The 114th Infantry Regiment "Mantova" (Italian: 114° Reggimento Fanteria "Mantova") is an inactive unit of the Italian Army last based in Tricesimo. The regiment is named for the city of Mantova and part of the Italian Army's infantry arm.[2][3]
The regiment was formed in preparation for Italy's entry into World War I. During the war the regiment fought on the Italian front and was disbanded once the war concluded. The regiment was reformed during World War II and assigned to the 104th Infantry Division "Mantova". The division was in Calabria when the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September 1943 and joined the Italian Co-belligerent Army. In October 1944 the division was reorganized as Combat Group "Mantova", which in spring 1945 joined the British Eighth Army for the Italian campaign. After the war the regiment was based in the Friuli region. In 1975 the regiment was reduced to a battalion sized mechanized unit. In 1993 the regiment was reformed and but due to the drawdown of forces after the end of the Cold War the regiment was disbanded in 1995.[2]
History
Formation
On 1 March 1915 the command of the Brigade "Mantova" and the 114th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Mantova") were formed in Mantova by the regimental depot of the 72nd Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Puglie"). On the same day and the 113th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Mantova") was formed in Verona by the regimental depot of the 79th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Roma"). Both regiments consisted of three battalions, which each fielded four fusilier companies and one machine gun section.[2][3][4]
On 15 October 1945 the Combat Group "Mantova" was renamed Infantry Division "Mantova". Initially the division was based in Liguria, but when the Treaty of Paris between Italy and the Allied Powers came into effect on 15 September 1947 the division moved to the Friuli region to take possession of the territories returned to Italy. On 16 September 1947 the 114th Infantry Regiment "Mantova" became the first Italian unit to return to the city of Gorizia. At the time the regiment consisted of a command, a command company, three fusilier battalions, a mortar company equipped with 81mm Mod. 35mortars, and an anti-tank cannons company equipped with QF 6-pounderanti-tank guns.[2][3]
In 1965 the regiment moved from Gorizia to Tricesimo. At the time the regiment consisted of a command, a command company, three infantry battalions, a mechanized Battalion, and an anti-tank company.[2][3]
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 31 October 1975 the 114th Infantry Regiment "Mantova" was disbanded and the next day the regiment's II Battalion in Tarcento was renamed 114th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Moriago" and assigned the flag and traditions of the 114th Infantry Regiment "Mantova".[2][9] To avoid confusion with the Mechanized Division "Mantova" the battalion's name was changed from "Mantova" to "Moriago" to commemorate the battle the 114th Infantry Regiment had fought there on 27 October 1918.[2][3]
The battalion was assigned to the Mechanized Brigade "Isonzo" and consisted of a command, a command and services company, three mechanized companies with M113armored personnel carriers, and a heavy mortar company with M106 mortar carriers with 120mm Mod. 63 mortars. At the time the battalion fielded 896 men (45 officers, 100 non-commissioned officers, and 751 soldiers).[2][10]
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][11] Due to the damage caused by the earthquake to the battalion's barracks in Tarcento the battalion moved in 1976 from Tarcento to Tricesimo.[2]
In 1986 the Italian Army abolished the divisional level and brigades, which until then had been under one of the Army's four divisions, came under direct command of the Army's 3rd Army Corps or 5th Army Corps. As the Mechanized Division "Mantova" carried the traditions of the 104th Infantry Division "Mantova" and Combat Group "Mantova", which had both fought against the Germans during the Italian campaign of World War II the army decided to retain the name of the division. On 30 September 1986 the Mantova's division command in Udine was disbanded and the next day the command of the Mechanized Brigade "Isonzo" moved from Cividale del Friuli to Udine, where the command was renamed Mechanized Brigade "Mantova". The brigade retained the Isonzo's units, including the 114th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Moriago".[2][3][12][13]
Recent times
On 21 October 1993 the 114th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Moriago" lost its autonomy and the next day the battalion entered the reformed 114th Infantry Regiment "Mantova" as I Mechanized Battalion.[2]
On 31 October 1995 the 114th Infantry Regiment "Mantova" was disbanded after it had transferred its flag to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome on 26 October.[2]
^Stefani, Filippo (1989). La storia della dottrina e degli ordinamenti dell'Esercito Italiano - Vol. III - Tomo 2°. Rome: Ufficio Storico - Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito. pp. 1190–1192.
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
