The Mechanized Brigade "Granatieri di Sardegna" ( – Mechanized Brigade "Grenadiers of Sardinia") is a mechanized infantry brigade of the Italian Army, based in Rome and central Italy. The brigade fields one of the oldest regiments of the Army and is one of the guard regiments of the President of Italy. The name of the unit dates back to the Kingdom of Sardinia and not the eponymous Mediterranean island of Sardinia. The brigade is part of the Division "Acqui".
History 1831 & before After Charles Albert of Sardinia ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Sardinia on 27 April 1831 a major reform of the military was undertaken. Thus on 25 October 1831 the Grenadiers Brigade "Guardie" () was raised as one of ten infantry brigades of the kingdom. The brigade consisted of the 1st Grenadiers Regiment (), with four battalions of four companies each and a depot battalion of four companies, and the 2nd Hunters Regiment (), with three battalions of four companies each and a depot battalion of three companies.
The 1st Grenadiers Regiment was founded as Regiment of the Guards () on 18 April 1659 by the Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel II as his personal bodyguard regiment during military campaigns. The regiment participated in the War of the Spanish Succession, where it excelled during the Siege of Turin. After the Duchy had been elevated to kingdom in 1720 the regiment fought in the War of the Polish Succession and War of the Austrian Succession, during which the regiment performed exceptionally brave during the Battle of Assietta.
During the War of the First Coalition the regiment fought in the Italian campaigns against the French Army of Italy under Napoleon Bonaparte. After France annexed the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1799 the royal family went into exile on Sardinia and the Regiment of the Guards was disbanded.
The 2nd Hunters Regiment was founded on 13 July 1774 as Regiment of Sardinia () on the eponymous island and served as the guard regiment of the royal family during their exile there. After the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 the royal family returned to Turin and the re-building of the Sardinian Army commenced in 1814. In 1814 the Regiment of the Guards was raised again as the Guards Regiment (), while the Regiment of Sardinia moved to Turin, where it was renamed as Guard Hunters Regiment ().
When the two regiments were combined in a brigade in 1831 they became the first units in the order of precedence of the kingdom.
1831 to 1914 The brigade participated in the First Italian War of Independence fighting in the battles of Santa Lucia, Goito, Pastrengo and Custoza. During the Battle of Goito the Sardinian King Charles Albert rallied the Grenadiers Brigade "Guardie" to his position with the words "A me le guardie!" ("To me the guards!"), which became the motto of the brigade's regiments. After the war the brigade was renamed Grenadiers Brigade () on 20 April 1850; the 2nd Hunters Regiment had already been renamed 2nd Grenadier Regiment in 1848.
In 1855 the brigade provided two battalions for the Sardinian Expeditionary Corps in the Crimean War. During the Second Italian War of Independence the brigade was involved in a skirmish near Lonato del Garda in June 1859. After the war the brigade participated in the occupation of the Umbria and the Marche regions in the Papal States, the conquest of which was completed when the Papal Army surrendered the fortress of Ancona on 29 September 1860. Afterwards the brigade, as part of the 1st Division of the Line of the V Army Corps, entered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to aid Giuseppe Garibaldi in his Expedition of the Thousand. The brigade fought at San Giuliano on 26 October 1860 and at Garigliano on 29 October 1860. Finally the brigade participated in the siege of Gaeta, where the 1st Grenadiers Regiment earned its first Gold Medal of Military Valor.
After Italy had been unified the brigade moved to Florence, the capital of the newly united Italy, where it took on guard duties at the royal palace. During the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866 the brigade fought at the Battle of Custoza. On 25 October 1871 the brigade level was abolished in the Royal Army and the two regiments became independent units with the names: 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna", and 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna". When the army reintroduced the brigade level on 2 January 1881 the regiments changed their name to 1st Grenadier Regiment, and 2nd Grenadier Regiment as the title "Granatieri di Sardegna" returned to the brigade.
World War I
At the outbreak of World War I the Brigade "Granatieri di Sardegna" moved to the Italian-Austrian border and after Italy's declaration of war on 23 May 1915 the brigade participated in the conquest of Monfalcone on the Adriatic coast. Afterwards the brigade participated in the first four Battles of the Isonzo aimed at conquering the city of Gorizia. The brigade tried to capture the Sabotin hill near Gorizia and later fought at Oslavia. After the brigade had again fought at Oslavia in the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo it was transferred to the Asiago plateau to reinforce the Italian First Army, which was retreating under the massive Austrian-Hungarian Asiago offensive.
There the brigade was sent to defended Monte Cengio – the last position between the Austrians and the Venetian plains. A loss of the mountain would have allowed the Austrians to advance towards Venice and encircle of Second Army, Third Army, and Fourth Army, which were holding the front along the Isonzo river and the Cadore and Carnia mountains. Arriving on Mount Cengio on 23 May 1916 the Granatieri held the position even after ammunition had been expended and the Austrians breached the brigade's line. Ultimately the stubborn defense of Mount Cengio ensured that the Austrians could not achieve the aims of their offensive. On 6 June 1916 the brigade was relieved on Mount Cengio, where it had suffered 4,478 casualties out of 6,000 men deployed. For their conduct both grenadier regiments were awarded a Gold Medal of Military Valor.
After the Austrian offensive had been defeated the brigade returned to the Isonzo front and participated in the sixth, seventh, and eighth Battle of the Isonzo. During 1917 the brigade continued to fight along the Isonzo river. After the Italian defeat in the Battle of Caporetto and the following retreat to the Piave river the brigade had to be rebuilt. In 1918 the brigade fought in the last two battles on the Italian front: the Battle of the Piave River and the final and decisive Battle of Vittorio Veneto.
After the war the brigade was garrisoned in Rome, where a third Grenadier Regiment was raised on 1 December 1926. On the same day the brigade with its three regiments came under the 21st Infantry Division. On that day the Grenadiers Brigade was renamed XXI Infantry Brigade, while its three grenadier regiments became the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna", 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna", and 3rd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna".
World War II
On 8 February 1934 the 21st Infantry Division was named "Granatieri di Sardegna". In 1939 the 21st Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna" lost the 3rd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" and thus the division entered World War II with its two Granatieri regiments, the 13th Field Artillery Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna", and some minor units.
In June 1940 the division was mobilized and took part in the Italian invasion of France as a part of the VII Army, but due to the quick German victory in the Battle of France the division was not involved in any combat operations before the French surrender.
In spring 1943 the division was moved to Rome to aid in the defence of the city in case of an Allied attack. During this time the division was reorganized along the lines of the Mod.43 reform of the Italian Army and was augmented with the XXI Mortar Battalion. In total the division fielded 14,500 troops. After the armistice between Italy and Allies of 8 September 1943 the division found itself fighting Italy's former allies the Germans and along with the 12th Infantry Division "Sassari" and 135th Armored Division "Ariete II" the Granatieri defended Rome. The Granatieri fought along the Via Ostiensis for two days before falling back to the Porta San Paolo where the division fought a last stand. There the division was joined by remnants of the "Sassari" division, the cavalry Regiment "Lancieri di Montebello" (8th) and hundreds of civilian volunteers. The future Italian president Sandro Pertini brought a detachment of resistance fighters to Porta San Paolo where they received the weapons of fallen grenadiers. Civilians at Porta San Paolo included communist leader Luigi Longo, lawyer Giuliano Vassalli, writer Emilio Lussu, unionist leaders Vincenzo Baldazzi, Mario Zagari, retired Air Force generals Sabato Martelli Castaldi and Roberto Lordi, and 18-year-old future partisan leader Marisa Musu. Around 12:30 reinforcements including famed actor Carlo Ninchi. However, by 17:00 the Germans broke the line of the Italian defenders, who had suffered 570 dead. Soon after the Italian military units surrendered to the Germans as the flight of the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III from Rome had made further resistance senseless. However the Italian soldiers handed thousands of weapons over to the civilian population, which was quick to form an organized resistance movement in the city of Rome.
For their role in the defence of the Rome the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" and the Regiment "Lancieri di Montebello" (8th) were each awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor, while the 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" and the 13th Field Artillery Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" were awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valor each.
At the same time the "Granatieri di Sardegna" division fought the Germans in Rome three Granatieri battalions based in occupied Corsica refused to surrender to the Germans and along with the 20th Infantry Division "Friuli", 44th Infantry Division "Cremona", 225th Coastal Division, 226th Coastal Division and French partisans began to fight the Axis troops: the German Sturmbrigade Reichsführer SS and 90th Panzergrenadier Division, and the Italian XII Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment "Nembo" of the 184th Infantry Division "Nembo", which had come from Sardinia and tried to retreat through Corsica towards the harbour of Bastia in the island's north. On 13 September elements of the Free French 4th Moroccan Mountain Division landed in Ajaccio to support the Italian efforts to stop the 30,000 retreating Germans. However the Germans managed to escape.
The three loyal Granatieri battalions were combined by the Italian Co-Belligerent Army with other units to raise "Granatieri di Sardegna" division anew in Sardinia on 15 May 1944. The division consisted of the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna", 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna", 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment, 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment, 548th Artillery Regiment, 553rd Artillery Regiment, and an Engineer Company. However it was decided that the infantry of the division should join the Combat Group "Friuli", which fought already on the allies side on the Italian front. On 31 August 1944 the Granatieri division was disbanded with the remaining units used to augment the Combat Group "Cremona".
Cold War Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna"