The 1st Infantry Regiment "San Giusto" (Italian: 1° Reggimento Fanteria "San Giusto") is an inactive unit of the Italian Army last based in Trieste. Founded in 1624 as Regiment "Fleury" the regiment is part of the Italian army's infantry arm.
History
The 1st Infantry Regiment "San Giusto" is the oldest regiment of the Italian Army, dating back to 1624 when the Marquis Trivier de Fleury established the Regiment "Fleury" with French troops for service in the army of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy. The regiment consisted of 15 companies with 100 men each and fought in 1628 in the War of the Mantuan Succession. The regiment served in all the wars of the Savoyard state until 1798 when it was disbanded due to Revolutionary France occupying Piedmont and forcing Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia to abdicate the throne in favor of the Piedmontese Republic.
The regiment was reformed in early 1800 as Regiment "Savoia" to fight against the French in the War of the Second Coalition, but after the Austrian defeat on 14 June 1800 at the Battle of Marengo the regiment was disbanded again.
At the outbreak of World War I, the Brigade "Re" formed, together with the Brigade "Pistoia" and the 30th Field Artillery Regiment, the 11th Division. At the time the 1st Infantry Regiment consisted of three battalions, each of which fielded four fusilier companies and one machine gun section. The brigade fought on the Italian front in World War I and the 1st Infantry Regiment "Re" earned its second Silver Medal of Military Valor.
The 1st Infantry Regiment "Re" and its sister regiment the 2nd Infantry Regiment "Re" were the infantry component of the 13th Infantry Division "Re". The division served in occupied Yugoslavia until it was ordered to return to Italy on 28 August 1943.[3][4]
The rest of the division was still in Florence and Trieste. The 12th Infantry Division "Sassari" detached its II Group/ 34th Artillery Regiment "Sassari" and XII Self-propelled Anti-tank Battalion to the Re, which participated in the defense of Rome against the invading Germans. On 10 September the defenders of Rome surrendered and the Re and its regiments were dissolved by the Germans on 12 September 1943.
With the 1975 army reform the Italian Army abolished the regimental level and battalions came under direct command of the brigades and regional commands. Therefore, on 1 October 1975, the 151st Infantry Regiment "Sassari" of the Trieste Troops Command was disbanded and the regiment's I Battalion was reformed as 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion "San Giusto". The battalion was assigned the flag and traditions of the 1st Infantry Regiment "Re". As Italy had become a Republic the unit's name was changed from "Re" to "Justus of Trieste" the patron saint of the city of Trieste.[6][7]
With the 1986 reform the Trieste Troops Command was disbanded on 1 October 1986 and the 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion "San Giusto" was transferred to the Mechanized Brigade "Vittorio Veneto". On 1st February 1991 the battalion was renamed 1st Battalion "San Giusto" and tasked with the training of recruits. With the end of the Cold War the "Vittorio Veneto" was disbanded on 31 July 1991 and the 1st Battalion "San Giusto" was transferred to the 5th Army Corps. On 22 September 1992 the battalion was elevated to 1st Regiment "San Giusto".
On 31 March 2008 the 1st Regiment "San Giusto" was disbanded and its flag transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome.
The regiment is the only unit of the Italian infantry arm, which due to its royal lineage, uses red ties instead of the army's standard khaki colored tie, which led to the regiment's nickname "Red Ties" (Italian: Cravatte Rosse).
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