The 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment () is an active unit of the Italian Army based in Teulada in Sardinia. The regiment is part of the army's infantry corps' Bersaglieri speciality and operationally assigned to the Mechanized Brigade "Sassari". The regiment is the highest decorated unit of the Italian Army with three Gold Medals of Military Valor. The regiment was formed in 1861 by the Royal Italian Army with preexisting battalions. During World War I the regiment served on the Italian front.
During World War II the regiment was assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta", with which it served in the Italian campaign in Ukraine and Russia. In winter 1942-43 the regiment suffered heavy casualties during the Soviet Little Saturn and Voronezh–Kharkov offensives. For its valor and sacrifice in the Soviet Union the regiment was awarded two Gold Medals of Military Valor. In 1946 the regiment was reformed and in 1951 it was assigned to the Armored Brigade "Centauro". In 1975 the regiment was disbanded and its flag and traditions assigned to the 18th Bersaglieri Battalion "Poggio Scanno". The regiment was reformed in 1992. In 2009 the regiment moved to Sardinia, where it was assigned to the Mechanized Brigade "Sassari". The regiment's anniversary falls, as for all Bersaglieri units, on 18 June 1836, the day the Bersaglieri speciality was founded.
History On 16 April 1861 the 3rd Army Corps Bersaglieri Command was formed in Modena and assigned to the III Army Corps. The command had purely administrative functions and consisted of the preexisting III, V, XVIII, XX, XXIII, and XXV battalions, and the III Bersaglieri Depot Battalion. On 31 December 1861 the command was renamed 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment, but continued to exert only administrative functions. On 18 December 1864 the Bersaglieri regiments were reduced from six to five and consequently the 4th Bersaglieri Regiment was disbanded and its XII Battalion transferred to the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment. In 1865 the regiment formed the XXXVIII Battalion and now consisted of eight battalions. In 1866, in preparation for the Third Italian War of Independence, the regiment formed the XLVIII Battalion, which was disbanded in December 1870.
On 1 January 1871 the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment was reorganized as an operational regiment with the XVIII Battalion, XX Battalion, XXV Battalion, and XXXVIII Battalion, while the III Battalion, V Battalion, XII Battalion, and XXIII Battalion were transferred to the newly formed 8th Bersaglieri Regiment. The four remaining battalions were renumbered as I, II, III, and IV battalion. On 16 September 1883 the IV Battalion was disbanded. On 18 June 1886, all Bersaglieri battalions resumed their original numbering and afterwards the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment consisted of the XVIII Battalion, XX Battalion, and XXV Battalion.
On 15 April 1860 the Royal Sardinian Army formed the XVIII Battalion with volunteers drawn from militia units of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, which had fought in the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859. In 1860 the XX and XXV battalions were formed. The three battalions participated in the Sardinian campaign in central and southern Italy, during which the XXV Battalion distinguished itself in the Siege of Ancona. For its conduct at Ancona the battalion was awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valor, which was affixed to the flag of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and added to the regiment's coat of arms, when the battalion joined the regiment. In 1862 the XXV Battalion participated in the Battle of Aspromonte against Giuseppe Garibaldi's Redshirts, which were marching to occupy Rome. For stopping Garibaldi's volunteers the XXV Battalion was awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valor, which was affixed to the flag of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and added to the regiment's coat of arms, when the battalion joined the regiment.
In 1866 the battalions participated in the Third Italian War of Independence, during which the XXV Battalion distinguished itself in the Battle of Borgo and the Battle of Levico. For its conduct at Borgo and Levico the battalion was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor, which was affixed to the flag of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and added to the regiment's coat of arms. In September 1870 the XX Battalion participated in the capture of Rome. In 1895-96 the regiment provided 11 officers and 256 troops to help form the I, III, IV, and V provisional battalions, which were deployed to Eritrea for the First Italo-Ethiopian War. On 1 October 1910 the regiment's depot in Livorno formed the III Cyclists Battalion. In 1911, the regiment provided 26 officers and 1,279 troops to augment units fighting in the Italo-Turkish War.
World War I
In January 1915 the regimental depot in Livorno formed the LII Battalion, which sailed in May 1915 to Libya, where the battalion operated as an autonomous unit throughout World War 1. In May 1915, shortly before Italy's entry into the war, the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment consisted of the XVIII, XX, and XXV battalions, and the III Cyclists Battalion, which operated as an autonomous unit throughout the war. On 24 May 1915, the day after Italy's entry into the war, the regiment operated in the Dolomites. On 1 June the Bersaglieri occupied the San Pellegrino Pass. Between 7 and 20 July 1915, the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment, together with the 52nd Infantry Regiment and 59th Infantry Regiment, tried to storm the summit of the Col di Lana. Between 18 October and 12 November 1915, the regiment, together with Alpini units and the regiments of the Brigade "Torino" attempted to break the Austro-hungarian frontline between Col di Lana and Lagazuoi. This operation cost the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment 29 officers 536 troops.
On 22 November 1915 the regiment's depot in Livorno formed the regimental command of the 13th Bersaglieri Regiment and the LX Battalion for the new regiment. The regimental depot also formed the XL Battalion, which left Livorno on 2 January 1916 and joined the 14th Bersaglieri Regiment on 11 March 1916. On 17 April 1916 troops of the Brigade "Calabria" occupied the Col di Lana summit and on 20 April the regiment's XX and XXV battalions, together with the 60th Infantry Regiment, tried, but ultimately failed to storm the nearby summit Monte Sief. On 15 May 1915, the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and 46th Infantry Regiment tried again to conquer Monte Sief. After two days of heavy combat on the slopes of the mountain the Italian troops had to retreat to their own lines and the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment left ten officers and 280 soldiers on the field of battle.
The rest of the 1916 the regiment was in the area of Piccolo Colbricon and Val Cismon. On 6 February 1917 the 17th Bersaglieri Regiment was formed and the depot of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment formed the LXV Battalion for the new regiment. On 24 October 1917 the Austro-Hungarian Army and Imperial German Army commenced the Battle of Caporetto, which quickly forced the Italian armies to retreat from the front along the Isonzo river to a new front along the Piave river. The Italian retreat from the Isonzo front forced the Italian units deployed in the Dolomites into a fighting retreat towards the Venetian plain. On 4 November 1917, the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment began its retreat through the Piave valley. On 13 November the regiment established a defensive line along the Piave river between Fener and Pederobba. The line ran along the railway dam located between the foot of the Monfenera ridge and the Piave river. Over the next weeks the First Battle of the Piave River raged and repeated Austro-Hungarian attacks forced the Italian defenders to fall back from Fener towards the Monte Tomba, but the line along the Piave river held. On 4 December the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment was relieved by troops of the 65th French Division. In a month of fighting the regiment had lost 37 officers and 907 soldiers.
In June 1918 the regiment fought in the Second Battle of the Piave River in the area of Monte Valbella, where it lost 26 officers and 509 soldiers. On 29 August 1918 the regiment formed, together with the 2nd Bersaglieri Regiment, the VII Bersaglieri Brigade. On 24 October 1918 Italy commenced the Battle of Vittorio Veneto and in the afternoon of the 27 October the VI and VII Bersaglieri brigades crossed the Piave river South of the island of Grave di Papadopoli. On 30 October the VII brigade attacked towards Oderzo and from there rapidly advanced to San Vito al Tagliamento in pursuit of the fleeing Austro-Hungarian armies. On 4 November the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment reached Castions di Strada, where the regiment was informed of the end of the war.
During the war the regiment's III Cyclists Battalion fought as an autonomous unit. In 1915 the battalion was deployed on the Karst plateau, where the battalion fought in the Second Battle of the Isonzo. During the battle the battalion conquered enemy positions at Vermegliano on 19-21 July and then on Monte Sei Busi on 28-29 July. On 6 August 1916, the first day of the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, the battalion took Hill 85 to the East of Monfalcone. On 14-16 September 1916, during the Seventh Battle of the Isonzo, the battalion conquered and then held Hill 144 East of Monfalcone against repeated Austro-Hungarian counterattacks. For taking Hill 144 the battalion was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor, which was affixed to the flag of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and added to the regiment's coat of arms. In 1917 the battalion fought again on the Karst plateau, first in the Battle of Flondar and then on Monte Ermada. After the Battle of Caporetto the battalion fought a delaying action at Ponte di Pinzano and then retreated to the Piave river, where it took up positions at Zenson di Piave during the First Battle of the Piave River. In 1918 the battalion fought in the Second Battle of the Piave River at Fossalta di Piave. During the Battle of Vittorio Veneto the battalion crossed the Piave at Grave di Papadopoli and then advanced to Conegliano. The battalion then crossed the Fadalto Pass and via Longarone reached Pieve di Cadore by 4 November. After the war the III Cyclists Battalion was disbanded in 1919, but in 1922 the battalion was awarded a Gold Medal of Military Valor, for having conquered enemy positions at Vermegliano, on Monte Sei Busi, and East of Monfalcone, and for its conduct during the Second Battle of the Piave River and the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. The only other Bersaglieri unit to be awarded a Gold Medal of Military Valor during the war was the 18th Bersaglieri Regiment. The Gold Medal of Military Valor awarded to the III Cyclists Battalion, was affixed to the flag of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and added to the regiment's coat of arms.
Interwar years In 1920 the regiment's XX and XXV battalions were reduced to reserve units. On 27 April 1923 the XXV Battalion was reformed and the XX Battalion disbanded. In July 1924 the regiment became a cyclists unit. The same year the XXV Battalion was renumbered as XX Battalion. By 1926 the regiment consisted of the XVIII and XX battalions, and a depot. On 23 March 1935 the regiment was mobilized in preparation for the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. As part of the preparation the regiment reformed the XXV Battalion as a machine gunners unit and formed the LXXXIII Reinforcements Battalion. On 1 April 1935 the regimental depot in Livorno reformed the 18th Bersaglieri Regiment, which consisted of the reformed LXVII and LXVIII battalions.
Second Italo-Ethiopian War