6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment (Italy)

The 6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment (6° Reggimento Artiglieria Pesante Campale) is an inactive artillery regiment of the Italian Army, which was based in Treviso in Veneto and assigned to the 5th Army Corps. Originally an artillery regiment of the Royal Italian Army, the regiment was formed in 1912 with pre-existing groups. During World War I the regiment's depot mobilied 18 cannon groups and one howitzer group, as well as 59 batteries of various calibers, which all served on the Italian front. During World War II the regiment formed two army corps artillery groupings, one of which was transferred to the 11th Army Corps Artillery Regiment, while the other grouping participated in 1941 in the invasion of Yugoslavia and then remained there on occupation duty. The regiment and its remaining grouping were disbanded by invading German forces after the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943.

The regiment was reformed in 1951 and assigned to the VII Territorial Military Command. In 1974 the regiment was disbanded and its flag transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome. In 1976 the Artillery Specialists Group "Folgore" was formed and assigned to the Mechanized Division "Folgore". In 1986 the division was disbanded the group was transferred to the Artillery Command of the 5th Army Corps. At the same time the group was renamed 6th Artillery Specialists Group "Montello" and assigned the flag and traditions of the 6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment. In 1991 the group was disbanded and the flag of the 6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment was transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome.

The regimental anniversary falls, as for all Italian Army artillery regiments, on June 15, the beginning of the Second Battle of the Piave River in 1918. This article is about the Royal Italian Army's 6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment, which was a support unit assigned to a corps-level command. This regiment is unrelated to the 6th Heavy Artillery Regiment, which was a support unit assigned to an army-level command, and unrelated to the 6th Field Artillery Regiment, which was a support unit assigned to a division-level command.

History
On 1 April 1912 the 2nd Heavy Field Artillery Regiment was formed in Modena. Initially the regiment consisted of two groups with 149/12 howitzers, which had been formed with personnel ceded by the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment and the 15th Field Artillery Regiment, and a training battery drawn from the army's training base at San Maurizio Canavese. On 1 November 1912 the regiment formed the III Group, and on in November 1914 the IV Group, which were joined in December 1915 by the V and VI groups.

World War I
During World War I the regiment's depot in Modena formed the commands of the 2nd, 12th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th heavy field artillery groupings and the command of one mixed artillery grouping. The depot also formed the command of the XXVIII Howitzers Group, and the commands of the III, IV, VII, X, XII, XV, XVII, XX, XXII, XXIV, XXVI, XXVIII, XXXII, XXXIV, XXXIX, XL, XLI, and XLIII cannon groups. For these groups the regiment's depot formed four howitzers batteries, 54 cannons batteries, and one siege battery. During the war the regiment groups were attached to various commands along the Italian front, while the regiment's command and depot continued to mobilize new units. In 1918 two of the regiment's groups fought on the Montello hill.

After the war the regiment received four groups: the VIII Group, which had been formed during the war by the depot of the 1st Heavy Field Artillery Regiment, the IX Group, which had been formed during the war by the depot of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, the XXVI Group, which had been formed during the war by the depot of the 11th Field Artillery Regiment, and the XLIV Group, which had been formed during the war by the depot of the 28th Field Artillery Regiment. The VIII and IX were used to form the I and II cannons groups with 105/28 cannons, while the XLIV and XXVI groups were used to form the III and IV howitzers groups with 149/12 howitzers.

On 1 November 1926 the 2nd Heavy Field Artillery Regiment and 6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment switched numbers. On 1 October 1934 the regiment was renamed 6th Army Corps Artillery Regiment. On 1 March 1935 the regiment ceded its II Group with 105/28 cannons to help form the 2nd Fast Artillery Regiment and on 2 May the regiment's I Group was mobilized for the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. As replacement the regiment's depot formed on 25 July of the same year the V Group with 105/28 cannons and the VI Group 149/13 heavy howitzers, which were both disbanded on 10 February 1936. In August 1937 the II Group with 105/28 cannons returned to the regiment.

World War II
At the outbreak of World War II the regiment consisted of a command and four groups. On 15 February 1940 the regiment, which at the time was deployed in the area of Pietra Ligure, was renamed 15th Army Corps Artillery Regiment and assigned to the XV Army Corps. On the same date the regiment's depot in Modena formed a new 6th Army Corps Artillery Regiment, which received the flag and traditions of the old 6th Army Corps Artillery Regiment. During the war the regiment's depot in Modena formed and mobilized the following unit commands:


 * 6th Army Corps Artillery Grouping
 * 17th Army Corps Artillery Grouping
 * XLII Cannons Group with 105/28 cannons
 * LIV Cannons Group with 105/32 heavy field guns
 * LV Cannons Group with 105/32 heavy field guns
 * LVI Cannons Group with 105/32 heavy field guns
 * LXII Cannons Group with 105/32 heavy field guns
 * CXXVII Howitzers Group with 149/13 heavy howitzers
 * CLXII Howitzers Group with 149/13 heavy howitzers
 * 6th Army Corps Specialists Unit

The regiment's depot also formed and mobilized the batteries for the group commands. The groups operated either under command of army corps artillery groupings or as autonomous units. The depot was disbanded by invading German forces after the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943.


 * 6th Army Corps Artillery Grouping: the grouping was mobilized on 6 December 1940 and consisted of a command, a command unit, the LIV, LV, and LVI cannons groups with 105/32 heavy field guns, the CXXVII Howitzers Group with 149/13 heavy howitzers, and the 6th Army Corps Specialists Unit. In this configuration the grouping participated in April 1941 in the invasion of Yugoslavia. Afterwards the grouping remained in occupied Yugoslavia on garrison duty. In December 1942 the grouping received the CXXXVI Group with 105/15 howitzers. In March 1943 the LV and LVI cannons groups left the grouping and were transferred to Sicily, where they reinforced the 202nd Coastal Division. In July and August 1943 the two groups fought against allied forces during the Allied invasion of Sicily and were heavily attrited. The survivors of the two groups were evacuated to Calabria in mainland Italy. The 6th Army Corps Artillery Grouping was in the area of Dubrovnik, when the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September 1943, and the German disbanded the grouping shortly thereafter.
 * 17th Army Corps Artillery Grouping: the grouping was formed on 10 September 1939. On 10 February 1940 the grouping was merged into the 11th Army Corps Artillery Regiment, which had been reformed on 10 November 1939.

Cold War


On 15 February 1951 the 6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment was reformed in Piacenza. The regiment was assigned to the VII Territorial Military Command and consisted of a command, a command unit, the I Group with 149/19 heavy howitzers, and the II Group with 140/30 guns. In 1953 the regiment formed the III Group with 149/19 heavy howitzers, which was disbanded on 1 April 1955. On 31 December 1958 the II Group replaced its 140/30 guns with 149/19 heavy howitzers. On 23 March 1959 the regiment formed a new I Group with M59 155mm field guns 155/45. By February 1961 all three groups of the regiment were equipped with M114 155mm howitzers.

On 1 September 1973 the III Group was placed in reserve status. On 1 May 1974 the I Group was placed in reserve status and on 15 September of the same year the regiment was disbanded. The regiment's I and II groups were transferred to the 8th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment, whole the III Group was transferred to the 41st Heavy Field Artillery Regiment.

During the 1975 army reform the army disbanded the regimental level and newly independent battalions and groups were granted for the first time their own flags. On 31 December 1975 the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment in Treviso was disbanded and the next day the regiment's Command and Services Battery and the regiment's Specialists Battery formed the Artillery Specialists Group "Folgore", which was assigned to the Artillery Command of the Mechanized Division "Folgore". The group consisted of a command, a command and services battery, and a specialists battery, which provided weather-ballistic data to the division's two heavy self-propelled field artillery groups and to the artillery groups of the division's Mechanized Brigade "Gorizia", Mechanized Brigade "Trieste", and Armored Brigade "Vittorio Veneto". At the time the group fielded 290 men (15 officers, 36 non-commissioned officers, and 239 soldiers).

In 1986 the Italian Army abolished the divisional level and consequently the Mechanized Division "Folgore" was disbanded on 31 October 1986. The next day, 1 November 1986, the Artillery Specialists Group "Folgore" was renamed 6th Artillery Specialists Group "Montello" and assigned the flag and traditions of the 6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment. The group was named for the hill of Montello, which had been a key observation post for Royal Italian Army artillery observers during the First Battle of the Piave River in November 1917 and saw some of the fiercest fighting between Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops during the Second Battle of the Piave River in June 1918. On the same date the group joined the Artillery Command of the 5th Army Corps. On 13 July 1987 the President of the Italian Republic Francesco Cossiga confirmed the assignment of the flag of the 6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment to the group.

Recent times
On 31 March 1991 the 6th Artillery Specialists Group "Montello" was placed into reserve status and on 8 May the flag of the 6th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment was returned to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome. On 30 June of the same year the group was officially disbanded.