6th Alpini Regiment

The 6th Alpini Regiment was formed on 1 November 1882. It consisted of three battalions: Val d'Orco, Val d'Aosta, and Val Tagliamento, named after the valleys from which their soldiers were recruited. On 1 April 1885 the regiment ceded the "Val d'Orco" and "Val d'Aosta" battalions to the 4th Alpini Regiment and received the "Val Schio" battalion from the 2nd Alpini Regiment, the "Monte Lessini" battalion from the 3rd Alpini Regiment and the "Val Brenta" battalion from the 4th Alpini Regiment.

In 1886 battalions were renamed, taking as new names the location of their logistic depot: Verona, Vicenza, Bassano, Pieve di Cadore, and Gemona. The same year the regiment raised the Alpini Battalion "Feltre". By now the regiment had become too complex and therefore it was split on 1 August 1887: the regimental command and the battalions "Feltre", "Gemona", and "Pieve di Cadore" formed in Conegliano the 7th Alpini Regiment.

The 6th Alpini Regiment saw its first action in 1911 during the Italo-Turkish War, fighting Ottoman forces in the Libya. During World War I the regiment consisted of ten battalions and saw heavy fighting in the Alps regions of the Italian front against Austro-Hungarian and German forces. During the war the regiment consisted of the following battalions (pre-war battalions in bold, followed by their first and second line reserve battalions):

• Verona, Val d'Adige, Monte Baldo
• Vicenza, Val Leogra, Monte Berico, Monte Pasubio
• Bassano, Val Brenta, Sette Comuni

During the Battle of Caporetto in October 1917 and the following retreat to the Piave river the Val Leogra was destroyed. During the war 201 officers and 3,294 soldiers of the regiment were killed, and 460 officers and 8,670 soldiers were wounded.[4] The regiment's battalions were awarded six Silver Medals of Military Valour during the war, one of which was shared between the Verona, Bassano, Monte Baldo, and Sette Comuni battalions for their conduct during the battle of Monte Ortigara.

On 21 November 1919 the Alpini Battalion "Vicenza" was transferred to the newly formed 9th Alpini Regiment. On 1 September 1920 the Alpini Battalion "Trento" was raised by the 5th Alpini Regiment, which on 1 July 1921 was transferred together with the Alpini Battalion "Vestone" to the 6th Alpini Regiment. On 10 September 1935, the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" was formed, which consisted of the 5th Alpini Regiment, 6th Alpini Regiment, and 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment. On 11 April 1937 the battalions "Bassano" and "Trento" were transferred to the newly formed 11th Alpini Regiment and the 6th Alpini reformed the Alpini Battalion "Val Chiese" as replacement.

On 21 June 1940 (one day before the French surrender) the Tridentina advanced with other Italian units into Southern France. Later in 1940 the division was then sent to Albania, where it sustained heavy losses in the Greco-Italian War. In April 1941 the German Wehrmacht came to the aid of the beaten Italian armies in Albania through the invasion of Yugoslavia. Afterwards the Tridentina was repatriated for rest and refit.

In September 1942 the Tridentina under command of General Luigi Reverberi was sent with the 3rd Alpine Division "Julia", 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" and other Italian units to the Soviet Union to form the Italian Army in Russia (Italian: Armata Italiana in Russia abbreviated as ARMIR) and fight alongside the German Wehrmacht against the Red Army. Taking up positions along the Don River, the Italian units covered part of the left flank of the German Sixth Army, which spearheaded the German summer offensive of 1942 into the city of Stalingrad.

After successfully encircling the German Sixth army in Stalingrad the Red Army's attention turned to the Italian units along the Don. On 14 January 1943, the Soviet Operation Little Saturn began and the three alpine division found themselves quickly encircled by rapidly advancing armored Soviet Forces. The Alpini held the front on the Don, but within three days the Soviets had advanced 200 km to the left and right of the Alpini. On the evening of 17 January the commanding officer of the Italian Mountain Corps General Gabriele Nasci ordered a full retreat. At this point the Julia and Cuneense divisions were already heavily decimated and only the Tridentina was still capable of conducting combat operations. As the Soviets had already occupied every village bitter battles had to be fought to clear the way out of the encirclement. The remnants of the Tridentina were able to break the Soviet encirclement in the Battle of Nikolayevka on 26 January 1943, allowing 4,250 Tridentina survivors (out of 15,000 troops deployed) to reach German lines, which were reached on the morning of 28 January. By then the men of the 6th Alpini Regiment had walked 200 km, fought in 20 battles and spent 11 nights camped out in the middle of the Steppe. Temperatures during the nights were between -30 °C and -40 °C.

The few survivors of the 6th Alpini Regiment were repatriated and after the signing of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943, the regiment was dissolved on 10 September 1943 in the village of Franzensfeste.

After World War II the 6th Alpini Regiment was reformed on 16 April 1946, in the city of Meran with the battalions "Edolo", "Bolzano" and "Trento". The regiment was the infantry component of the newly formed Alpine Brigade "Tridentina". In 1951 the reformed Alpini Battalion "Bassano" joined the 6th Alpini Regiment, while the Alpini Battalion "Edolo" was transferred on 1 January 1953 to the reformed 5th Alpini Regiment.

During the 1975 army reform the army disbanded the regimental level and newly independent battalions were given for the first time their own flags. On 30 September 1975 the 6th Alpini Regiment was disbanded and on the same day the regiment's Alpini Battalion "Bassano" in Innichen was assigned the flag and traditions of the 6th Alpini Regiment.[5]

Before being disbanded in 1975 the structure of the 6th Alpini Regiment was as follows:

• 6th Alpini Regiment, in Bruneck[6]
  • Command and Services Company, in Bruneck
  • Alpini Battalion "Bolzano", in Brixen
    • 92nd Alpini Company
    • 141st Alpini Company
    • 142nd Alpini Company
    • 127th Mortar Company
  • Alpini Battalion "Trento", in Welsberg
    • 94th Alpini Company
    • 144th Alpini Company
    • 145th Alpini Company
    • 128th Mortar Company
  • Alpini Battalion "Bassano", in Innichen
    • 62nd Alpini Company
    • 63rd Alpini Company
    • 74th Alpini Company
    • 129th Mortar Company