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1st Armored Regiment (Italy)

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1st Armored Regiment
1° Reggimento Corazzato
Regimental coat of arms
Active15 Sept. 1936 — 8 Feb. 1941
15 March 1941 — 8 Sept. 1943
10 July 1948 — 1 April 1949
1 May 1974 — today
Country Italy
BranchItalian Army
Part ofArmy Military Command "Sardegna"
Garrison/HQTeulada
Motto(s)"Folgore nella battaglia"
Anniversaries15 September 1936
Insignia
Tank units gorget patches
Italian Army 32nd Tank Regiment Ariete tanks during an exercise at Capo Teulada

The 1st Armored Regiment (Italian: 1° Reggimento Corazzato) is an armored warfare training regiment of the Italian Army based in Teulada in Sardinia. The regiment is assigned to the Army Military Command "Sardegna".[1] The regiment was formed in 1936 as a training and administrative formation. During World War II the regiment participated in June 1940 in the Italian invasion of France. In summer 1940, the regimental command was sent to Libya, where it was tasked with administrative and logistical duties. On 6-7 February 1941, the regimental command was destroyed during the Battle of Beda Fomm. In March 1941, the regiment was reformed, but it remained in Vercelli for the rest of the war and was disbanded by German forces after the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September 1943.[2]

The regiment was reformed in 1948, but already in 1949 it was disbanded its personnel and battalions used to reform the 132nd Tankers Regiment. In May 1974, the Armored Units Training Center in Teulada in Sardinia was renamed 1st Armored Infantry Regiment. Since then the regiment is tasked with managing the Capo Teulada Training Range and provide the opposing force for visiting units. Originally the unit, like all Italian tank units, was part of the army's infantry arm, but on 1 June 1999 the tankers specialty was transferred from the infantry arm to the cavalry arm. The regiment's anniversary falls, unique among all tank units, on 15 September 1936, the day the regiment was founded.[2]

History

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Interwar years

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On 1 October 1927, the Royal Italian Army reorganized its Armed Tanks Formation Center in Rome and formed the Armed Tanks Regiment (Italian: Reggimento carri armati) as central training unit for the army's tank battalions. In 1931 the regimental headquarter moved from Rome to Bologna. On 15 September 1936, the Armed Tanks Regiment was split into four tank infantry regiments, which had training and administrative functions only:[2]

The 1st Tank Infantry Regiment received four battalions from the disbanded regiment and formed a depot, which included training and maintenance units. The four battalions, like all tank battalions at the time, were named for infantry officers, who had served in World War I and been awarded posthumously Italy's highest military honor the Gold Medal of Military Valor. The regiment consisted of the following units after its founding.:[2]

The assault tanks battalions fielded initially L3/33 tankettes, which were then replaced by slightly improved L3/35, while the breach tanks battalion fielded Fiat 3000 light tanks. On 1 January 1938, the regiment received the XXIII Assault Tanks Battalion "Stennio", which had returned from Libya and took up residence in Fidenza. In 1938, all Assault Tanks Battalions were renamed Tank Battalion L (with L standing for Italian: "Leggero" or Light), while Breach Tanks Battalions were renamed Tank Battalion M (with M standing for Italian: "Medio" or Medium). On 1 December 1938, the 2nd Tank Infantry Regiment was disbanded and the regiment's command and depot formed the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment as an operational unit for the II Armored Brigade. Already a day earlier, on 30 November 1938, the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment had transferred its IV Tank Battalion M to the new regiment, while on 1 December the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment transferred its IV Tank Battalion L "Monti" and XXII Tank Battalion L "Coralli" to the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment. Afterwards the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment consisted of the following units:[2]

All of the regiment's battalions were equipped with L3/35 tankettes. In early 1939 the battalions dropped their names.[2]

World War II

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Italian tanks captured in the Battle of Beda Fomm

On 23 September 1939, the regiment transferred its III Tank Battalion L to the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment, which in turn transferred on 1 November 1939 its CCCXXIII Tank Battalion M21/30 to the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment. Originally the CCCXXIII Tank Battalion M21/30, which was equipped with Fiat 3000 light tanks, had been the V Breach Tanks Battalion "Suarez" of the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment. On 6 November 1939, the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment transferred the XXII and XXIII tank battalions L to the 33rd Tank Infantry Regiment, which was formed on the same date in Parma.[2]

In June 1940, the regiment participated with the I, II, and IV tank battalions L in the Italian invasion of France. The tankettes of the regiment attacked French positions in the Col du Mont Cenis sector. After the French surrender the tank battalion advanced into Southern France, before returning to their bases in early July. On 1 August 1940, the regiment transferred its I and II tank battalions L to the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment. At the same time the CCCXXIII Tank Battalion M21/30 was equipped with M13/40 tanks and renamed III Tank Battalion M13/40. In September 1940, the battalion was sent to Libya, where it joined the Special Armored Brigade.[2]

At the end of summer of 1940, the regimental command and IV Tank Battalion L were transferred to Libya. The regimental command moved to Mechili, where it took up administrative and logistic duties, while the regiment's commanding officer Colonel Pietro Aresca took command of the Special Armored Brigade's I Tank Group (also known as "Aresca Group"). On 26 December 1940, the IV Tank Battalion L was transferred to the X Army Corps. The regiment's command remained in Mechili until 24 January 1941, when advancing British forces pushed the Italians out of Mechili. The regimental command retreated with the remnants of the Italian 10th Army along the Via Balbia, but British forces cut off the escape route at Beda Fomm. On 6-7 February 1941, the Battle of Beda Fomm raged, which ended with the surrender of the last Italian units, including the regimental command of the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment, which was declared lost due to wartime events on 8 February 1941.[2]

On 15 March 1941, the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment was reformed in Vercelli by reorganizing the command of the regiment's depot. For a short time the regiment was assigned to the 136th Armored Division "Giovani Fascisti", which was in the process of being formed. The envisioned structure of the regiment would have included the XVI Tank Battalion M14/41, which was being formed by the depot of the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment, the III Tanks Group "Lancieri di Novara", which was equipped with L6/40 light tanks and was being formed by the depot of the cavalry Regiment "Lancieri di Novara", the 54th Maintenance Workshop, an anti-aircraft company equipped with 20/65 mod. 35 anti-aircraft guns, and a Repair and Recovery Unit. However the regiment never deployed with the divisions, which was sent unfinished to Libya to shore up Axis forces fighting in the Western Desert campaign.[2]

In spring 1941 the regiment's depot formed the X Tank Battalion M13/40, which was assigned in June 1941 to the 133rd Tank Infantry Regiment. In summer 1941 depot formed the command and one company of the XV Tank Battalion M13/40, while the battalion's second company was formed by the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment. Once M14/41 tanks became available, the XV Tank Battalion was re-equipped with M14/41 tanks. The battalion remained with the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment until November 1942, when it was sent to Libya with the 31st Tank Infantry Regiment. In November 1941, the regiment's depot formed the I Tank Battalion Lf (with Lf standing for Italian: "Lanciafiamme" or Flamethrower). However already a month later the battalion was disbanded and one of its two companies joined the II Tank Battalion Lf, which had been formed by the depot of the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment, while the other company was transferred to the Italian Montenegro Troops Command.[2]

Meanwhile, the regiment's IV Tank Battalion L, which had remained in Libya, participated in April 1941 in Operation Sonnenblume, during which Axis forces retook the Cyrenaica. In July 1941, the battalion returned to Mechili and the battalion command and 1st Company remained there to garrison the important logistic hub, while the battalion's 2nd Company was sent to Tobruk, where it fought in the Siege of Tobruk, and the 3rd Company was attached in September 1941 to the 55th Infantry Division "Savona", which garrisoned the frontline towards Egypt. On 18 November 1941, the British Eighth Army commenced Operation Crusader, which broke the Siege of Tobruk threw Axis forces back to their starting positions at El Agheila. During the British offensive the IV Tank Battalion L and its companies were destroyed and on 1 January 1942 the battalion was declared lost due to wartime events.[2]

In February 1942, the regiment's depot formed the 1st and 2nd tank companies M21/30 with the last available Fiat 3000 light tanks. The two companies were sent to Sicily, where they were assigned to the XVI Army Corps, which was tasked with the defence of the Southern part of the island. On 10 July 1943, the day allied forces landed on Sicily, the 1st Tank Company M21/30 was attached to the 207th Coastal Division in the area of Licata, while the 2nd Tank Company M21/30 was assigned to the Mobile Group "H" in the area of Scordia. Both companies with their obsolete light tanks were destroyed in the following days.[2][10]

On 6 May 1943, the XVI Tank Battalion M14/41 deployed to Sardinia, where it joined the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment. In August 1943, the regiment's depot began with the formation of the I Tank Battalion P26/40 (with P standing for Italian: "Pesante" or Heavy), which was to receive the first of the new P26/40 tanks. However, on 8 September 1943, the Armistice of Cassibile was announced, and invading German forces disbanded the regiment and its depot.[2]

Cold War

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On 15 March 1948, the Tank School in Rome formed the I Tank Battalion, which was equipped with M4 Sherman tanks. On 10 July 1948, the school reformed the 1st Tankers Regiment and formed the II Tank Battalion. On 7 September of the same year the regiment was assigned to the Armored Brigade "Ariete", which had been formed on 1 June 1948. On 1 April 1949, the 1st Tankers Regiment was renamed 132nd Tankers Regiment.[2]

On 1 May 1959, the Italian Army established the Armored Units Training Center in Teulada in Sardinia, which on 1 May 1974 was renamed 1st Armored Infantry Regiment. The regiment was assigned the flag and traditions of the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment and at the time consisted of the following units:[2]

  • 1st Armored Infantry Regiment, in Teulada[2]
    • Command and Services Company
    • I Armored Battalion
    • II Armored Battalion (Reserve)
      • same organization as I Armored Battalion
    • Auto Unit
    • Special Medium Workshop
    • Carabinieri Squad

In June 1987 the regiment was reorganized and then consisted of the following units:[2]

  • 1st Armored Infantry Regiment, in Teulada[2]
    • Command, Maintenance, and Transport Unit
    • 1st Armored Battalion
      • Command and Services Company
      • 1st Tank Company, with Leopard 1A2 main battle tanks
      • 2nd Bersaglieri Company, with VCC-2 armored personnel carriers
      • 3rd Self-propelled Battery, with M109G 155 mm self-propelled howitzers
    • Carabinieri Squad

On 9 March 1993, the regiment was renamed 1st Armored Regiment and again reorganized:[2]

  • 1st Armored Infantry Regiment, in Teulada[2]
    • Command and Services Company
    • 1st Armored Battalion
      • 1st Tank Company, with Leopard 1A2 main battle tanks
      • 2nd Bersaglieri Company, with VCC-2 armored personnel carriers
      • 3rd Support Weapons Company, with TOW anti-tank guided missiles and M113 with 120 mm mortars
      • 4th Self-propelled Field Artillery Battery, with M109G 155 mm self-propelled howitzers
    • Maintenance Company
    • Garrison Unit
    • Carabinieri Squad

In 2009 the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment moved from Milan to Teulada and shares since then the base with the 1st Armored Regiment.[11]

Organization

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U.S. Army artillery unit during exercise Trident Juncture 15 at Capo Teulada

As of 2024 the 1st Armored Regiment is organized as follows:[1][12]

  • 1st Armored Regiment, in Teulada[1][12]
    • Personnel Office
    • Administration Office
    • Logistics Office
    • General Services and Support Company
    • Training Range Center
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References

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  1. ^ a b c "1° Reggimento Corazzato". Italian Army. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w F. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti (1998). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Primo - Tomo I. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 527.
  3. ^ "Giovanni Ribet". President of Italy. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Gabriele Berardi". President of Italy. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Ernesto Paselli". President of Italy. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Marcello Prestinari". President of Italy. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Tommaso Monti". President of Italy. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Luigi Coralli". President of Italy. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Achille Stennio". President of Italy. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  10. ^ Faldella, Emilio (1956). Lo sbarco e la difesa della Sicilia.
  11. ^ "3° Reggimento Bersaglieri — La Storia". Italian Army. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  12. ^ a b "1° Reggimento Corazzato". Italian Defense Ministry. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
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