Original WWII Royal Italian Army Alpine Division 3rd Regiment Officer Alpini Cap with Feather & Battle of Monte Marrone Reunion Pin

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice felt Robin Hood style hat with a wide ribbed band and rope design around the base. Large relief embroidered gold bullion eagle over a 3 device with a blue-green background. Gold ribbon inverted double chevron with a stitched on brown feather. The interior features a brown leather sweatband with a white fabric liner marked with the Italian national eagle. Shows some wear but overall nice condition.

This example has a lovely braided chinstrap still intact, and there are two pins next to the feather, one reading FENESTRELLE 3 and the other MONTE MARRONE 1944 1975. This second pin is interesting as it appears to be a 30 year reunion pin for the Battle of Monte Marrone, which marked an Italian military feat throughout the liberation campaign whose successful outcome paved the way for the Allies to reach Cassino and the capital. Following the episode, the Italian Liberation Corps was born. 

The cap is roughly Size 7. A very nice example of a quite decorative military cap, ready to display!

The personnel for the mountain (Alpini) divisions was drawn from Italy's mountainous Alpine region and tended to be of superior quality. In addition to being well trained for mountain warfare, they were expert in the handling of pack artillery.

The mountain divisions differed from a standard infantry division in that each regiment had its own artillery, engineering, and ancillary services associated with the regiment on a permanent basis. This made each regiment of a mountain division relatively self-supporting and capable of independent action.

By design, a mountain division consisted of a divisional headquarters, two mountain infantry regiments, an artillery regiment, a mixed engineer battalion, a chemical warfare company, two reserve mountain infantry battalions, and divisional services. The divisional headquarters included an anti-tank platoon.

Each mountain infantry regiment included its own headquarters company, with a platoon of flamethrowers. Each regiment also included three mountain infantry battalions and regimental services. At full strength, the firepower for a mountain infantry regiment was 27 heavy machine guns, 81 light machine guns, 27 45 mm mortars, 12 81 mm mortars, and 27 flamethrowers.

The artillery regiment was split between the two infantry regiments. Each regiment was provided with a battalion of 75 mm howitzers. All were transported on pack animals.