Alpini

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Italian Alpini

Alpini in a parade
Active 1872 - today
Country Italy
Branch Italian Army
Type Mountain troops
Size 2 Brigades
Part of Alpine Corps Command
Nickname Le Penne Nere ("Black Feathers")
Patron San Maurizio
celebrated every September 22nd
Anniversaries October 15th 1872
Date of Foundation
Battles/wars First Italo–Ethiopian War
Boxer Rebellion
Italo-Turkish War
World War I
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Greco-Italian War
World War II
War in Afghanistan
Decorations 9 Croci di Cavaliere dell'O.M.I.
9 Gold Medals for Military Valour
22 Silver Medals for Military Valour
5 Bronze Medals for Military Valour
1 War Cross for Military Valour
2 Bronze Medals for Army Valour
1 Gold Medal for Civil Valour
1 Bronze Medal for Civil Valour
1 Silver Cross for Army Merit
1 Cross for Army Merit.
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Luigi Reverberi

The Alpini, meaning "the Alpines", are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. They are currently organised in two main operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpini Corps Command. The singular is an Alpino (an "Alpine").

Originally formed in 1872, their mission was to protect Italy's northern mountainous borders. In 1888 the Alpini were sent to their first mission abroad, in Africa, during the First Italo–Ethiopian War. They distinguished themself during World War I when they fought against Austro-Hungarian soldiers in what has since been called the "War in snow and ice". During World War II, the Alpini fought together with Axis forces mostly on the Eastern Front being tasked to hold the front in the Don river plains.

In the 1990s, after the end of the Cold War, three of the five Alpini brigades and many support units were disbanded due to the reorganization process of the Italian Army. Currently, despite having some of the best trained and best equipped mountain troops in the world, the military role of Alpines is seen in terms of peacekeeping missions and minor disputes interventions.

Contents

A pair of Fiamme Verdi collar patches.
A pair of Fiamme Verdi collar patches.

The first 15 Alpini companies were formed, in 1872, at the suggestion of Captain Giuseppe Perrucchetti, as a force capable of defending Italy’s northern mountainous borders. The newly created Kingdom of Italy, with its new capital in Rome, faced major problems in defending its new land borders, which, after the 1866 war against Austria, coincident in large parts with the Alpine Arch.

Homeland defense had previously been based on the so called Quadrilatero: defending the Po Valley ("Pianura Padana") and leaving the Alps undefended because that region was considered unsuitable to military operations. The idea of recruiting the inhabitants of the valleys of Italy’s northern mountain regions into a special corps, thereby taking advantage of both their knowledge of the frontier territory and their adaptability to Alpine conditions, was an innovative one. In 1877, five Alpini Mountain Artillery Batteries were formed and, in the following year, the Alpines had already grown to 36 companies of mountain infantry organized into 10 battalions.

On November 1, 1882, the now 20 Alpini battalions and 8 Alpini Mountain Artillery Batteries were organized into six Alpini Regiments and two Alpini Mountain Artillery Brigades. The battalions took the names of the valleys and localities from which their soldiers were recruited:

A Cappello Alpino of an Alpino Engineer soldier.
A Cappello Alpino of an Alpino Engineer soldier.

On June 7, 1883, the Alpini were awarded the "fiamme verdi" (green flames) collar patch. Also adopted was their distinctive headdress; the "Cappello Alpino" with its black feather, which led to them being nicknamed "Le Penne Nere" or "black feathers". In 1886 the names of the battalions were changed to the names of the locations of their main logistics depot. (e.g., in 1943, the division "Tridentina" from Trento province, comprised the battalions Morbegno, Tirano, Edolo, Vestone and Verona, plus the artillery groups Bergamo and Vicenza, all named after mountain centres in northern Italy). On August 1st, 1887 the 7° Alpini Regiment was formed in Conegliano Veneto receiving two battalions from the 6th regiment. With this the number of battalions increased by two to a new total of 22. On November 1st, 1887 the 1° Alpini Artillery Regiment was formed in Turin.

The Alpine units were issued the M.91TS version of the Carcano rifle in 1897 as their main weapon.

Although created as a defensive force specializing in Alpine combat, in 1888, a mixed battalion of Alpines was sent to Africa, where they went through their baptism of fire during the First Italo–Ethiopian War. On March 1, 1896, during the Battle of Adowa, the mixed Alpini battalion and the 1° Mountain Artillery regiment suffered heavy losses and were routed by the Ethiopian forces. The mixed battalion lost over 400 of it 550 men, including the commanding officer Lt. Col. Menini.

During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, a Mountain Artillery Battery participated in the lifting of the siege of the International Compound in Beijing.

In 1909, the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment regiment was formed and, in 1908, a new Alpini battalion, "Tolmezzo", was raised; followed two years later by the "Belluno" battalion. Both were assigned to the 7° regiment. In 1910, the “Tolmezzo” battalion along with the "Gemona" battalion were assigned to the newly formed 8° regiment:

From 1911 until 1914, the Alpini battalions Fenestrelle, Saluzzo, Mondovi, Susa, Ivrea, Verona, Feltre, Edolo, Tolmezzo, Venzone along with batteries from both Alpini Artillery regiments fought during the Italo-Turkish War in the Libyan desert.

Alpino Celestino Ellero. WW1. He wears the 1st issue Italian Gas mask container strapped over his right shoulder. ca. 1916
Alpino Celestino Ellero. WW1. He wears the 1st issue Italian Gas mask container strapped over his right shoulder. ca. 1916

During World War I the 24 peacetime Alpini battalions were increased by 64 battalions and saw heavy combat all over the alpine arch. During the war years the Alpini regiments consisted of the following battalions (pre-war raised units in bold). The first reserve units were named after the valleys (in Italian: "Val") in Northern Italy from were they drew their recruits. The later raised units were named after mountains in Northern Italy:

Austrian Positions on Rotwand summit
Austrian Positions on Rotwand summit
Italian Positions on Cinque Torri summit today
Italian Positions on Cinque Torri summit today

To these 78 regular Alpini battalions came 10 special battalions that were not assigned to any regiment. Some of these regiments were Skiing battalions named after glaciers in the Alps:

  • "Garibaldi" battalion (later renamed "Monte Mandrone")
  • "Ortler" battalion
  • "Cavento" battalion
  • "Monte Bianco" battalion

The Alpini battalions were divided in 233 companies of 100 to 150 men each. The Alpini regiments were never sent into battle as a whole, instead single companies and battalions were given specific passes, summits or ridges to guard and defend on their own.

The war has become known as the "War in snow and ice" , as most of the 600 km frontline ran through the highest mountains and glaciers of the Alps. 12 meters (40 feet) of snow were a usual occurrence during the winter of 1915/16 and thousands of soldiers died in avalanches. The remains of these soldiers are still being uncovered today. The Alpini, as well as their Austrian counterparts: Kaiserjäger, Standschützen and Landeschützen occupied every hill and mountain top around the whole year. Whole cities were drilled and blown into the mountainsides and even deep into the ice of glaciers like the Marmolada. Guns were dragged by hundreds of troops on Mountains up to 3,890 m (12,760 feet) high. Streets, cable cars, mountain railroads and walkways were built through the steepest of walls. Most of these walkways and streets are still viable today. In addition, along the former frontline it is still possible to see what is left of hundreds of kilometers of barbed wire.

Col di Lana after the detonation of the Italian mine.
Col di Lana after the detonation of the Italian mine.

In this kind of warfare, whoever occupied the higher ground first was almost impossible to dislodge, so both sides turned to drilling tunnels under mountain peaks, filling them up with explosives and then detonating the whole mountain to pieces, including its defenders: i.e. Col di Lana, Monte Pasubio, Lagazuoi, etc.

Climbing and skiing became essential skills for the troops of both sides and soon Ski Battalions and special climbing units were formed. It was during these years that the Alpini, their spirit and their mules became legend, although at the cost of over 12,000 casualties out of a total of 40,000 mobilized Alpinis.

Many of the famous Alpini songs originated during this time and reflect upon the hardships of the "War in Snow and Ice".

An Alpino Corporal, Louis Celotti. ca. 1925 (note the "cappello Alpino" under his left arm)
An Alpino Corporal, Louis Celotti. ca. 1925 (note the "cappello Alpino" under his left arm)

After World War I all battalions with the exception the pre-war battalions were dissolved. In 1919 the Alpini gained the 9° Alpini regiment. In 1935 the fascist government of Italy reorganized its Armed Forces, creating six Alpine divisions and forming two new Alpini regiments: the 11° Alpini regiment and the 12° Alpini regiment. The 5 Alpine Division Pusteria formed of the 7th and 11th Alpini regiment was quickly dispatched to Eritrea were it participated in the Italian attack on Abyssinia.

During World War II, Italy fielded six Alpine divisions:

Each division consisted of two Alpini regiments with three battalions each, one Alpine Artillery Regiment with three Artillery groups, one Mixed Engineer Battalion, one Logistic Battalion and some support units. The strength of each division was 573 officers and 16,887 NCOs and soldiers for a total strength of 17,460 men. Also each division had almost 5000 mules and 500 vehicles of various types at its disposal.
The divisions saw combat in France, Africa, Italy, Albania, The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Greece. One Alpini battalion was employed in East Africa. In 1942, Tridentina, Julia and Cuneense division were sent to fight in the Soviet Union. In Russia, instead of being deployed in the Caucasus mountains as expected, the Alpini were tasked with holding a front on the plains of the Don River. As a result of this disastrous strategic decision, troops armed, trained, and equipped for mountain warfare were pitted in the plains against tanks and mechanized infantry, to counter which they were neither equipped nor trained. Despite this, the Alpini held the front until January 1943, when, due to the collapse of the Axis front, they were encircled by the advancing Soviet Army. The Alpini were able to break the encirclement and fight their way towards the new line of the front established after the Axis retreat. Only about one third of the Tridentina division (4250 survivors of 15000 troops deployed) and one tenth of the Julia (1200/15000) were able to survive this odyssey. The Cuneense division was annihilated.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's fascist government in northern Italy, the Italian Social Republic, had one division of Alpini, the 4th Italian "Monte Rosa" Alpini Division.

See also: Fall of France, East African Campaign (World War II), Greco-Italian War, invasion of Yugoslavia, Italian war in Soviet Union, 1941-1943, and Yugoslav People's Liberation War.

After World War II, five Alpine Brigades were formed and assigned to the IV (Alpine) Army Corps:


Alpini from the Taurinense Brigade on exercise.
Alpini from the Taurinense Brigade on exercise.

After the end of the Cold War, all but the Julia and Taurinense Brigades were dissolved, thus leaving the following Alpini units, that still carry the "fiamme verdi" collar insignia:

Collar Patches worn by Alpinis today
Collar Patches worn by Alpinis today

Currently the Alpino is equipped with the standard personal weaponry of the Italian Army: the Beretta AR 70/90 assault rifle (also in the SC configuration), the Beretta 92 FS pistol and the OD/82 hand grenade.

The squad automatic weapon is the FN Minimi or, alternatively, the Rheinmetall MG3 (sometime still called MG42). Supporting fire can be provided also by M2 Browning (0.50") machine gun, the Hirtenberger M6C-210 Commando 60 mm, man-portable light mortar or by the MO-120-RT-61 120 mm heavy mortar.

Mobility is guaranteed by the use of Iveco VM 90 armored vehicles (soon to be replaced with Puma 6x6 APCs) and Bv 206 / Bv 206S all terrain tracked vehicles.

The anti-tank weapons are the MILAN and the BGM-71 TOW missiles.

The artillery regiments were until recently equipped with the OTO Melara Mod 56 pack howitzer. This lightweight gun (1273 kg) can be manhandled by its crew, allowing its use in direct fire support role. Furthermore, it can be easily disassembled in 12 separate loads for ease of transportation, allowing its deployment almost anywhere in the rugged terrain of the mountain battlefield.

Recently, however, the artillery regiments have been issued with the more powerful FH-70 howitzer. Whereas this has led to a great increase of the firepower of the regiments, it has also reduced their versatility. Indeed they are not anymore designated as "mountain artillery".

The ANA (Associazione Nazionale Alpini or National Alpini Association) is a registered society representing the "Veci" or former members of the Alpini corps. As the "Veci" see themselves as merely "on leave" rather than veterans, the ANA is colloquially known to be the 10° Alpini Regiment. Since 1920 every year ANA organizes a national reunion the "Veci". Hundreds of thousands of Alpini congregate with family and friends to an Italian city for a weekend in the late spring to celebrate, drink heavily and have a good time while remembering old times. [2]

  1. ^ Current Alpini structure according to the Italian Army Official Site - accesed April 2007
  2. ^ Official Site of the National Alpini Association

Italian Army- The Alpini
COMALP- Alpine Troops Command
ANA Conegliano- History of Alpini units

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpini"
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