1st Alpini Regiment The 1st Alpini Regiment ( ) was a light Infantry regiment of the Italian Army , specializing in Mountain Combat . The Alpini are a mountain infantry corps of the Italian Army , that distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II . History . Formation . The 1st Alpini Regiment was formed on November 1 , 1882 . It consisted of three Battalions : " Alto Tanaro " , Val Tanaro and Val Camonica , named after the valleys and localities from which their soldiers were recruited . In 1886 the Battalions were renamed , taking their new names from the location of their main logistic depot : Ceva , Pieve di Teco and Mondovì . World War I . During World War I the regiment consisted of 9 battalions and saw heavy fighting in the Alps against Austria ’ s Kaiserjäger and Germany ’ s Alpenkorps . The battalions of the regiment in these days were ( pre - war raised units in bold , followed by their first and second line reserve battalions ) : Interwar Period . On October 31 , 1935 the 4th Alpine Division “ Cuneense ” was formed and was composed of the 1st Alpini and 2nd Alpini Regiment and the 4th Mountain Artillery Regiment . At the tine the regiment consisted of 160 officers and 5046 NCOs and soldiers for a total strength of 5 , 206 men . The regiment also had 23 horses , 1 , 242 mules and 109 transport vehicles at its disposal . The order of Battle was as follows : In 1935 the " " Pieve di Teco " " battalion was sent to fight in the Second Italo - Abyssinian War , where it distinguished itself during the battles of Amba Aradam , Amba Alagi , Worq Amba , Mai Ceu and Mekan Pass . World War II . On June 21 , 1940 ( one day before the French surrender ) the “ Cuneense ” division began to advance with other Italian units into Southern France . The division was then sent to Albania , where it participated in the Italian attack on Greece . As the German Wehrmacht came to the aid of the beaten Italian armies in Albania in April 1941 through an invasion of Yugoslavia the “ Cuneense ” was sent north to aid the rapidly advancing German divisions . The Cuneense advanced through Montenegro and reached Dubrovnik by the end of the campaign . In September 1942 the “ Cuneense ” was sent with the Alpini divisions Julia and Tridentina and other Italian units to the Soviet Union to form the ARMIR ( Armata Italiana in Russia or Italian Army in Russia ) and fight alongside the Germans against the Red Army . Taking up positions along the Don River , the Italian units covered part of the left flank of the German Sixth Army , which spearheaded the German summer offensive of 1942 into the city of Stalingrad . After successfully encircling the German Sixth army in Stalingrad the Red Army ’ s attention turned to the Italian units along the Don . On January 14 , 1943 the Soviet offensive Operation Little Saturn began and the three Alpini division found themselves quickly encircled by the rapidly advancing armoured Soviet Forces . The Alpinis held the front on the Don , but within three days the Soviets advanced 200 km to the left and right of the Alpini . On the evening of January 17 the commanding officer of the Italian Mountain corps General Gabriele Nasci finally ordered a full retreat . At this point the Julia and Cuneense divisions were already heavily decimated and only the Tridentina division was still capable of conducting combat operations . As the Soviets had already occupied every village bitter battles had to be fought to clear the way . On the morning of January 28 the men of the 1st Alpini Regiment had walked 200 km , fought in 20 battles and spent 11 nights camped out in the middle of the Russian Steppe . Temperatures during the nights were between - 30°C and - 40°C . In the course of that day , the last remnants of the regiment were annihilated by Cossack forces . The last survivors of the 1st Alpini regiment burnt the regimental colours to prevent it from falling in enemy hands , at which point the Regiment ceased to exist . On February 11 , 1943 the survivors were counted and out of 5 , 206 men of the 1st Alpini Regiment just 722 had survived ; none of the soldiers of the battalions " Ceva " , " Pieve di Teco " and " Mondovì " had survived . The survivors were repatriated and after the signing of the Italian armistice with the Allies on September 8 , 1943 the regiment was dissolved . The Cold War . The 1st Alpini Regiment was reformed on November 23 , 1945 but as the unit had burned its flag and thus lost its regimental colours , the regiment was finally disbanded on April 15 , 1946 .