The Alpini (Italian for "alpines") are a specialised mountain warfare infantry corps of the Italian Army, which distinguished itself in World War I fighting in the Alps against Austro-Hungarian Kaiserjäger and the German Alpenkorps. The Alpini were supported by the Mountain Artillery, which both share the Cappello Alpino as identifying symbol. Below follow tables listing the regiments, battalions and groups, companies and batteries of the Alpini and Mountain Artillery active in World War I.
Alpini
History
The Alpini were founded in 1872 and their mission was to protect Italy's northern mountain border with France and Austria-Hungary. Recruited locally in the valleys of the Alps they were the trained in mountain warfare and based in locations along the Alpine arch. The regiments were numbered 1 to 8 from West to East and the regular battalions named for the locations of their depots, which served as training centers and for materiel storage. These were organized in standard TO&E of:
Regimental HQ
Three mountain infantry battalions
Support elements assigned to HQ
Depot elements
After the raising of the Belluno battalion on 1 October 1910 the Alpini numbered 79 companies organized in 26 battalions. Each battalion, with the exception of the Verona, consisted of three Alpini companies of one captain, four lieutenants and 250 other ranks. The Verona was the only battalion to field four companies.
After the outbreak of World War I in 1914 an additional 38 Alpini companies, numbered from 80 to 117, were raised from men, who had completed their military service in the preceding four years (i.e. completed it between 1910 and 1914). These companies were used to augment the regular battalions. Starting in early January 1915 each Alpini battalion activated a reserve battalion. Named after a valley (in Italian: Val or Valle) located near the regular battalion's depot, these Valle battalions were filled with men, who had completed their military service at least four years, but not more than 11 years earlier (i.e. completed it between 1911 and 1904). The companies of the Valle battalions were numbered from 201 to 281, with the numbers 227, 233, 237, 271, and 273 never assigned to a company (227th originally meant for the Val Pellice, but received the 224th Company instead; 233rd originally meant for the Val Dora, but received the 3rd Company instead; 271st originally meant for the Val Fella, but received the 8th Company instead).
After the Italian declaration of war against Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915 the Alpini were heavily employed in the mountainous areas of the Italian front. At the end of 1915 the depots began to raise new battalions with drafted men born in 1896. These battalions were named after mountains (in Italian: Monte) located near the regular battalion's depots and they received the 38 companies already raised in 1914. The new companies of these battalions were numbered from 118 to 157. One additional Monte company (158th for the Fenestrelle battalion), and the Monte Mandrone battalion (159th, 160th, 161st company) were raised later (see 5th Alpini Regiment for details about the Monte Mandrone).
All in all the regiments of Alpini mountain infantry had during the First World War organized into between 9 and 14 battalions (3 regular and 6 to 12 reserve), operationally assigned to regiment-sized Groups (Gruppo), each Group attached to brigade-sized Groupings (Raggruppamento) with operational HQ and support elements.
Machine Gunner Companies
At the outbreak of war each infantry and Bersaglieri battalion of the Italian Army fielded one machine gun section with two Maxim 1911 machine guns carried by horses. Alpini battalions fielded two machine gun sections with two Maxim 1911 machine guns carried by mules. After the outbreak of the war this proved quickly to be inadequate and in spring 1916 the army began to raise dedicated machine gunner companies (Compagnia Mitraglieri). These companies were attached to brigades, divisions and army corps, which deployed them with tactical units (regiments, battalions, companies) as needed. 2,277 Machine Gunner companies were raised and numbered continuously. The Alpini depots raised 50 companies equipped with six Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gunmachine guns each, and 119 companies equipped with six Fiat–Revelli Modello 1914 machine guns each.