The 1st Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain) () is a field artillery regiment of the Italian Army, specializing in mountain warfare. The regiment is based in Fossano in Piedmont and assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense". The regiment is the Italian Army's senior mountain artillery regiment as it was formed in 1887 by the Royal Italian Army. In World War I the regiment's groups and batteries served on the Italian front.
In 1935 the regiment was assigned to the 1st Alpine Division "Taurinense", with which it served during World War II in the invasion of France and the Greco-Italian War. In summer 1942 the division was transferred to Montenegro, where it fought against Yugoslav partisan formation. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the division immediately attacked German positions and by sunrise of 9 September was fully engaged in combat with German forces. The division tried to reach Kotor to be evacuated to southern Italy, but in heavy combat lost about half its strength of 14,000 men and retreated into the Montenegrin mountains. On 2 December 1943 the remnants of the division, together with the remnants of the 19th Infantry Division "Venezia", formed the Partisan Division "Garibaldi", which joined the Yugoslav National Liberation Army.
The regiment was reformed in 1952 and assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense". In 1975 the regiment was split into two mountain artillery groups and its flag and traditions were assigned to the Mountain Artillery Group "Aosta". In 1992 the regiment was reformed. The Italian mountain artillery has served since its inception alongside the infantry's Alpini speciality, with whom the mountain artillery shares the distinctive Cappello Alpino. The regimental anniversary falls, as for all Italian Army artillery regiments, on June 15, the beginning of the Second Battle of the Piave River in 1918.
History On 1 January 1883 the 16th Fortress Regiment in Mantua formed the 1st Mountain Brigade, while the 14th Fortress Regiment in Genoa formed the 2nd Mountain Brigade. The 1st Mountain Brigade consisted of the 1st Mountain Battery, which had been ceded by the 11th Fortress Regiment, the 2nd and 3rd mountain batteries, which had been ceded by the 12th Fortress Regiment, and the 4th Mountain Battery, which was formed with elements of the other three batteries. The 2nd Mountain Brigade consisted of the 5th Mountain Battery, which had been ceded by the 13th Fortress Regiment, the 6th and 7th mountain batteries of the 14th Fortress Regiment, and the 8th Mountain Battery, which was formed with elements of the other three batteries. Both brigades were based detached from their respective regiments: the 1st Mountain Brigade was based in Vicenza, while the 2nd Mountain Brigade was based in Turin. All eight batteries were equipped with the 7 BR Ret. Mont. mountain guns.
On 1 November 1887 the 14th Fortress Regiment and 16th Fortress Regiment ceded the two mountain brigades to help form the Mountain Artillery Regiment in Turin. The regiment consisted of a staff, and three brigades:
Mountain Artillery Regiment, in Turin 1st Brigade, in Conegliano 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th batteries 2nd Brigade, in Turin 5th, 6th, and 7th batteries 3rd Brigade, in Turin 8th and 9th batteries Regimental depot, in Turin
On 1 May 1895 the 5th Field Artillery Regiment in Venaria Reale transferred its six mountain batteries to the Mountain Artillery Regiment, which proceeded to form two additional brigades and then consisted of the I and II brigades in Turin, the III Brigade in Oneglia, the IV Brigade in Mondovì, and the V Brigade in Conegliano. In 1895–96 the personnel of the regiment's 7th, 9th, 11th, and 12th batteries were sent to Eritrea, where they formed, together with local Askaris, nine mountain batteries for the First Italo-Ethiopian War. On 1 March 1896 the nine batteries fought in the disastrous Battle of Adwa. In 1897 the regiment's 8th Battery was deployed to Crete as part of the multi-national Cretan intervention of 1897–1898. In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion in China, a section of the regiment was dispatched to Tianjin as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance intervention. In 1904 the batteries began to replace their 7 BR Ret. Mont. mountain guns with 70A mountain guns.
Like the infantry's Alpini battalions, the mountain artillery brigades recruited from the military districts located in the Alps. In 1882 the Alpini battalions were named for the cities, where the administrations of the military districts were located, from which the battalions recruited their troops. Likewise in 1901 the mountain artillery brigades were given the names of the location of their depot, respectively in the case of the brigades based in Turin, from where they recruited their troops. Afterwards the regiment consisted of the I Brigade "Oneglia", II Brigade "Mondovì", III Brigade "Torino-Susa", IV Brigade "Torino-Aosta", and V Brigade "Conegliano". On 21 August 1902 regiment's V Brigade "Conegliano" in Conegliano became an autonomous unit as and was renamed Mountain Artillery Brigade of Veneto.
On 15 July 1909 the Mountain Artillery Brigade of Veneto was used to form the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment. Consequently the Mountain Artillery Regiment was redesignated as 1st Mountain Artillery Regiment. On 17 July 1910 the brigades of the two regiments were redesignated as groups and dropped their numbers. Afterwards the regiment consisted of the following units:
1st Mountain Artillery Regiment, in Turin Mountain Artillery Group "Oneglia", in Oneglia 1st, 2nd, and 3rd batteries Mountain Artillery Group "Mondovì", in Mondovì 4th, 5th, and 6th batteries Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Susa", in Turin 7th, 8th, and 9th batteries Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Aosta", in Turin 10th, 11th, and 12th batteries Regimental depot, in Turin
During the Italo-Turkish War in 1911–12 the regiment sent the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th batteries, which were assigned to the groups "Mondovì" and "Torino-Susa" to Libya. As first unit the Group "Mondovì" disembarked in Tripoli on 21 and 22 October 1911. After the war the last units of the regiment were repatriated in November 1913. In 1913 the batteries received 65/17 mod. 13 mountain guns.
World War I
On 1 February 1915 the regiment ceded the Group "Oneglia" to help form the 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment. The 1st Mountain Artillery Regiment retained the numbers of the batteries of the Group "Oneglia" (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and the batteries of the Group "Torino-Susa" were renumbered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. On the same date, 1 February 1915, the regiment formed the Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Pinerolo", whose batteries received the former numbers of the batteries of the Group "Torino-Susa".
At the outbreak of World War I the regiment formed the 51st, 52nd, and 54th batteries and entered the war with the organization depicted in the following table:
1st Mountain Artillery Regiment, in Turin Depot in Turin Depot in Mondovì (I) Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Susa" 1st Mountain Artillery Battery 2nd Mountain Artillery Battery 3rd Mountain Artillery Battery 51st Mountain Artillery Battery (IV) Mountain Artillery Group "Mondovì" 10th Mountain Artillery Battery 11th Mountain Artillery Battery 12th Mountain Artillery Battery 54th Mountain Artillery Battery (II) Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Aosta" 4th Mountain Artillery Battery 5th Mountain Artillery Battery 6th Mountain Artillery Battery 52nd Mountain Artillery Battery (III) Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Pinerolo" 7th Mountain Artillery Battery 8th Mountain Artillery Battery 9th Mountain Artillery Battery Note 1 Note 1: The "Torino-Pinerolo" group's 53rd Mountain Artillery Battery was not raised until November 1916 for lack of available 65/17 mod. 13 mountain guns.
During the war the regiment's depots formed the commands of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th mountain artillery groupings and the commands of 17 mountain artillery groups: XV (66th, 67th, 68th batteries), XIX (14th, 51st, 55th batteries), XXII (47th, 48th, 49th batteries), XXV (82nd, 83rd, 84th batteries), XXIX (91st, 92nd, 93rd batteries), XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIII, XLIV, LII, LVIII, LXII, and LXV. The regiment's depots also formed 37 mountain artillery batteries, two commands of siege groups and 14 siege batteries.
During the war the regiment was broken up and its groups and batteries attached to different Alpini units. The Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Susa" fought in 1915 and 1916 on the Col di Lana and on Monte Sief. In 1917 the group was deployed in Lig and Bodrež, then fought on Monte Zebio, on the Banjšice plateau, on Monte Spinoncia and on Monte Asolone. In 1918 the group was in combat on Monte Spinoncia, Monte Solarolo, on the Vedetta dell'Archeson and finally in the Conca di Schiavino.
The Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Aosta" was deployed in 1915 in the Valsugana and in 1916 on Monte Cauriol, on the Punta Cardinal and on Cima Busa Alta in the Lagorai range. In 1917 the group was deployed on the Colle dell’Orso, Monte Solarolo and Monte Spinoncia. In 1918 the group fought in the battles of Monte Grappa.
The Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Pinerolo" fought in 1915 on Krn, and Monte Javorcek. In 1916 the group fought on Monte Pasubio and on Monte Corno. In 1917 the group returned to Monte Pasubio and in 1918 the group was on Monte Valderoa, on Monte Spinoncia, and after the successful Battle of Vittorio Veneto advanced to the city of Feltre.
The Mountain Artillery Group "Mondovì" was in 1915–16 deployed on the Monte Mrzli and Monte Sleme. In 1917 the group fought on Monte Kuk, Monte Vodice and then one the Banjšice plateau. In 1918 the group was in the Tonale Pass sector.
In July 1918 the regiment formed an artillery section of 116 men, two horses, twelve mules, and two 65/17 mod. 13 mountain guns. The section was assigned to the Italian Expedition in the Far East Siberian, which was part of the Entente powers Siberian intervention against Soviet forces in the Russian Civil War.
Interwar years In 1920 the regiment moved from Turin to Cuneo and was reduced to the groups "Torino-Susa", "Torino-Pinerolo" and "Mondovì", each with three batteries with 75/13 mod. 15 mountain guns. On 21 February 1921 the mountain groups lost their names and the regiment consisted of the I, II, and III groups. In 1923 the regiment returned to Turin and on 1 July of the same year the regiment formed the IV Group with 100/17 mod. 14 howitzers.
On 11 March 1926 the Royal Italian Army reorganized its artillery. As Alpini units were traditionally numbered from West to East the army decided that the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment and 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment should swap numbers. Furthermore the army decided that mountain artillery groups should again be named and not numbered and that the groups with 100/17 mod. 14 howitzers should be transferred to the field artillery. Consequently the 1st Mountain Artillery Regiment transferred its IV Group with 100/17 mod. 14 howitzers to the 28th Field Artillery Regiment. In the course of the year the regiment received the I Group of the former 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment. This group, which was based in Ivrea, was renamed Mountain Artillery Group "Aosta". After the reform the 1st Mountain Artillery Regiment consisted of the Mountain Artillery Group "Susa", with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd batteries, the Mountain Artillery Group "Aosta", with the 4th, 5th, and 6th batteries, the Mountain Artillery Group "Pinerolo", with the 7th, 8th, and 9th batteries, and the Mountain Artillery Group "Mondovì", with the 10th, 11th, and 12th batteries. The regiment was assigned to the I Alpine Brigade, which also included the 1st Alpini Regiment, 2nd Alpini Regiment, 3rd Alpini Regiment, and 4th Alpini Regiment.