The 32nd Engineer Regiment ( it, 32° Reggimento Genio Guastatori) is a

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...

regiment of the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

based in

Fossano Fossano ( pms, Fossan) is a town and ''comune'' of Piedmont, northern Italy. It is the fourth largest town of the Province of Cuneo, after Cuneo, Alba and Bra. It lies on the main railway line from Turin to Cuneo and to Savona, and has a branch l ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. Formed on 24 September 2004 the regiment is the Italian Army's youngest engineer regiment and specializes in mountain combat. Its name was chosen to commemorate the XXXII Sapper Battalion, which participated in the Western Desert Campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, while the regiment's only battalion name commemorates the XXX Sappers Battalion, which participated in the Italian campaign on the Eastern Front. Since its formation on 1 September 2002 as 32nd Engineer Battalion the unit has been part of the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense". Together with the other units of the Taurinense brigade the regiment shares the distinctive Cappello Alpino.

History

World War II

XXXII Sappers Battalion

On 1 December 1940 the Royal Italian Army Sappers School in Civitavecchia formed the 3rd Sappers Company "Folgore" ("Thunderbolt") and the 4th Sappers Company "Uragano" ("Hurricane"). At the same time the school also trained the personnel, which would go on to form the VIII, XXX, and XXXI sappers battalions. On 14 January 1941 the two companies were sent to

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

, where they formed a provisional battalion under the 1st Special Engineer Grouping. As part of Rommel's

Afrika Korps The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...

the battalion participated in Rommel's first offensive

Operation Sonnenblume Operation Sonnenblume (/Operation Sunflower) was the name given to the dispatch of German troops to North Africa in February 1941, during the Second World War. The Italian 10th Army () had been destroyed by the British, Commonwealth, Empire and ...

. On 15 August 1941, congruent to the activation of

Panzer Army Africa As the number of German troops committed to the North African Campaign of World War II grew from the initial commitment of a small corps, the Germans developed a more elaborate command structure and placed the enlarged ''Afrika Korps'', with I ...

, the battalion was renamed XXXII Sappers Battalion and participated in all battles of the Western Desert Campaign until the battalion was disbanded on 1 August 1942 after having suffered heavy casualties during the

First Battle of El Alamein The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which included the under Field Marsha ...

. The 70 survivors of the battalion were transferred to the XXXI Sappers Battalion, which was attached to the

185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" 185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" ( it, 185ª Divisione Paracadutisti "Folgore") was an airborne division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division was formed in Tarquinia near Rome on 1 September 1941. In July 1942 the di ...

for the

Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented th ...

. After the defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein the XXXI Sappers Battalion retreated with the rest of the Italian-German forces to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, where it surrendered at the end of the

Tunisian Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. Th ...

on 13 May 1943. For its service in North Africa the XXXII Sappers Battalion was awarded a

Bronze Medal of Military Valour The Bronze Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. It was established by Charles Albert of Sardinia on 26 March 1833, along with the higher ranking Gold and Silver Medals for Military ...

XXX Sappers Battalion

The XXX Sappers Battalion command was activated on 15 March 1941 by the depot of the 4th Engineer Regiment in Verona with the 5th Sappers Company "Tormenta" ("Blizzard"), 6th Sappers Company "Teste Dure" ("Hard Skulls"), and 9th Sappers Company "Valanga" ("Avalanche"), which had all been formed earlier by the Sappers School in Civitavecchia. At the time of the battalion's founding the three companies were fighting in the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdoms of Italy and G ...

and the headquarters quickly travelled to Albania to take command of the companies. After the

German invasion of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

and the Greek surrender the battalion returned to Italy and was garrisoned in

Ronchi dei Legionari Ronchi dei Legionari ( Bisiacco: ; fur, Roncjis, sl, Ronke, german: Ronkis) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, about southwest of Gorizia and northwest of Trieste. It is the location of T ...

. During this time the 6th Sappers Company was transferred to the 80th Airlanding Division "La Spezia" and the 5th Sappers Company changed its number to 6th. On 17 March 1942 the battalion was assigned to support the Alpini of the

Alpine Army Corps The Comando Truppe Alpine (Alpine Troops Command) or COMTA (formerly also COMALP) commands the Mountain Troops of the Italian Army, called '' Alpini'' (singular: ''Alpino'') and various support and training units. It is the successor to the ''4º ...

of the 8th Italian Army, which was sent to the Eastern Front. The battalion left Italy on 21 July 1942 and arrived in

Voroshilovgrad Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...

in early September 1942 and entered soon after the front on the

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

river. The battalion retreated with the Alpine Corps after Soviet forces had broken through the front on both flanks of the Italian 8th Army in

Operation Little Saturn Operation Little Saturn was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in Don and Chir rivers region in German-occupied Soviet Union territory in 16–30 December 1942. The success of Operation Uranus, launc ...

. The retreat through the frozen steppe and constant skirmishes with Soviet forces decimated the XXX Sappers Battalion, which barely escaped annihilation during the

Battle of Nikolayevka The Battle of Nikolayevka was the breakout of Italian forces in January 1943, as a small part of the larger Battle of Stalingrad. The breakout involved the Alpine Army Corps of the Italian 8th Army near the village of Nikolayevka (now Livenka, ...

. Of the 23 officers, 30 non-commissioned officers and 427 enlisted present on 1 January 1943 only 121 survived the retreat from the Don and the Battle of Nikolayevka. The battalion was disbanded in late January for the losses it had suffered and in 1988 the XXX Sappers Battalion was awarded a

Silver Medal of Military Valour The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

for its conduct in Ukraine and Russia.

Cold War

During the 1975 army reform the Italian Army renamed the XXXI Sappers Fortification Battalion 3rd Sappers Battalion "Verbano", which consisted of the 30th, 31st, and 32nd companies, each of which carried on the traditions of one of the three

-era battalions.

Recent times

On 1 September 2002 the 32nd Engineer Battalion was reformed in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

by reorganized the 2nd Ferrovieri Battalion (Operations) of the Ferrovieri Engineer Regiment. The battalion was merged on the same date with the Engineer Company of the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense" and entered the brigade as its engineer unit. On 29 September 2004 lost its autonomy and the next day the battalion entered the newly formed 32nd Engineer Regiment as XXX Sappers Battalion, thus unifying and continuing the traditions of two of the World War II battalions. On 15 December 2016 the regiment moved from Turin to

Current structure

As of 2022 the 32nd Engineer Regiment consists of: * CoA mil ITA rgt genio 32

Regimental Command, in

5th Command and Logistic Support Company ** Nappina amarante

XXX Sappers Battalion *** Nappina amarante

3rd Sappers Company "Folgore" *** Nappina amarante

4th Deployment Support Company "Uragano" *** Nappina amarante

6th Sappers Company "Tormenta" *** Nappina amarante

9th Sappers Company "Valanga" 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 vehicle A military engineering vehicle is a vehicle built for construction work or for the transportation of combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles may be modified civilian equipment (such as the armoured bulldozers that many nations field) ...

s: Biber

bridgelayer An armoured vehicle-launched bridge (AVLB) is a combat support vehicle, sometimes regarded as a subtype of military engineering vehicle, designed to assist militaries in rapidly deploying tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles across gap- ...

s, Dachs armored engineer vehicles, cranes, excavators,

Medium Girder Bridge The Medium Girder Bridge (MGB) is a lightweight, man portable bridge and can be assembled without help from heavy equipment. In addition, it is also a deck type, two-girder bridging system capable of carrying loads up to and including Main battl ...

s etc. The sapper companies and Command and Logistic Support Company are equipped with VTLM "Lince" and VTMM "Orso" vehicles.

External links

Italian Army Website: 32° Reggimento Genio Guastatori

References

{{Italian Army Alpini Regiments Alpini regiments of Italy Engineer Regiments of Italy