21st Engineer Regiment (Italy)

The 21st Engineer Regiment (Italian: 21° Reggimento Genio Guastatori) is a military engineer regiment of the Italian Army based in Caserta in Campania. Today the regiment is the engineer unit of the Bersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi". In 1937 the regiment was formed and assigned to the XXI Army Corps, which was based in the Cyrenaica in eastern Libya. During World War II the regiment formed engineer units for the Italian forces fighting in the Western Desert Campaign. After the Axis defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the British conquest of Cyrenaica the regiment was declared lost.[4][2]

21st Engineer Regiment
21° Reggimento Genio Guastatori
Regimental coat of arms
Active1 Oct. 1937 — Nov. 1942
1 Oct. 1975 — today[1][2]
Country Italy
BranchItalian Army
RoleCombat engineers
Part ofBersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi"
Garrison/HQCaserta
Motto(s)"Tutto osare"
Anniversaries24 June 1918 - Second Battle of the Piave River
Decorations
1x Silver Medal of Army Valour
1x Bronze Medal of Army Valour
1x Bronze Cross of Army Merit
1x Gold Medal of Civil Merit
1x Bronze Medal of Civil Merit[3]
Insignia
Sappers gorget patches

Reformed in 1953 as battalion the unit was assigned in 1963 to the III Missile Brigade. In 1975 the battalion was named for the Timavo river and assigned the flag and traditions of the 21st Engineer Regiment. At the end of 1979 the battalion moved to Caserta in the South of Italy. In 1993 the battalion entered the reformed regiment.[1][2]

History

World War II

On 1 October 1937 the 21st Engineer Regiment was formed in Trani by the depot of the 9th Engineer Regiment for the XXI Army Corps in the eastern part of Italian Libya known as Cyrenaica. The regiment arrived in Benghazi in Libya on 17 October. The regiment consisted of three mixed engineer battalions, each with an engineer company and a connections company.[2]

With the outbreak of World War II the regiment's depot began to mobilize new units:[2]

The regiment's battalions fought in the Western Desert Campaign. The regiment was declared lost after the Axis defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942 and the following British conquest of Cyrenaica.[2]

Cold War

On 1 January 1953 the XXI Engineer Battalion was formed in Trani and consisted of a command, two engineer companies, and a field park company. On 19 January 1963 the battalion moved to Vicenza in northern Italy and joined the III Missile Brigade, which was the Italian Army's nuclear sharing unit.[1][2]

During the 1975 army reform the army disbanded the regimental level and newly independent battalions were granted for the first time their own flags. During the reform engineer battalions were named for a lake if they supported a corps or named for a river if they supported a division or brigade. On 1 October 1975 the XXI Engineer Battalion was renamed 21st Engineer Battalion "Timavo" and assigned the flag and traditions of the 21st Engineer Regiment. The battalion consisted of a command, a command and park company, and two engineer companies.[5] On 1 February 1976 the battalion also included the 2nd Fusiliers Company in Vicenza, which was tasked with guarding the nuclear weapons depots "Site Pluto" in Longare and "Site River" in Tormeno.[2]

On 31 December 1979 the 21st Engineer Battalion "Timavo" was disbanded, leaving only one autonomous engineer company in Vicenza. The battalion's flag was transferred to Caserta in the South of Italy, where since 1 February 1979 a new engineer battalion had been raised. On 1 January 1980 the flag and traditions of the 21st Engineer Regiment were given to the engineer battalion in Caserta, which was renamed 21st Engineer Battalion "Timavo". The battalion consisted of a command, a command and park company, and two engineer companies.[5] On 1 January 1981 the regiment raised a third engineer company and on 1 January 1987 the Command and Park Company split into the Command and Services Company, and the Special Equipment Company.[1][2]

Recent times

On 21 September 1993 the battalion lost its autonomy and the next day the battalion entered the newly formed 21st Pioneer Regiment as Pioneer Battalion "Timavo". On 1 October 2000 the regiment was renamed 21st Engineer Regiment and on 1 December of the same year it was assigned to the Bersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi".[1][2]

Structure
21st Engineer Regiment VTMM Orso ACRT-RC vehicles during an exercise

As of 2023 the 21st Engineer Regiment consists of:[6]

  • Regimental Command, in Caserta
    • Command and Logistic Support Company
    • Sappers Battalion "Timavo"
      • 1st Sappers Company
      • 2nd Sappers Company
      • 3rd Sappers Company
      • 4th Deployment Support Company

The Command and Logistic Support Company fields the following platoons: C3 Platoon, Transport and Materiel Platoon, Medical Platoon, Commissariat Platoon, and EOD Platoon. Each of the two sapper companies fields a Command Platoon, an Advanced Combat Reconnaissance Teams Platoon, and two sapper platoons. The Deployment Support Company and Mobility Support Company field the battalion's heavy military engineering vehicles: Biber bridgelayers, Dachs armored engineer vehicles, cranes, excavators, Medium Girder Bridges etc. The sapper companies and Command and Logistic Support Company are equipped with VTLM "Lince" and VTMM "Orso" vehicles.

See also

References
  1. "21° Reggimento Genio Guastatori - La Storia". Italian Army. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  2. F. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti (1998). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Primo - Tomo II. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 293.
  3. "21° Reggimento Genio Guastatori - Il Medagliere". Italian Army. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  4. "21° Reggimento Genio Guastatori". Italian Army. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  5. 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. 1184–1185.
  6. "21° Reggimento Genio Guastatori". Ministero della Difesa. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
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