32nd Tank Regiment (Italy)

On 1 October 1927, the Royal Italian Army reorganized its Armed Tanks Formation Center in Rome and formed the Armed Tanks Regiment (Italian: Reggimento carri armati) as central training unit for the army's tank battalions. On 15 September 1936, the Armed Tanks Regiment was split into four tank infantry regiments, which had training and administrative functions only:^[6][7]

• 1st Tank Infantry Regiment, in Vercelli
• 2nd Tank Infantry Regiment, in Verona
• 3rd Tank Infantry Regiment, in Bologna
• 4th Tank Infantry Regiment, in Rome

The 2nd Tank Infantry Regiment received four battalions from the disbanded regiment and formed a depot, which included training and maintenance units. The four battalions, like all tank battalions at the time, were named for infantry officers, who had served in World War I and been awarded posthumously Italy's highest military honor the Gold Medal of Military Valor. The regiment consisted of the following units after its founding:^[6][7]

The assault tanks battalions fielded initially L3/33 tankettes, which were then replaced by slightly improved L3/35, while the breach tanks battalion fielded Fiat 3000 light tanks. In 1938 the regiment received the XXII Assault Tanks Battalion "Coralli", in Trento. The same year the all Assault Tank Battalions were renamed Tank Battalion L (with L standing for Italian: "Leggero" or Light), while Breach Tanks Battalions were renamed Tank Battalion M (with M standing for Italian: "Medio" or Medium).^[7]

On 30 November 1938, the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment transferred its IV Tank Battalion M to the 2nd Tank Infantry Regiment, the 3rd Tank Infantry Regiment transferred its XXI Tank Battalion L to the 2nd Tank Infantry Regiment, and the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment transferred its V Tank Battalion M to the 2nd Tank Infantry Regiment. On 1 December 1938, the 2nd Tank Infantry Regiment was disbanded and the regiment's command and depot formed the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment as an operational unit for the II Armored Brigade. The same day the new regiment transferred its IV Tank Battalion L and XXII Tank Battalion L to the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment, and its V Tank Battalion L and XI Tank Battalion L to the 3rd Tank Infantry Regiment. Upon entering the new regiment the tank battalion M were renumbered and moved to the regiment's expanded base in the Montorio Veronese quarter of Verona. Afterwards the regiment consisted of the following units:^[7]

On 1 February 1939, the II Armored Brigade was disbanded and the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment, 8th Bersaglieri Regiment and newly formed 132nd Armored Artillery Regiment were assigned to the newly formed 132nd Armored Division "Ariete".^[8] On 23 September 1939, the regiment received the III Tank Battalion L from the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment and in turn transferred on 1 November 1939 its CCCXXIII Tank Battalion M to the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment. At the same time the two remaining tank battalions M replaced their Fiat 3000 light tanks with M11/39 tanks. In April 1940 the CCCXXI and CCCXXII tank battalions were renumbered as I and II tank battalions M11/39, while the XXI Tank Battalion L was renumbered IV Tank Battalion L.^[7]

On 10 June 1940, the day Italy entered World War II the regiment consisted of the following operational battalions.^[7]

On 1 August 1940, the regiment received the I and II tank battalions L from the 1st Tank Infantry Regiment, while transferring its I and II tank battalion M11/39 to the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment, with which the two battalions deployed to Libya for the Italian invasion of Egypt. As replacement the depot of the regiment in Verona formed the III Tank Battalion M13/40, followed on 8 October 1940 by the IV Tank Battalion M13/40, and on 11 November 1940 the V Tank Battalion M13/40. Each of the three battalions fielded 37 M13/40 tanks. At the same time the III and IV tank battalions L were disbanded. In fall 1940, the III Tank Battalion M13/40 was sent to Libya to bolster Italian forces in Egypt.^[7]

On 9 December 1940, the British Western Desert Force commenced Operation Compass and the II Tank Battalion M11/39 was destroyed on the same day during the British Attack on Nibeiwa. On 13 December 1940, the V Tank Battalion M13/40 embarked in Naples and sailed for Libya. The battalion was assigned on 10 January 1941 to the Special Armored Brigade and arrived on the front on 15 January. On 21-22 January 1941, the I Tank Battalion M11/39 was destroyed during the British capture of Tobruk. On 24 January 1941, the III, V, VI, and XXI tank battalions M13/40 clashed with the British 7th Armoured Division in the action at Mechili. The end for the remnants of the Italian 10th Army came on 6–7 February 1941, when their retreat was blocked by the 7th Armoured Division at Beda Fomm and the furious and futile attempts of the tank battalions to open a breach in the British line during the Battle of Beda Fomm came to naught. With 7 February 1941 the 10th Army with all its units and all the reinforcements sent to it had been destroyed or captured by the British XIII Corps. On 8 February 1941, the III and V tank battalions M13/40 were declared lost due to wartime events.^[7]

For their valor and sacrifice during Operation Compass the III Tank Battalion M13/40 was awarded a Gold Medal of Military Valor, while the V Tank Battalion M13/40 was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor. Until 1975 both medals were affixed to the 32nd Tank Regiment's flag and displayed on the regiment's coat of arms. When the V Tank Battalion became an autonomous unit in 1975 the Silver Medal of Valor was transferred to the battalion's flag and added to the battalion's coat of arms.^[1][4][7]

Due to the deteriorating situation at the Greco-Italian front the IV Tank Battalion M13/40 was sent in January 1942 to Albania, where the battalion was attached to the 31st Tank Infantry Regiment of the 131st Armored Division "Centauro".^[7]

 

On 22 January, the day Tobruk fell, the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment, together with the entire 132nd Armored Division "Ariete", embarked in Naples and sailed for Tripoli in Libya where the division arrived on 24 January, the day British spearheads engaged the last Italian units in Cyrenaica. After arriving in Libya the regiment was in no shape to contest the British advance as it consisted of the I, II, and III tank battalions L with obsolete L3 tankettes. The first useful M13/40 tanks joined the regiment in late February 1941 with the VII Tank Battalion M13/40, which the regiment's depot in Verona had formed on 30 January 1941 with the personnel of the disbanded IV Tank Battalion L. The regiment also received an anti-tank company with German 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank cannons. In early April 1941, the VIII Tank Battalion M13/40 formed by the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment arrived in Libya and joined the regiment, which at the time was fighting in Operation Sonnenblume. The battalion joined the regiment on 15-18 May in the area of Sallum, where the regiment was held in reserve during the British Operation Brevity. The regiment then participated in the Siege of Tobruk. On 21 July 1941 by the IX Tank Battalion M13/40 formed by the 3rd Tank Infantry Regiment arrived at the front and joined the regiment.^[7]

As the regiment's L3/35 tankettes were useless Ariete division commander General Ettore Baldassarre demanded repeatedly to be sent M13/40 tanks to re-equip the regiment's three tank battalions L or be sent additional tank battalions M. Ultimately the High Command in Rome settled on a plan to repatriate the men of the three tank battalions L and retrain them at the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment's depot in Verona. Therefore on 15 June 1941 the depot of the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment formed the command and a command company of the 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment, which was immediately sent to Libya, where the regiment joined the 132nd Armored Division "Ariete". On 31 August 1941, the VII, VIII, and IX tank battalions M13/40 left the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment and the next day, on 1 September 1941, the three battalions joined the 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment. The regiment then continued to fight in North Africa with only its three tank battalions L as the return to Italy was repeatedly postponed.^[7]

On 28 August 1941, the depot of the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment formed the XIII Tank Battalion M13/40, which was assigned to the 31st Tank Infantry Regiment. In October 1941, the regiment contributed with some of its personnel to the formation of the LII Tank Battalion M13/40, which was formed in Libya and assigned to the Maneuver Army Corps as corps reconnaissance asset. On 18 November 1941, the British Eighth Army commenced Operation Crusader and on 19 November the British 22nd Armoured Brigade attacked Bir el Gubi. The Ariete division repulsed the attack and then moved towards Sidi Rezegh, where on 29 November the Ariete pushed the 2nd New Zealand Division back in the Battle of Point 175. On 6 December 1941, the division headed back to Bir el Gubi, where a second British attack on Bir el Gubi was repulsed. The same day General Erwin Rommel ordered his forces to retreat to the Gazala line, where in December the Ariete continued the fight against the British advance. During the night of 15-16 December Axis forces abandoned the Gazala line and retreated to El Agheila. The Ariete division had lost 76% of its personnel during Operation Crusader and the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment was taken out of the front on 31 December 1941 and sent to the rear.^[7][9]

On 8 January 1942, the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment ceded part of its remaining personnel to help bring the 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment back up to strength, and on 16 January 1942 the regiment ceded all of its remaining troops and equipment to the 12th Auto Grouping in Tripoli to form a Tank Training Center. Afterwards the regiment command and flag of the regiment left Libya and returned to Verona, where they arrived on 20 February 1942.^[6][7]

On 20 September 1942, the regiment's command company was reformed and the regiment was transferred to Sanluri on the island of Sardinia, where the regiment was assigned the II Tank Battalion L, which had been part of the 33rd Tank Infantry Regiment and was equipped with L3/35 tankettes, the XIII Tank Battalion L, which had been based in Sardinia since its formation there in 1939, and the CC Tank Battalion SOMUA, which had been formed by the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment and was equipped with captured French SOMUA S35 cavalry tanks. The regiment was assigned to the XIII Army Corps, which was tasked with the defence of the Southern part of the island. In October 1942, the XIII Army Corps assigned the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment to the army corps' Motorized-Armored Grouping and reinforced the regiment with four Motorcycle Machine Gunners companies. In November 1942, the XIII Tank Battalion L participated in the occupation of Corsica, which was part of the German-Italian Operation Anton to occupy Vichy France.^[7]

During the year 1943, the regiment was reinforced on 23 March with the DLXI Self-propelled Battalion 75/18, which was equipped with Semovente 75/18 self-propelled guns, on 6 May with the XVI Tank Battalion M14/41, which had been formed by the regiment's depot in Verona and was equipped with M14/41 tanks, and on 27 June with the XVIII Tank Battalion M15/42, which had been assigned to the 33rd Tank Infantry Regiment and was equipped with M15/42 tanks. The regiment had now the following organization:^[7]

On 8 September 1943, the Armistice of Cassibile was announced and invading German forces disbanded the regiment's depot in Verona, while the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment remained passive as the German 90. Panzergrenadier-Division and other German forces evacuated Sardinia. The regiment remained in Sardinia and joined the Italian Co-belligerent Army. As Italian forces had to leave Corsica the regiment received three tank and self-propelled battalions, which had been based on the French island. On 20 March 1944, the regiment split and the next day, on 21 March 1944, the 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment was reformed in Sanluri. The 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment now consisted of the following units:^[7]

On 15 May 1944, the Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna" was reformed in Sardinia and the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment and 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment were assigned to the division. On 27 August 1944, the 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment was disbanded, followed on 31 August by the division and 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment. The regiment's personnel was used to form the 514th Guards Battalion, which guarded British Eighth Army installation during the Italian campaign.^[6][7]

On 1 March 1964, the 32nd Tank Regiment was reformed in Cordenons and assigned to the II Armored Brigade "Ariete" of the Armored Division "Ariete". On 1 July of the same year the regiment formed the III Tank Battalion and the V Tank Battalion. The two battalions were equipped with M47 Patton tanks. On the same day the Gold Medal of Military Valor awarded to the III Tank Battalion M13/40 and the Silver Medal of Military Valor awarded to the V Tank Battalion M13/40 were affixed to the regiment's flag and displayed on the regiment's coat of arms. On 20 October 1964, the regiment added the XXIII Bersaglieri Battalion, which was equipped with M113 armored personnel carriers. In 1968 the regiment moved from Cordenons to Tauriano and on 1 October of the same year, the headquarter of the II Armored Brigade "Ariete" was disbanded and the regiment came under direct command of the division.^[6][7][8]

During the 1975 army reform the army disbanded the regimental level and newly independent battalions were granted for the first time their own flags. On 30 September 1975, the 32nd Tank Regiment was disbanded and the next day the regiment's III Tank Battalion became an autonomous unit and was renamed 3rd Tank Battalion "M.O. Galas". Tank and armored battalions created during the 1975 army reform were named for officers, soldiers and partisans of the tank specialty, who had served in World War II and been awarded Italy's highest military honor the Gold Medal of Military Valor. The 3rd Tank Battalion was named for Sergeant Bruno Galas, who, while serving with the III Tank Battalion M13/40 in North Africa, was gravely injured on 1 January 1941 during the Battle of Bardia and died two days later, on 3 January, in an Italian field hospital.^[6][7][10]

On the same date, 1 October 1975, the regiment's V Tank Battalion became an autonomous unit and was renamed 5th Tank Battalion "M.O. Chiamenti", while the XXIII Bersaglieri Battalion became an autonomous unit and was renamed 23rd Bersaglieri Battalion "Castel di Borgo". The three battalions were assigned to the 32nd Armored Brigade "Mameli", which was formed on the same day by reorganizing the command of the 32nd Tank Regiment. Each of the two tank battalions consisted now of a command, a command and services company, and three tank companies with M60A1 Patton main battle tanks. Both battalions fielded now 434 men (32 officers, 82 non-commissioned officers, and 320 soldiers).^[7][11] On 12 November 1976 the President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone assigned with decree 846 the flag and traditions of the 32nd Tank Regiment to the 3rd Tank Battalion "M.O. Galas" and granted the 5th Tank Battalion "M.O. Chiamenti" a new flag, to which the battalions Silver Medal of Military Valor was affixed.^[6][7][12]

For its conduct and work after the 1976 Friuli earthquake the battalion was awarded a Silver Medal of Army Valor, which was affixed to the battalion's flag and added to the battalion's coat of arms.^[2][4][6][7]

After the end of the Cold War Italian Army began to draw down its forces: on 1 April 1991, the 32nd Armored Brigade "Mameli" was disbanded and the 3rd Tank Battalion "M.O. Galas", 5th Tank Battalion "M.O. Chiamenti", and 23rd Bersaglieri Battalion "Castel di Borgo" were transferred to the 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete". On 25 August 1992, the 5th Tank Battalion "M.O. Chiamenti" was disbanded, while the 3rd Tank Battalion "M.O. Galas" lost its autonomy. The next day, on 26 August 1992, the personnel of the disbanded battalion was merged into the 3rd Tank Battalion "M.O. Galas", which on the same date entered the reformed 32nd Tank Regiment.^[6][7]

Between 29 December 1992 and 15 March 1994 the 32nd Tank Regiment served with the United Nations Operation in Somalia II, for which it was awarded a Bronze Medal of Army Valor, which was affixed to the regiment's flag and added to the regiment's coat of arms.^[3][4][6][7]

 

As of 2024 the 32nd Tank Regiment is organized as follows:^[5][13]

The regiment is equipped with Ariete AMV main battle tanks.^[5]

• 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete"

• Montanari, Mario (1993). Le Operazioni in Africa Settentrionale: Tobruk (Marzo 1941 – Gennaio 1942) Parte Seconda [Operations in North Africa: Tobruk (March 1941 – January 1942) Second Part]. Vol. II (2nd [online scan] ed.). Roma: Esercito Italiano Ufficio Storico. OCLC 885609741. Retrieved 30 November 2019 – via issuu.

• Italian Army Website: 32° Reggimento Carri