World War I In June 1916 the 52nd Field Artillery Regiment was formed in
Naples by the depot of the
24th Field Artillery Regiment. The 24th Field Artillery Regiment formed the regimental command, the command of the I Group, and the 2nd Battery, while the regiment's remaining units were formed by the following regiments:
World War II On 1 October 1940 the regiment was reorganized to bring its group in line with the army's standard numbering for artillery groups: therefore the III Group with 100/17 mod. 14 howitzers was renumbered as I Group, while the I Group with 75/27 mod. 11 field guns was renumbered III Group. On the same date the II Group with 75/13 mod. 15 mountain guns was transferred to the 22nd Artillery Regiment "Aosta" and a new II Group with 75/27 mod. 11 field guns was formed. On 5 June 1940 the division split from the Central Military Schools Command and activated as
52nd Infantry Division "Torino" and on 10 June, the day Italy entered
World War II, the regiment consisted of a command, a command unit, the I Group with 100/17 mod. 14 howitzers, the II and III groups with 75/27 mod. 11 field guns, the 352nd Anti-aircraft Battery with 20/65 mod. 35 anti-aircraft guns, and a depot. In April 1941 the division participated in the
invasion of Yugoslavia, during which it moved along the
Dalmatian coast to
Split and
Dubrovnik. At the time the group fielded 485 men (37 officers, 58 non-commissioned officers, and 390 soldiers).
Recent times After the end of the
Cold War the
Mechanized Brigade "Brescia" was disbanded and consequently the group was transferred on 1 March 1991 to the
Mechanized Brigade "Legnano". On 2 September of the same year the group was equipped with
M109G self-propelled howitzers and reorganized provisionally as 52nd Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Venaria". On 1 August 1992, the reorganization to regiment was approved and the regiment was renamed 52nd Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Torino". On 10 October 1995 the batteries of the 52nd Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Torino" in
Brescia were disbanded and the flag of the regiment was transferred to
Vercelli, where it supplanted the flag of the
131st Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Centauro", which departed Vercelli for
Barletta. The 52nd Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Torino" was now assigned to the
Mechanized Brigade "Centauro" and equipped with
M109L self-propelled howitzers. On 1 October 2001 the regiment was transferred to the
Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli" and on 1 January 2005 to the army's
Artillery Brigade. On 8 September 2016 the regiment moved from Vercelli to
Bracciano in
Lazio and in October 2019 from there to
Persano in
Campania. == Organization ==