- Italian Africa Police
The Italian Africa Police, (IT: "Polizia dell'Africa Italiana", or PAI, and also known as Police of Italian Africa) were originally called the "Colonial Police Force." The force was instituted in
1936 as a result of the reorganization ofpublic safety units operating inItalian North Africa ("Africa Settentrionale Italiana", or ASI) and to garrisonEthiopia and the rest ofItalian East Africa ("Africa Orientale Italiana", or AOI). The new corps was first subordinated to the Ministry of the Colonies and then to the Ministry of Italian Africa (then resisted byAlexander Lessona ). This was the first case in Italy of an Armed Forces employee coming from a civil ministry.The PAI had a reputation for discipline and high training levels with good equipment. Even after the collapse of AOI, the PAI were able to keep the peace in
Addis Ababa , the capital of Ethiopia.Origin
The Royal Decree of
10 June 1937 , n. 1211, established its organic regulations, for which it was a militarily organized civil body and making it part of theArmed Forces of the state, with the functions ofpolitical police ,judicial police , andadministrative police .Organization
The force was a racially mixed organization made up of Italian agents and native
askari s, and it was located on the territory of the police headquarters in the larger cities likeTripoli ,Bengasi ,Asmara ,Addis Ababa ,Mogadishu ,Gondar , or barracked under orders in small commissariats.The PAI training school was centered in
Tivoli .Many PAI personnel were mounted on
Moto-Guzzi motorcycles, with many armed with the Beretta M1938A 9mm sub-machine gun.trength
At the outbreak of WW2 the PAI had 7,672 men, of which 6,345 were in AOI and 1,327 were in ASI. The bulk of the force consisted of indigenous personnel who were trained and equipped to the same standard as Italian personnel. There were 5,142 indigenous personnel, 4,414 from AOI and 732 from ASI.
World War 2
Africa
During the
Second World War , the PAI fought side by side with theItalian Army and was a combat unit. For the garrison of the Libyan litoranea way, to the explosion of the conflict 2 companies on motorcycles and on armored car were sent, assigned in force to the Exploring Unit of the CAM (Corpo armato di manovra) Battalion “Romolo Chalks ”, but they had little fortune since after an immediate enemy attack, many men were hit byfriendly fire of German aircraft. The battalion repaired inTripolitania and was converted to a mixed company. Various units participated to various war actions, to Tripoli,Bengasi ,Barce , but the details reached approximately the effective employment are insufficient.Defense of Italy
After the
Armistice of Cassibile , the evening of8 September 1943 the PAI participated to the defense ofRome engaging the first conflict with the Germans atMezzocammino , nearCastelfusano , with troops ofCarabinieri , in aid to a garrison ofGrenadiers of Sardinia . From the other part ofRome , at the same time, some troops protected the escape of the KingVittorio Emanuele III along thevia Tiburtina , the King and thePrime Minister of Italy Pietro Badoglio , and finished this supply was assembled in direction of the Laurentina. On9 September the PAIRS, with theBersaglieri and students police officers, obtained some result toMagliana , forcing German to temporarily retreat, but after some time they had to withdraw in direction ofOstiense , then bloody stormed from the Germans who reached until toMontagnola , bench mark of the 1st Grenadiers.The commander and founder of the PAI, General Marraffa, like the head of the Senise Police, was captured by the
nazi s and deported to theDachau concentration camp , where he died.Salo Republic In the northern territories, there was a reorganization attempt, with the opening of a PAI school at
Busto Arsizio in the autumn of 1943, but later on it was absorbed by theRepublican Police Force of theItalian Social Republic , and lastly by the Republican National Guard.Ranks
Ranks were as for the
Italian Army with enlisted rank being the older style larger pattern of red chevrons worn on both upper sleeves.Uniform
Personnel wore the standard Italian khaki tropical uniform but with a blue
aiguilette fixed from the rightshoulder strap to the second button down the front of his tunic. Personnel also wore a small gold PAI badge on the front of their headgear and small brassfasces pinned directly to their collars. Motorcycle mounted personnel wore a brown leather crash helmet, light khaki breeches with brown leather boots and leather leggings to protect the lower legs.References
* "Le Uniformi dell" AOI (Somalia 1889-1941)" Priero Crocaini and Andrea Viotti.
ee also
*
Carabinieri
*gendarmerie
*constabulary
*military police
*paramilitary
*Zaptie
*Law enforcement in Italy
*Polizia
*East African Campaign (World War II)
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