8º Reggimento bersaglieri
The 8th Bersaglieri - Regiment is a mechanized infantry Association of the Italian Army . It is stationed in Caserta ( Campania ) and is subordinate to the Bersaglieri Brigade Garibaldi (also in Caserta).
organization
The regiment has battalion strength and consists of a staff and supply company, three mechanized companies, an anti-tank mortar company and an anti-tank company. It is equipped with armored personnel carriers of the Dardo type.
history
1861 to 1941
The 8th Bersaglieri Regiment was formed on January 1, 1871 from parts of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment . In 1911 and 1912 it took part in the Italo-Turkish War . During the First World War , the regiment fought in the Cadore and the Piave, among others . In 1937 the 3rd Rapid Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" became part of the new armored division "Ariete" in 1938 , with which it was deployed in Albania in the spring of 1939 .
Africa campaign
After the outbreak of World War II , Mussolini forbade until 1941 the transfer of the few motorized and armored Italian divisions from the Po Valley to North Africa, where they would have been the only usable forces in this region in the war with Great Britain . The 8th Bersaglieri regiment then arrived in North Africa together with the "Ariete" almost at the same time as Erwin Rommel , under whom it fought until May 1943. According to the commander, Colonel Ugo Montemurro , known as "Kampfgruppe M" or "Kolonne M", the regiment often operated under Rommel's direct command, for example on April 8, 1941 at Derna and El Mekili , where it was the 2nd British Armored Division of the General Gambier-Parry , who surrendered to the Bersaglieri with two other generals and 2,700 men. Montemurro received the Iron Cross 1st Class from Rommel .
Shortly thereafter, the 8th fought Commonwealth troops at Tobruk , Sollum and Ain el Gazala . Towards the end of the year it was involved in Rommel's counter-offensive with all the other Bersaglieri regiments and distinguished itself among other things. a. near Bir el-Gobi , where about 50 tanks of the 22nd British tank brigade were destroyed with anti-tank guns. The battalions of the 8th achieved a similar success at Sidi Rezegh .
In 1942 the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment fought at Ain el Gazala and Bir Hacheim . On May 28, it captured an artillery battalion at El Kerua , and on June 5 it threw back British armored troops at Dahar el Aslag with heavy losses.
After the fall of Tobruk, the "Ariete" headed the German and Italian associations as far as Egypt . In the first battle of El Alamein , the 8th Bersaglieri regiment at Deep Well was sidelined in mid-July 1942 and was encircled and almost completely wiped out by British armored forces.
In the following weeks, despite considerable logistical problems, due to incoming replacements, two battalions were put together . With these it took part in the second battle of El Alamein at the end of October 1942 as part of the "Ariete" armored division . There the regiment fought on the spot from October 24th to November 4th until its complete annihilation.
A total of 17,000 Italian soldiers were killed in the battle . The few survivors of the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment were taken in by two battalions of the 7th Bersaglieri Regiment. With these two battalions, the 8th Regiment was re-established shortly after the battle. A third was added at Marsa el Brega . By the end of the year the regiment was able to retreat to Tunisia, where it then took part in the battle for Tunisia with the “Giovani Fascisti” division .
A British attack on the Mareth Line in the south failed in March 1943, mainly due to the resistance of the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment, which had been brought forward with a number of well-known associations (including battalions of the Black Watch Regiment ). Towards the end of the month the regiment had to withdraw to Wadi Akarit on orders from higher authorities , where fierce fighting broke out again in early April. The 8th Bersaglieri Regiment ended its mission in Africa in the battle of the Takrouna near Enfidaville (height 141). Here the attacks of a New Zealand and an Indian division failed temporarily. On May 13, 1943, all Italian troops of the 1st Army stopped firing on the orders of Giovanni Messe .
The 8th Bersaglieri Regiment was re-established in Verona in the summer of 1943 , but was disbanded on September 8 in the course of the armistice with the Allies .
1949 until today
As part of the new Ariete Armored Brigade , the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment was re-established on September 15, 1949 in northeast Italy. The brigade grew up there a short time later to become the tank division of the same name. When the division was reorganized in 1975 as part of an army reform, the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment became the staff of the new 8th Bersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi" . In addition to an artillery and a tank battalion, this led the Bersaglieri battalions "Cernaia" (3rd), "Caprera" (11th) and "Castelfidardo" (26th). The battalion "Cernaia" also took over the troop flag of the 8th regiment. Shortly thereafter, it provided valuable assistance after a severe earthquake in Friuli , and in 1980 after another earthquake in Campania . In 1983 the "Cernaia" battalion was deployed on a peace mission in Lebanon . In 1991 the entire "Garibaldi" brigade was transferred to Caserta in southern Italy , where it was one of the first to be professionalized in Italy and all conscripts were dismissed. In June 1993 the 8th Bersaglieri regiment was re-established, mainly for reasons of tradition, and took over the 3rd Bersaglieri battalion "Cernaia". In the following years, the association, together with the "Garibaldi" brigade, took part in almost all foreign missions of the Italian army , especially in the former Yugoslavia and also in Iraq .