On 15 October 1872, the
Royal Italian Army formed 15 locally recruited
Alpini companies in the
alpine regions of
Northern Italy. Nine more companies were formed the following year. In 1875 the 24 companies were organized into seven battalions, and in 1878 the companies were increased to 36 and the battalions to ten. On 1 November 1882, the Alpini companies were increased to 72 and grouped into 20 battalions. On the same date the battalions were assigned to six newly formed Alpini regiments, which were numbered 1st to 6th from West to East, while companies were numbered from 1 to 72 from to West to East. Upon entering the regiments, the battalions, which until then had been designated by a
Roman numeral, were named for their recruiting zone, while the Alpini companies were renumbered sequentially from 1st to 72nd. One of the six Alpini regiments formed on 1 November 1882 was the 1st Alpini Regiment, which was formed in
Mondovì in
Southern Piedmont. The new regiment received the battalions "Alto Tanaro" and "Val Tanaro", which recruited in the
Tanaro Valley, as well as the Battalion "Val Camonica", which recruited in the
Camonica Valley in
Lombardy. •
1st Alpini Regiment, in
Mondovì • 1st, 4th, 5th, 98th, and 116th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Teco" • 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 107th, and 115th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "Mondovì" • 9th, 10th, 11th, and 114th Alpini Company (2nd Alpini Company, originally assigned to the Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Teco", joined the battalion in 1916) • Alpini Battalion "
Val Tanaro" • 201st, 204th, and 205th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "
Val Arroscia" • 202nd, 203rd, and 208th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "
Val Ellero" • 209th, 210th, and 211th 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 1st Alpini Regiment thus added the following
Monte battalions: • 98th, 116th, and 121st Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "
Monte Saccarello" • 107th, 115th, and 120th Alpini Company • Alpini Battalion "
Monte Clapier" • 114th, 118th, and 119th 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. Between 10 and 14 March 1916, the companies of the Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Teco" were disbanded and its personnel assigned to other to the Alpini battalions "Exilles", "Bassano", and "Cividale". On 16 May 1916, the battalion "Pieve di Teco" was also disbanded and its companies reformed by other Alpini regiments and assigned to other Alpini battalions: the 2nd Alpini Company was reformed and assigned to the Alpini Battalion "Mondovì", while the 3rd Alpini Company was reformed to complement the Alpini Battalion "Val Dora" of the
3rd Alpini Regiment, and the 8th Alpini Company was reformed to complement the Alpini Battalion "Val Fella" of the
8th Alpini Regiment.
Second Italo-Ethiopian War machine gun during the
Battle of Amba Aradam On 22 December 1935, the 1st Alpini Regiment transferred its Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Teco" to the
7th Alpini Regiment, which on 31 December of the same year was assigned to the newly formed
5th Alpine Division "Pusteria". The new division had been formed for the
Second Italo-Ethiopian War and on 6 January 1936 the "Pusteria" division's units embarked in
Livorno and
Naples for the transfer to
Massawa in
Eritrea. The same month the 1st Alpini Regiment formed the Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Teco II" as replacement for the battalion fighting in
Ethiopia and the 603rd Company, which consisted of volunteers and was assigned to the VII Replacements Battalion. The VII Replacements Battalion was attached to 7th Alpini Regiment and shipped to East Africa, where in the meantime the "Pusteria" was engaged in combat against Ethiopian troops. In East Africa the Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Teco" fought in the battles of
Amba Aradam,
Amba Alagi,
Worq Amba, and
Maychew. During the latter the battalion distinguished itself at
Mekan Pass and was awarded a
Silver Medal of Military Valor, which was affixed to the flag of the 1st Alpini Regiment and added to the regiment's coat of arms. •
1st Alpini Regiment, in
Mondovì For its conduct and service on the Greek front and during the invasion of Yugoslavia the 2nd Alpini Regiment was awarded a
Silver Medal of Military Valor, which was affixed to the regiment's flag and added to the regiment's coat of arms. In June 1942, the depots of the 1st Alpini Regiment formed the I Replacements Battalion, which consisted of the 601st, 602nd, and 604th Alpini companies, and the 401st Support Weapons Company. On 20 June 1942, the I Replacements Battalion was assigned to the newly formed 104th 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. In July 1942 the three alpine division arrived in
Eastern Ukraine, from where they marched eastwards towards the
Don river. The Italian 8th Army covered the left flank of the German
6th Army, which spearheaded the German
summer offensive of 1942 towards
Stalingrad. On 12 December 1942, the
Red Army commenced
Operation Little Saturn, which, in its first stage, attacked and encircled the Italian
II Army Corps and
XXXV Army Corps, to the southeast of the Alpine Army Corps. On 13 January 1943, the Red Army launched the second stage of Operation Little Saturn with the
Voronezh Front encircling and destroying the
Hungarian Second Army to the northwest of the Alpine Army Corps. 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. By morning of 28 January the "Cuneense" had walked 200 km, fought 20 battles, lost 80% of its men and spent 11 nights camped out in the middle of the Russian
Steppe. Temperatures during the nights were between −30 °C and −40 °C. On 28 January the last remnants of the division were overrun by Cossack forces. For its bravery and sacrifice in the Soviet Union the 1st Alpini Regiment was awarded a
Gold Medal of Military Valor, which was affixed to the regiment's flag and is depicted on the regiment's coat of arms. •
Alpini Battalion "Mondovì", in
Cuneo • Command and Services Company • 9th, 10th, 11th, and 103rd Alpini Company
Recent times On 31 August 1997, the Alpini Battalion "Mondovì" was disbanded and the flag of the 1st Alpini Regiment transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the
Vittoriano in
Rome. On 1 October 2022, the flag and traditions of the 1st Alpini Regiment were assigned to the Command and Tactical Supports Unit "Taurinense" of the
Alpine Brigade "Taurinense". On the same day the unit was renamed 1st Alpini Command and Tactical Supports Unit. == Organization ==