italy declared war on france on 10 june 1940. late snows in the area slowed down the italian attack, which did not start until 20 june. in savoy, the italian alpine corps attacked over the col de la seigne and the little st bernard pass in operation bernardo., with the italian 1st corps attacking over the mont cenis pass. about 5500 french troops were deployed against 50,000 italian soldiers. . the italian "taurinense" alpine division moved over the col de la seigne, stopped by sustained fire from the avant-poste of seloges. the "trieste" motorized division crossed the little st. bernard pass after bombarding he redoute-ruinée post for eight hours. the initial italian assault was stopped at the walls of the fort. attacks continued over the next two days, then stopped until the armistice, but the avant-poste was isolated and bypassed, italian troops moving close to bourg-saint-maurice and sainte-foye. redoute-ruinėe was finally evacuated by french forces on 2 july. total casualties in the area amounted to 9 french dead, and 72 italian dead with more than 700 italian wounded.