Italian Wars of Independence After the
Second Italian War of Independence the
Kingdom of Sardinia annexed on 22 March 1860 the
Royal Provinces of Emilia and the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Consequently, on 25 March 1860, the artillery units of the annexed territories were integrated into the
Royal Sardinian Army: six field batteries, six fortress companies, and one workers company from the Tuscan Army, and nine field batteries, six fortress companies, and one workers company from the Emilian Army. The influx of artillery units and the growth of units in the runup to and during the war necessitated a new organization of the Piedmontese artillery, which at the time consisted of the Workers Regiment, the Fortress Artillery Regiment, the
1st Field Artillery Regiment, and the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment. On 17 June 1860, which today is celebrated as the founding date of the Italian Army's Artillery Arm, four new regiments were ordered to be formed on 1 July 1860: the
3rd Regiment — Fortress Regiment, the 4th Regiment — Fortress Regiment, the
7th Regiment — Field Regiment, and the 8th Regiment — Field Regiment; while on the same day the Workers Regiment was to be renamed 1st Regiment — Workers Regiment, with the Fortress Artillery Regiment destined to become the 2nd Regiment — Fortress Regiment, and the 1st Field Artillery Regiment and 2nd Field Artillery Regiment, slated to be renamed
5th Regiment — Field Regiment and 6th Regiment — Field Regiment. The division's remnants were repatriated and assembled at the end of June 1943 in
Grazzanise in
Campania, where the process of rebuilding the division and its regiments began. After the announcement of the
Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the division and its regiments were disbanded by
invading German forces. At the time the group fielded 477 men (38 officers, 62 non-commissioned officers, and 377 soldiers). For its conduct and work after the
1976 Friuli earthquake the group was awarded a Bronze Medal of Army Valor, which was affixed to the group's flag and added to the group's coat of arms.
Recent times After the end of the
Cold War the Italian Army began to draw down its forces and on 31 July 1991 the
Mechanized Brigade "Vittorio Veneto" was disbanded and the 8th Self-propelled Field Artillery Group "Pasubio" was transferred to the
Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli". On 17 September 1992 the group lost its autonomy and the next day entered the reformed 8th Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Pasubio". In October 1993 the regiment moved from Banne to
Sgonico and in 1996 it moved to
Udine. The same year the regiment received
FH-70 155 mm howitzers and was renamed 8th Field Artillery Regiment "Pasubio". On 30 September 2001 the batteries of the 8th Field Artillery Regiment "Pasubio" in
Udine were disbanded and the flag of the regiment was transferred to
Persano, where the next day, on 1 October 2001, it supplanted the flag of the
11th Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Teramo". The 8th Field Artillery Regiment "Pasubio was now assigned to the
Bersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi" and equipped with
M109L self-propelled howitzers. In October 2008 the regiment replaced its
M109L self-propelled howitzers with modern
PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers. == Organization ==