Motorising infantry is the first stage towards the mechanisation of an army. Civilian trucks and lorries are readily adaptable to military uses of transporting soldiers, towing guns, and carrying equipment and supplies. This greatly increases the strategic mobility of infantry units, which would otherwise rely on marches or railroads.
Motorised units have no tactical advantage, because trucks and jeeps are vulnerable to small arms fire. Formations with a high proportion of armoured vehicles, in particular troop transports, are referred to as mechanized.
The disadvantages of motorisation is that the formation becomes dependent on supplies of fuel.
Motorised infantry first became important in WW2 in the German Blitzkrieg.
The European type or "Divisione Fanteria Autotransportabile, or lorried infantry divisions, were an attempt at solving the problems the Italians had with a lack of motor vehicles to motorize their infantry divisions to the level demanded by modern warfare.
The motor transport needed to carry it entirely was not allotted to the division but was drawn when required from the Intendance at corps level.
Certain infantry divisions were designated as mountain infantry in an attempt to better adapt regular infantry divisions for operations in mountainous regions.
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