On 1 March 1912 the 27th Field Artillery Regiment was formed in
Milan with five batteries ceded by the 6th Field Artillery Regiment (4th and 5th battery) and the 16th Field Artillery Regiment (6th, 7th, and 8th battery). The ceded batteries had participated in 1860-1861 in the campaign to conquer central and southern Italy and fought in the
Battle of Castelfidardo in the
Marche region. In 1866 the batteries had participated in the
Third Italian War of Independence and fought in the
Battle of Custoza. In January 1941 the division, which also included the
7th Infantry Regiment "Cuneo" and 8th Infantry Regiment "Cuneo", was sent to
Albania to reinforce the Italian units fighting in the
Greco-Italian War. By February 1941 the division's units were dispersed along the front in support of other divisions. In April 1941 the division participated in the
Battle of Greece. The division remained in
Greece and garrisoned the
Cyclades in the
Aegean Sea. In November 1941 the regiment's depot in Milan formed the 154th Artillery Regiment "Murge" for the
154th Infantry Division "Murge". After the announcement of the
Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the division
fought German forces with British support in the
Dodecanese campaign until 21 November, when the division's remaining troops sailed to
Turkey. On 1 September 1977 the regiment was transferred from the
5th Army Corps to the
3rd Missile Brigade "Aquileia". On 1 April 1985 the I Group replaced its M107 self-propelled guns with
M110A2 self-propelled howitzers. On 10 October of the same year the II Group was placed in reserve status and the regiment was disbanded. The next day the I Group became an autonomous unit and was renamed 27th Heavy Self-propelled Artillery Group "Marche". The group retained the flag and traditions of the 27th Artillery Regiment and was named for the region, where the batteries, that had formed the regiment in 1912, had fought in the
Battle of Castelfidardo in 1860. With the introduction of the M110A2 self-propelled howitzers the group took on the Italian Army's howitzer fired
nuclear weapons mission, which until then had been assigned to the
9th Heavy Artillery Group "Rovigo". The
US Army's 11th Field Artillery Detachment, which was part of the 559th Artillery Group, stored the
W33 and later
W79 nuclear artillery shells for the group at the Italian Army's San Bernardo ammunition depot in
Reana del Rojale.
Recent times On 30 November 1991 the 3rd Missile Brigade "Aquileia" was disbanded and the next day the remaining units of the brigade formed the
3rd Artillery Regiment "Aquileia". On 6 September 1992 the 27th Heavy Self-propelled Artillery Group "Marche" left the 3rd Artillery Regiment "Aquileia" and became an autonomous unit. The next day the group entered the reformed 27th Heavy Self-propelled Artillery Regiment "Marche". On 7 September 1995 the regiment was disbanded and on 27 September the flag of the 27th Artillery Regiment was returned to the Shrine of the Flags in the
Vittoriano in Rome. == References ==