1st Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain)

The 1st Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain) (Italian: 1° Reggimento Artiglieria Terrestre (montagna)) is a field artillery regiment of the Italian Army, specializing in mountain combat. The regiment was raised in 1887 as Mountain Artillery Regiment to support the Italian Army's mountain infantry troops, the Alpini, with whom the regiment shares the distinctive Cappello Alpino. Both, the Alpini and the Mountain Artillery, distinguished themselves in World War I and World War II. The Gold Medal of Military Valour affixed to the regiment's war flag and displayed on the regiment's coat of arms was originally awarded to the Mountain Artillery Group "Aosta" for its service with the Partisan Division "Garibaldi" in Montenegro. Today the regiment is based in Fossano in Piedmont and operationally assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense".[3]

1st Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain)
1° Reggimento Artiglieria Terrestre (montagna)
Regimental coat of arms
Active1 November 1887 - today[1]
Country Italy
BranchItalian Army
Part ofAlpine Brigade "Taurinense"
Garrison/HQFossano
Motto(s)"Nulla via invia"
Anniversaries15 June 1918 - Second Battle of the Piave River
Decorations
1x Gold Medal of Military Valour
1x Bronze Medal of Civil Merit
1x Bronze Medal of Red Cross Merit[2]
Insignia
Regimental gorget patches

History

The unit was raised in the city of Turin on 1 November 1887 as Mountain Artillery Regiment with three artillery brigades of three batteries each. On 1 March 1895 the unit expanded to five brigades, with the V Brigade becoming autonomous as Mountain Artillery Brigade of the Veneto on 21 August 1902. The regiment was tasked to provide artillery support to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Alpini regiments and recruited in Piedmont, Liguria and Aosta.[4] By July 1909 the regiment consisted of the:

On 17 July 1910 the brigades were renamed as groups.

World War 1
See also: Alpini and Mountain Artillery formations in World War I

With tensions rising the army expanded the mountain artillery and on 1 February 1915 the regiment transferred the depot in Oneglia with the Mountain Artillery Group "Oneglia" to the newly formed 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment. Along with the depot and group, recruitment in Liguria and the task to support the 1st Alpini Regiment passed to the new regiment.[4][5][6][7] To compensate for the loss of the "Oneglia" Group on the same date the Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Pinerolo" was raised in Turin.

During the war the regiment's depots raised and trained the commands of nine mountain artillery groupings (Italian: Raggruppamento Artiglieria Montagna), the commands of 17 mountain artillery groups (Italian: Gruppo Artiglieria Montagna), and 37 mountain artillery batteries, which were each equipped with four 65/17 mod. 13 cannons. Furthermore, two commands of siege groups (Italian: Gruppo d'Assedio), and 14 siege batteries were raised and trained by the regiment.[4]

  • The regiment raised the following mountain artillery groupings: 1°, 2°, 3°, 4°, 5°, 9°, 10°, 11°, and 12°.[4]
  • The regiment raised the following mountain artillery groups: XV (66th, 67th, 68th bty.), XIX (14th, 51st, 55th bty.), XXII (47th, 48th, 49th bty.), XXV (82nd, 83rd, 84th bty.), XXIX (91st, 92nd, 93rd bty.), XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIII, XLIV, LII, LVIII, LXII, and LXV.[5][6]
1st Mountain Artillery Regiment, in Turin[4][8]
Turin DepotMondovì Depot
(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"[9]
  • 10th Mountain Artillery Battery
  • 11th Mountain Artillery Battery
  • 12th Mountain Artillery Battery
  • 54th Mountain Artillery Battery
(II) Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Aosta"[10]
  • 4th Mountain Artillery Battery
  • 5th Mountain Artillery Battery
  • 6th Mountain Artillery Battery
  • 52nd Mountain Artillery Battery
(III) Mountain Artillery Group "Torino-Pinerolo"[10]
  • 7th Mountain Artillery Battery
  • 8th Mountain Artillery Battery
  • 9th Mountain Artillery Battery
  • Note 1

Note 1: The group's 53rd Mountain Artillery Battery was not raised until November 1916 for lack of available 65/17 mod. 13 cannons.[7]

Current Structure
1st Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain) on exercise

As of 2019 the 1st Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain) consists of:

  • Regimental Command, in Fossano
    • Command and Logistic Support Battery
    • 7th Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Tactical Liaison Battery "Susa’d fer"
    • Artillery Group "Aosta"
      • 4th Howitzer Battery "La pomonite"
      • 5th Howitzer Battery "La fulmine"
      • 40th Howitzer Battery
      • 6th Fire and Technical Support Battery "La Garibaldi"

The Command and Logistic Support Battery fields the following sections: C3 Section, Transport and Materiel Section, Medical Section, and Commissariat Section. The regiment is equipped with FH-70 towed howitzers and an unknown number of M56 105mm pack howitzers in the direct fire role.[11] The 7th Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Tactical Liaison Battery is equipped with RQ-11B Raven unmanned aerial vehicles and ARTHUR counter-battery radars.

See also

References
  1. "1° Reggimento Artiglieria Terrestre (mon.) - La Storia". Italian Army. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  2. "1° Reggimento Artiglieria Terrestre (mon.) - Il Medagliere". Italian Army. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  3. "1° Reggimento Artiglieria Terrestre (mon.)". Italian Army. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  4. F. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti (1998). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Primo - Tomo II. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 181.
  5. "Storia dell'Artiglieria da Montagna". Vecio.it. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  6. L'Esercito Italiano nella Grande Guerra 1915-18 - Volume III Tomo 1 - Le Operazioni del 1916. Rome: Ufficio Storico - Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito. 1940. pp. 26–27. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  7. L'Esercito Italiano nella Grande Guerra 1915-18 - Volume I Tomo 1 - Le Forze Belligeranti. Rome: Ufficio Storico - Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito. 1940. pp. 95–97. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  8. "1° Reggimento Artiglieria da Montagna". Vecio.it. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  9. "Gruppo Artiglieria da Montagna Mondovì". Vecio.it. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  10. "Gruppo Artiglieria da Montagna Aosta". Vecio.it. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  11. "Obice da 155/39 FH-70". Esercito Italiano. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
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