On 1 October 1909, the 8th Alpini Regiment was formed in
Udine. On the same day the regiment received the
Alpini Battalion "Tolmezzo" and the Alpini Battalion "Gemona" from the
7th Alpini Regiment, and also formed the
Alpini Battalion "Cividale", which consisted of the 16th and 20th Alpini companies, which had been ceded by the
2nd Alpini Regiment, and the newly formed 76th Alpini Company. The regiment's battalions, like all Alpini battalions at the time, were named for the cities and towns, where their base was located. Since 1886 Alpini soldiers and non-commissioned officers were issued thread tufts, called
Nappina in Italian, which were clipped to the
Cappello Alpino headdress, and colored white for the troops of a regiment's first battalion, red for the troops of a regiment's second battalion, green for the troops of a regiment's third battalion, and blue for the troops of a regiment's fourth battalion. After its formation the 8th Alpini Regiment consisted of the following units: • Alpini Battalion "Gemona", in
Gemona • 69th, 70th, and 71st Alpini Company •
Alpini Battalion "Tolmezzo", in
Tolmezzo • 6th, 12th, and 72nd Alpini Company •
Alpini Battalion "Cividale", in
Cividale • 16th, 20th, and 76th Alpini Company The regiment was assigned together with the 6th Alpini Regiment and 7th Alpini Regiment to the III Alpini Group, which on 9 August 1910 was renamed III Alpine Brigade. • 69th, 70th, 71st, and 97th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "Tolmezzo" • 6th, 12th, 72nd, and 109th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "Cividale" • 16th, 20th, 76th, and 110th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "
Val Fella" • 269th and 270th (the 8th Alpini Company, originally assigned to the
Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Teco", joined the battalion in 1916) • Alpini Battalion "
Val Tagliamento" • 212th, 272nd, and 278th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "
Val Natisone" • 216th, 220th, and 279th Alpini Company By the end of 1915 the Alpini regiments began to form additional companies with recruits born in 1896. These new companies were numbered from 118th to 157th and were used, together with the 38 companies formed earlier, to form an additional reserve battalion for each regular battalion. These new battalions were named for a mountain () located near their associated regular Alpini battalion's base, and the reserve battalions received the same
Nappina as their associated regular Alpini battalion. The 8th Alpini Regiment thus added the following
Monte battalions: • 97th, 154th, and 155th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "
Monte Arvènis" • 109th, 152nd, and 153rd Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "
Monte Matajur" • 110th, 156th, and 157th Alpini Company As the mountainous terrain of the
Italian front made the deployment of entire Alpini regiments impracticable, the regimental commands of the eight Alpini regiments were disbanded in March 1916. Likewise in April 1916 the pre-war alpine brigade commands were disbanded, and the personnel of the regimental commands and alpine brigade commands used to from twenty regiment-sized group commands and nine brigade-sized grouping commands. Afterwards Alpini battalions were employed either independently or assigned to groups, groupings, or infantry divisions as needed. On 16 May 1916, the Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Teco" of the
1st Alpini Regiment was disbanded and the battalion's 8th Alpini Company was reformed by the 8th Alpini Regiment to complement Alpini Battalion "Val Fella". In November and December 1917, after the disastrous
Battle of Caporetto, the following retreat to the
Piave river, and the subsequent
First Battle of the Piave River and
First Battle of Monte Grappa, the Royal Italian Army disbanded twenty Alpini battalions, which had suffered heavy casualties during the battles and retreat. Among the twenty battalions were the following battalions of the 8th Alpini Regiment: On 7 April 1939,
Italy invaded Albania and by the middle of April the 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" moved to Northern Albania, where its regiments garrisoned the border with the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia. •
8th Alpini Regiment, in
Udine For its service and sacrifice on the Greek front between 28 October 1940 and 23 April 1941 the 8th Alpini Regiment was awarded a
Gold Medal of Military Valor. In June 1942, the depots of the 8th Alpini Regiment formed the VIII Replacements Battalion, which consisted of the 347th, 348th, and 349th Alpini companies, and the 162nd Support Weapons Company. On 20 June 1942, the VIII Replacements Battalion was assigned to the newly formed 103rd Alpini Marching Regiment, which was assigned to the III Marching Brigade of the
8th Marching Division. The division provided replacement troops for the 8th Army's regiments fighting on the Eastern Front. Consequently, the "Julia" division left Greece and was shipped back to Italy. In the night from 28 to 29 March 1942, the
troop ship "Galilea", which carried the Alpini Battalion "Gemona" from Greece to Southern Italy, was torpedoed and sunk South off the island of
Paxos in the
Ionian Sea by the
Royal Navy submarine
HMS Proteus. Most of the battalion went down with the sinking ship: 21 of 23 officers, 18 of 27 non-commissioned officers and 612 of the battalion's 639 Alpini drowned. The battalion was quickly reformed and readied for the deployment to the Soviet Union. On the evening of 17 January 1943, the Alpine Army Corps commander, General
Gabriele Nasci, ordered a full retreat. At this point only the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" was still capable of conducting combat operations. The 40,000-strong mass of stragglers — Alpini and Italians from other commands, plus German and Hungarians — followed the "Tridentina", which led the way westwards to the new Axis lines. As the Soviets had already occupied every village, bitter battles had to be fought to clear the way. On the morning of 26 January 1943, the spearheads of the "Tridentina" reached the hamlet of Nikolayevka, occupied by the Soviet
48th Guards Rifle Division. The Soviets had fortified the railway embankment on both sides of the village. General Nasci ordered a frontal assault and by nightfall the troops of the "Tridentina" division had managed to break through the Soviet lines. The Italian troops continued their retreat, which was no longer contested by Soviet forces. On 1 February 1943 the remnants of the Alpine Army Corps reached Axis lines. On 12 November 1976 the
President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone assigned with decree 846 the flag and traditions of the 8th Alpini Regiment to the Alpini Battalion "Gemona", and the flag and traditions of the
9th Alpini Regiment to the Alpini Battalion "Vicenza". With the same decree the Alpini battalions "Cividale", "Tolmezzo", and "L'Aquila" were granted a new flag. At the same time the medals and military honors awarded to the "Cividale" and "Tolmezzo" battalions were transferred from the flag of the 8th Alpini Regiment, respectively in case of the "L'Aquila" battalion from the flag of the 9th Alpini Regiment, to the three battalions' new flags. Medals and military honors awarded to the entire 8th Alpini Regiment, respectively 9th Alpini Regiment, were duplicated for the new flags of the three battalions. The awards were also added to the battalions' newly created coat of arms. For its conduct and work after the
1976 Friuli earthquake the Alpini Battalion "Gemona" was awarded a Bronze Medal of Army Valor, which was affixed to the battalion's flag and added to the battalion's coat of arms.
Recent times On 7 August 1992, the Alpini Battalion "Gemona" lost its autonomy and the next day the battalion entered the reformed 8th Alpini Regiment. During the same year the "Julia" brigade's Anti-tank Company was disbanded and its personnel, with their
TOW anti-tank guided missiles, assigned to the mortar companies of the brigade's battalions. Consequently, the 8th Alpini Regiment's 155th Mortar Company was renamed 155th Support Weapons Company. On 9 October 1992, the Alpini Battalion "Cividale" lost its autonomy and the next day the battalion entered the newly formed
15th Alpini Regiment. On 4 February 1993, the Alpini Battalion "Tolmezzo" lost its autonomy and the next day the battalion entered the newly formed
14th Alpini Regiment. Between November 1993 and April 1994 the 8th Alpini Regiment served with the
United Nations Operation in Mozambique. For its service in
Mozambique the regiment was awarded a Silver Cross of Army Merit, which was affixed to the regiment's flag. On 11 November 1995, the 15th Alpini Regiment was disbanded and on 16 November the flag of the regiment transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the
Vittoriano in
Rome. On 1 November 1997, the 8th Alpini Regiment moved from Tarvisio to
Cividale. In 2001 the regiment's 155th Support Weapons Company was split into the 155th Mortar Company and the 216th Anti-tank Company "Val Natisone". On 14 October 2005, the command of the
14th Alpini Regiment, the command of the
Alpini Battalion "Tolmezzo", as well as the 72nd Alpini Company and
212th Anti-tank Company "Val Tagliamento", were disbanded in
Venzone, while the "Tolmezzo" battalion's 114th Mortar Company was renumbered 115th Mortar Company. On the same date, the Alpini Battalion "Gemona" disbanded its 70th and 71st Alpini Company, as well as battalion's Command and Logistic Support Company and the 155th Mortar Company. Furthermore, on the same date the Alpini Battalion "Gemona" was renamed Alpini Battalion "Tolmezzo". After the reorganization the 8th Alpini Regiment was organized as follows: •
8th Alpini Regiment, in
Cividale • Command and Logistic Support Company, in
Venzone •
Alpini Battalion "Tolmezzo", in Cividale • 6th Alpini Company, in Venzone • 12th Alpini Company, in Venzone • 69th Alpini Company, in Cividale • 115th Mortar Company, in Venzone • 216th Anti-tank Company "Val Natisone", in Cividale This reorganization was undertaken to keep at least one company of each of the traditional battalions of the 8th Alpini Regiment in active service: with the 6th and 12th Alpini companies drawn from the Alpini Battalion "Tolmezzo", the 69th Alpini Company drawn from the Alpini Battalion "Gemona", the 115th Mortar Company drawn from the Alpini Battalion "Cividale", and the 216th Anti-tank Company "Val Natisone" drawn from the Alpini Battalion "Val Natisone". From November 2005 to March 2006, the regiment led the
Provincial Reconstruction Team in
Herat in
Afghanistan. From August 2007 to January 2008, the regiment's 6th Alpini Company was attached to the
5th Alpini Regiment for that regiment's deployment to
Kabul. In October 2008, the 8th Alpini Regiment deployed once more to Afghanistan, with the 12th Alpini Company in Herat, and the 6th Alpini Company and 216th Anti-tank Company alternating every month between the Flying Support Base at
Herat International Airport and the
Forward Operating Base in
Bala Murghab. For one month the 216th Anti-tank Company also deployed to the Forward Operating Base in
Delaram. During this deployment the regiment's patrols regularly were engaged in firefights with
Taliban forces. In April 2009, the regiment returned to Italy. For its conduct in
Herat province between 9 October 2008 and 2 April 2009 the regiment was awarded a Silver Medal of Army Valor, which was affixed to the regiment's flag and added to the regiment's coat of arms. In 2011, the 216th Anti-tank Company "Val Natisone" was disbanded and its personnel integrated into the 69th Alpini Company, while the 115th Mortar Company added an anti-tank platoon and was renamed 115th Maneuver Support Company. In 2016, the regiment left the base in Cividale and is since then based in
Venzone. == Organization ==