The 1. Army  was constituted in June 1938 as a peacetime headquarters under the general officer designated to command it in wartime. It was activated as the 1. Army in August 1939. The army took part in the invasion of France in June 1940. Attacking the Riviera, the army failed to reach its goal of Nice and ground to a halt at Menton. Following the armistice with France, the army was disbanded on 31 July 1940.

Reformed in Tunisia on 5 February 1943, the army surrendered to the British on 13 May 1943.

Commanders

Generale designato d’Armata Adriano Marinetti (1938 – 1940)
Generale designato d’Armata Pietro Pintor (1940 – 1940)
Generale di Corpo d’Armata Remo Gambelli (1940 – 1940)
Maresciallo d’Italia Giovanni Messe (Feb 1943 – May 1943) (POW) (1)

Footnotes

1. Maresciallo d’Italia Giovanni Messe was the highest ranking Italian officers to be taken prisoner.

Sources used

W. Victor Madeja – Italian Army Order of Battle: 1940-1944 – Between Fascism and Monarchy
Telford Taylor – The March of Conquest: The German Victories in Western Europe, 1940

Reference material on this unit

- None known at this time -