Alpini Battalion "Tirano"

The Alpini Battalion "Tirano" (Italian: Battaglione Alpini "Tirano") is an inactive battalion of the Italian Army's mountain infantry speciality, the Alpini, which distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II.[2]

Alpini Battalion "Tirano"
Battaglione Alpini "Tirano"
Battalion coat of arms
Active1 Nov. 1886 - 8 September 1943
1 January 1953 - 27 March 1991[1]
CountryItaly
BranchItalian Army
TypeAlpini
Part ofAlpine Brigade "Orobica"
Garrison/HQMals
Motto(s)"Mai tardi!"[1]
Anniversaries26 January 1943 - Battle of Nikolajewka[1]
Decorations
1x Military Order of Italy
2x Gold Medals of Military Valour
1x Bronze Medal of Civil Valour
1x Medal of Merit for the 1908 Messina earthquake[1]
Insignia
Alpini gorget patches

History
Main articles: 5th Alpini Regiment and Alpini and Mountain Artillery formations in World War I

The battalion was raised on 1 November 1886 by renaming Alpini Battalion "Valtellina" of the 5th Alpini Regiment. The battalion's name, like the names of all Alpini battalions raised before World War I, was the name of the location of the battalion's depot; in the Tirano's case the village of Tirano in the Valtellina valley. As with all Alpini battalions the recruits for the battalions were drafted exclusively from the area surrounding the depot. The battalion consisted of the 46th, 48th and 49th Alpini companies.[2][3]

The Italian Army in Russia's retreat to Nikolayevka

The Tirano battalion's history is intertwined with the history of the 5th Alpini Regiment, with which it served in World War I and in World War II. During the latter the regiment was part of the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" and served in the Greco-Italian War and as part of the Italian Army in Russia on the Eastern Front, where regiment and battalion barely escaped annihilation during the Battle of Nikolayevka in January 1943. For its conduct during the two campaigns the 5th Alpini Regiment was awarded two Gold Medals of Military Valour.[1][2]

After the defeat of the Italian Army in Russia 150 survivors of the Tirano were repatriated in spring 1943 and garrisoned in the village of Mühlbach in South Tyrol. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 5th Alpini Regiment its battalions were disbanded by the Germans.[2]

Cold War

After World War II the 5th Alpini Regiment was reformed on 1 January 1953, in the city of Meran with the battalions "Tirano" and "Edolo" as the infantry component of the Alpine Brigade "Orobica". During the 1975 army reform the 5th Alpini Regiment was disbanded on 30 November 1975 and its battalions came under the direct command of the Orobica. As the traditions and war flag of the 5th Alpini Regiment were assigned to the "Morbegno" battalion, the Tirano was granted a new war flag on 12 November 1976 by decree 846 of the President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone.[4] The two Gold Medals of Military Valour and the Messina earthquake Medal of Merit awarded to the 5th Alpini Regiment, were duplicated for the new flag of the Tirano, and the Bronze Medal of Civil Valour awarded to the Tirano for its work after the Gleno Dam disaster was transferred from the flag of the 5th Alpini to the Tirano's flag. The battalion's structure on 1 December 1975 was as follows:[2]

  • Alpini Battalion "Tirano", in Mals[5]
    • 46th Alpini Company, in Glurns
    • 48th Alpini Company, in Mals
    • 49th Alpini Company, in Glurns
    • 109th Mortar Company, in Mals

The battalion's task in case of war with the Warsaw Pact was to defend the Reschen Pass.

With the end of the Cold War the Italian Army began to downsize its forces and on 27 March 1991 the Tirano was disbanded and its flag transferred to the shrine of the flags at the Vittoriano in Rome.[2][1]

Sources
  • Franco dell'Uomo, Rodolfo Puletti: "L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Volume Secondo - Tomo I", Rome 2001, Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito - Ufficio Storico, page: 512

References
  1. "Le Feste dei Reparti - Gennaio". Italian Army. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  2. "Battaglione Alpini Tirano". vecio.it. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  3. "Tirano". Fronte del Piave. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  4. "Decreto del Presidente della Repubblica 12 novembre 1976, n. 846". Quirinale - Presidenza della Repubblica. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  5. F. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti (1998). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Primo - Tomo I. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 473.
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