The III Army Corps was one of three corps the Italian Army fielded during the Cold War. Based in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont the corps was the army's operational reserve, while the 4th Alpine Army Corps and the 5th Army Corps, both based in the North East of Italy, were the army's front-line units. After the end of the Cold War the corps was reduced in size and on 1 December 2000 it ceded its last brigades to the 1st Defence Forces Command (COMFOD 1°). The personnel of the 3rd Army Corps was used to raise the NATO Rapid Deployable Italian Corps in January 2001.
History
Origins
The history of the 3rd Army Corps begins after the second Italian war of independence. Following the Italian-French victory over the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia annexed the Papal Legations in present-day Emilia Romagna. Thus on 1 April 1860 the 3rd Higher Military Command was activated as a territorial command in Parma and tasked to defend the newly acquired territory between the Trebbia and Panaro rivers, an area roughly corresponding with the historic Emilia region. The command consisted of the 5th, 8th and 12th division of the Line.
At the outbreak of the third Italian war of independence the command was renamed as III Army Corps and participated under command of Enrico Morozzo Della Rocca in the Italian Mincio campaign aimed at the Austrian Quadrilatero fortresses with the 7th, 8th, 9th and 16th divisions of the line. On 24 June 1866 the corps was one of two engaged in the Battle of Custoza.
In August 1867 the III Army Corps was disbanded. However, on 14 June 1869 the III Army Corps was raised again in Naples and given territorial duties. Until the outbreak of World War I the corps remained as a territorial command in Italy.
World War I
After the Italian declaration of war against the Austrian Empire on 23 May 1915 the III Army Corps under Lieutenant General Vittorio Camerana advanced on the extreme left flank of the Italian Army through the Valtellina, Camonica Trompia and Chiese valleys and along the Western shore of Lake Garda into Trentino. Although numerically superior the corps failed to cross the Stelvio and Tonale pass and advanced only until Riva del Garda and Tione, but failed to take either of the two cities. The corps consisted of the 5th and 6th Division of the Line (Infantry), the 35th Territorial Division, the 7th Bersaglieri Regiment and the 5th Alpini Regiment. All soldiers of the 5th Alpini Regiment had been recruited in the aforementioned valleys and thus fought in a territory they knew perfectly well. However the 5th Alpini Regiment was never employed as a whole, but single companies or battalions were given specific mountain summits, ridges or passes to conquer and hold.
III Army Corps (Lieutenant General Vittorio Camerana) 5th Division of the Line (Major General Druetti) Brigade of the Line Cuneo 7th Line Infantry Regiment 8th Line Infantry Regiment Brigade of the Line Palermo 67th Line Infantry Regiment 68th Line Infantry Regiment 27th Territorial Field Artillery Regiment (5x batteries) 10th Sapper Company / 2nd Engineer Regiment Divisional Service units 6th Division of the Line (Major General Roffi) Brigade of the Line Sicilia 61st Line Infantry Regiment 62nd Line Infantry Regiment Brigade of the Line Toscana 77th Line Infantry Regiment 78th Line Infantry Regiment 16th Field Artillery Regiment (8x batteries) 11th Sapper Company / 2nd Engineer Regiment Divisional Service units 35th Territorial Division (Major General De Chaurand de Saint Eustache) Brigade of the Line Parma 49th Line Infantry Regiment 50th Line Infantry Regiment Brigade of the Line Milano 159th Line Infantry Regiment 160th Line Infantry Regiment 2x squadrons of the 27th Cavalleggeri di Aquila Cavalry Regiment 42nd Territorial Field Artillery Regiment (8x batteries) 15th Sapper Company / 2nd Engineer Regiment Divisional Service units 5th Alpini Regiment (Morbegno, Tirano, Edolo, Vestone, Val d'Intelvi, Valtellina, Val Camonica, Val Chiese Alpini battalions) 7th Bersaglieri Regiment (VIII, X, XI, XLV Bersaglieri battalions) 27th Cavalleggeri di Aquila Cavalry Regiment III Guardia di Finanza Frontier Battalion 6th Field Artillery Regiment (8x batteries) II Group / 1st Heavy Field Artillery Regiment (2x batteries) 1st Tunnelling Engineers Battalion 18th Sapper Company / 2nd Engineer Regiment 4th Telegraph Engineers Company Army Corps Service units