The 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" (Italian: 68° Reggimento Fanteria "Legnano") is an inactive unit of the Italian Army last based in Bergamo. Formed in 1862 and originally named for the city of Palermo the regiment is part of the Italian Army's infantry arm. Since 1939 the regiment is named for the medieval Battle of Legnano.[2]
The regiment was assigned, together with the 67th Infantry Regiment, to the Brigade "Palermo" in Turin. The brigade's command and the 67th Infantry Regiment had also been formed on 1 August 1962.[2][3]
In 1867-69 the regiment operated in Sicily in southern Italy to suppress the anti-Sardinian revolt, which had erupted after the Kingdom of Sardinia had annexed the Kingdom of Two Sicilies in 1862. In 1866 the regiment participated in the Third Italian War of Independence. On 25 October 1871 the brigade level was abolished and the two regiments of the Brigade "Palermo" were renamed 67th Infantry Regiment "Palermo", respectively 68th Infantry Regiment "Palermo". On 2 January 1881 the brigade level was reintroduced and the two regiments were renamed again as 67th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Palermo") and 68th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Palermo").[2][3]
On 1 November 1884 the regiment ceded some of its companies to help form the 88th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Friuli") in Milan. In 1895-96 the regiment provided nine officers and 249 enlisted for units deployed to Italian Eritrea for the First Italo-Ethiopian War.[2][3]
Italo-Turkish War
In 1911 the regiment was deployed to Libya for the Italo-Turkish War. On 28 November 1911 a battalion of the regiment fought in the Battle of Koefia. In 1912 the regiment operated in the area of Benghazi and fought in the battles and skirmishes of Benghazi. In 1913 the regiment was repatriated, but left its II Battalion in Libya until the end of the year.[2]
At the outbreak of World War I the regiment consisted of three battalions, each of which fielded four fusiliers companies and one machine gun section. On 22 November 1914 the 68th Infantry Regiment's depot in Milan formed the brigade command of the Brigade "Milano" and the 159th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Milano"). After Italy's entry into the war on 23 May 1915 the Brigade "Palermo" was deployed to the Italian front: until October 1915 the brigade fought against Austro-Hungarian forces in the Val Camonica valley in the Tonale Pass area. In November of the same year the brigade was on the Karst plateau, where it fought in the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo, with the 68th Infantry Regiment deployed in San Martino del Carso.[2][4]
In June 1918 the brigade fought in the Second Battle of the Piave River in the area of Nervesa. On 13 September 1918 the brigade was shipped from Taranto to Vlorë in Albania to participate in the last offensive on the Macedonian front. On 18 September the brigade assembled at Vlorë and then entered the front. In October 1918 the brigade pursued the retreating Austro-Hungarians, liberating Durrës on 15 October and Shkodër on 1 November.[2][4]
On 27 October 1926 the 68th Infantry Regiment, now renamed 68th Infantry Regiment "Palermo", was assigned to the II Infantry Brigade, which was the infantry component of the 2nd Territorial Division of Novara. On 1 November 1926 the command of the Brigade "Palermo" was disbanded and the 67th Infantry Regiment, now renamed 67th Infantry Regiment "Palermo", was assigned to the VI Infantry Brigade, which was the infantry component of the 6th Territorial Division of Milan. The same year the regiment moved from Milan to Novara.[2][5][6][7][8][9][10]
On 24 May 1939 the 6th Infantry Division "Legnano" was renamed 6th Infantry Division "Cuneo" and transferred the "Legnano" name, together with the 67th Infantry Regiment "Palermo", to the newly formed 58th Infantry Division "Legnano", which was based in the city of Legnano. On the same date the Legnano division received the 68th Infantry Regiment "Palermo" from the 2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca", and formed the 58th Artillery Regiment "Legano". On the same date all two infantry regiments changed their names from "Palermo" to "Legano". On 1 January 1940 the regiment moved from Novara to Legnano.[2][6][9][10]
At the outbreak of World War II the regiment consisted of a command, a command company, three fusiliers battalions, a support weapons battery equipped with 65/17infantry support guns, and a mortar company equipped with 81mm Mod. 35mortars. In June 1940 the Legnano division was in the army reserve during the Italian invasion of France. In early January 1941 the division was transferred to Albania to reinforce the Italian front in the Greco-Italian War. On 7 January 1941 the Legnano entered the front in the sector along the coast. On 26 January the division fought in the Battle of Trebeshina. After Greek units withdrew from the Albanian front during the Battle of Greece, the Legnano advanced and reached Këlcyrë on 16 April 1941 from where it advanced to Kuman. On 21 June the division began boarding ships in Vlorë for the return to Lombardy. For their conduct during the Greco-Italian War the two infantry regiments of the Legnano division were each awarded a War Cross of Military Valor, which were affixed to the regiments' flags and are depicted on the regiments' coats of arms.[2][6][9][10]
On 27 January 1944 the 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano", which at the time consisted of two battalions, replaced the 67th Motorized Infantry Regiment "Legnano" in the Italian Co-belligerent Army's I Motorized Grouping, which had been fighting on the allied side in the Italian campaign since September 1943. On 17 February 1944 the Legnano division's was officially dissolved. On 22 March 1944 the I Motorized Grouping was reorganized as Italian Liberation Corps and the 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" joined the corps' II Brigade. On 31 March 1944 the regiment fought on Monte Marrone. On 18 April the regiment formed a third battalion and in July the regiment fought on the Musone river during the Battle of Ancona.[2][12][13]
On 24 September 1944 the II Brigade of the Italian Liberation Corps was reorganized and renamed Combat Group "Legnano". The regiment now consisted of a command, a command company, the I Battalion "Palermo", the II Battalion "Novara", III Battalion "Col Moschin", a mortar company equipped with British ML 3-inch mortars, and a cannons company with British QF 6-pounderanti-tank guns. On 1 October 1944 the combat group formed a second infantry regiment, which was named Special Infantry Regiment "Legnano" and consisted of the remnants of the 3rd Alpini Regiment and 4th Bersaglieri Regiment.[2][13]
The Combat Group "Legnano" was assigned to the Polish II Corps on the left of the British 8th Army near the river Idice. In March 1945 the combat group fought along the Idice river and in April in the Battle of Bologna. After the Axis surrender in Italy the regiment advanced to Brescia, which was liberated on 29 April 1945.[2][13]
After the war the combat group and the 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" were based in Bergamo, while the Special Infantry Regiment "Legnano" was based in Legnano. At the time the 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" consisted of a command, a command company, two fusilier battalions, the III Battalion "Col Moschin", a mortar company equipped with 81mm Mod. 35mortars, and an anti-tank cannons company equipped with QF 6-pounderanti-tank guns. Meanwhile the 67th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" was still in the South of Italy, where the regiment either disbanded its units or transferred them to other commands. By August 1945 only the regimental command of the 67th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" remained active. On 15 October 1945 the Combat Group "Legnano" was renamed Infantry Division "Legnano".[2]
In early 1946 the regimental command of the 67th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" moved to Legnano, where on 30 June 1946 the Special Infantry Regiment "Legnano" was disbanded. The next day the regimental command of the 67th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" took command of the units of the disbanded Special Infantry Regiment "Legnano" and took the regiment's place in the Infantry Division "Legnano". On 1 August the III Battalion "Col Moschin" was disbanded and its personnel used to form the III Fusiliers Battalion of the 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano". On 31 October of the same year the cannons company was disbanded. By the 1960s the 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" had formed the IV Mechanized Battalion and an anti-tank company.[2]
During the 1975 army reform the army disbanded the regimental level and newly independent battalions were granted for the first time their own flags. On 1 September 1975 the regiment's II Battalion in Como was reorganized and renamed 23rd Infantry Battalion "Como", while the regiment's III Battalion in Brescia was reorganized and renamed on the same date 20th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Monte San Michele". On 29 October 1975 the 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" was disbanded and the regiment's IV Mechanized Battalion in Monza was renamed 67th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Montelungo". The next day, on 30 October, the regiment's I Battalion in Bergamo was renamed 68th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Palermo" and assigned the flag and traditions of the 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano".[2][14] To avoid confusion with the Mechanized Brigade "Legnano" the battalion's name was changed from "Legnano" to its original name "Palermo".[2]
The battalion was assigned to the Mechanized Brigade "Legnano" and consisted of a command, a command and services company, three mechanized companies with M113armored personnel carriers, and a heavy mortar company with M106 mortar carriers with 120mm Mod. 63 mortars. At the time the battalion fielded 896 men (45 officers, 100 non-commissioned officers, and 751 soldiers).[2][15]
On 30 November 1989 the 68th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Palermo" was disbanded and on 15 December the flag of the 68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" was transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome.[2]
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacF. dell'Uomo, R. Di Rosa (2001). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Secondo - Tomo I. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 223.
^ abcdVoghera, Enrico (1909). Annuario militare del regno d'Italia - Volume I. Rome. p. 438.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Stefani, Filippo (1989). La storia della dottrina e degli ordinamenti dell'Esercito Italiano - Vol. III - Tomo 2°. Rome: Ufficio Storico - Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito. pp. 1190–1192.