuel cell , potentially allowing the hydrogen fuel cell to be used indoors -- for example , in fork lifts . Construction | Fuel cell |
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