Naval Infantry and San Marco History
In 1713 Vittorio Amedeo II establishes the regiment "The Marina" composed of sailors from the Naval Team. In the years following, this Department assumed the name "marine" Brigade, which participated in the first war of independence. At the beginning of the 19th century the "Reggimento Real Marina", assigned primarily to the defence of bases, also took part in amphibious operations in the Mediterranean alongside the British "Royal Marines". After the Congress of Vienna (1814-15), having obtained Sicily, which was immediately afterwards bartered for Sardinia, the Sardo-Piedmont Navy always had an amphibious detachment among its forces, the name of which varied over time: Battaglione delle Galere, Reggimento La Marina, Reggimento Real Navi.
In 1861, the naval infantry of the Kingdom of the two Sicilies was merged with that of the Kingdom of Sardinia to create the Reggimento Real Marina, which was then disbanded in 1878. However, the Marines continued to exist in fact aboard ships, where the commanders make training more valiant crew members in the use of small arms. The tradition continues and the Church participate in several military campaigns during the late 1800s and early 1900s, distinguishing himself for valour, spirit of sacrifice and self-denial. In the years that followed, Italian marines took part in many terrestrial operations, among which the most significant were the defence of the legations in Tianjin during the Boxer Rebellion, and the conquest of Libya in 1912.
In 1905, after the revolt of Boxers, Italy was entrusted with the important "concession" to Tien-Tsin where the Italian community of residents had important commercial interests. Later after some incidents, related to disputes between opposing factions of the local population, the Italian Government decided to establish a proper contingent to the situation that was emerging in China. The riflemen of San Marco were entrusted the defense of granting any kind of external threat, the protection of public interest objectives, as well as daycare services and representation at the legation.
The Marine "Brigade," was established "unofficially" in 1915. In addition to an artillery regiment, it also includes a rifle regiment organized in three battalions, later raised to five during the Great War. The marine Fusiliers lived the tragic saga of the trenches, in particular, distinguishing himself in the defense of the city of Venice that was attacked several times by the Austrians by sea and by land (hence the landing Force's motto: ""Per mare per terram"). In 1917, after the rout of Caporetto, marines from the coastal defences and others disembarked from the inactive ships in the Adriatic. These forces were marshalled on the southern wing of the front, under the aegis of the Reggimento Marina and later the Brigata Marina, participating in the defence of Venice and garnering decorations and awards, including four Military Orders of Savoy and two Gold Medals.
Strenuous firefights took place at the mouth of the Piave River where the pervasive advance of enemy is stopped; within just two years, between 1917 and 1918, the regiment the Navy pay the highest tribute of blood: 384 people dead and more than 1,500 between injured and maimed.
On 19 May 1918, in Piazza San Marco, the Mayor of Venice consigned the war flag to the Brigata Marina on behalf of the population of the Venetian lagoon. On 17 March 1919, in response to the request of the people of Venice, the King issued a Royal Decree which officially commemorates the birth of naval infantry. The city of Venice, mindful of the heroic sacrifice of marine Riflemen during a solemn and moving ceremony gave the Department's own coat of arms, consisting of the winged lion and the name of its Patron Saint: "SAN MARCO", which from that moment every marine riflemen. The city of Venice granted the Reggimento Marina permission to take the name of "Reggimento San Marco".
Between the two wars the San Marco was deployed in Anatolia (1919/22), in the occupation of Corfu (1923), at the level of battalion in China (1924/43), in the East Africa campaign (1936/37), in the Spanish Civil War (1936/38) and in the occupation of Albania (1939).
In the first part of the Second World War, the San Marco went through intensive specific training in preparation for the scheduled attack on Malta. After this plan was waived, various detachments, incorporated into other units, were deployed in North Africa, Greece and Dalmatia, until the Regiment almost at full force was sent to Tunisia where it fought valiantly up to the fall of the front, staunchly defending the assigned positions, the last to surrender to the enemy. The San Marco flag was the last Italian flag to be lowered in Africa, and in view of their behavior in the battlefield General Rommel declared that the "marò" were the best men that he had commanded in Tunisia.
The Italian contingent of about 1,500 men, in all circumstances, including the staff of the quotas of other Nations (American and British Marines and naval Infantry of the French and Japanese). September 8, 1943, the forces of "San Marco" in China were stationed in the barracks "Carlotto", Tien-Tsin in Shanghai, when from Rome came the orders to destroy the secret archives, to scuttle the ship and deliver the personnel in the barracks with a behaviour to safeguard national dignity. The barracks were surrounded by the Japanese. The staff was allowed to choose from: collaborate or reject any form of collaboration. Remoteness from the motherland and the lack of knowledge of the events made the choice difficult. Those who preferred to work found useful employment in shipyards; those who refused were interned in concentration camps prior to Shanghai then in Manciura.
After the Armistice of 8 September 1943, which divided Italy in two halves each against the other, the Regia Marina reconstituted the San Marco Regiment in January 1944. The Reggimento San Marco was recomposed from the survivors and the personnel from the battleships interned in the Bitter Lakes, after which it entered the lines along side the Allies with the Italian Liberation Corps, taking part in the battles of Campania, after which, as a result of the grievous losses suffered, it had to be withdrawn. Restored to operational conditions and under the aegis of the "Gruppo di Combattimento Folgore", the Reggimento San Marco took part in the Allied offensive along the Adriatic coast up to the end of the war. In recognition of the valor demonstrated in combat alongside the Allies, the San Marco was allowed to enter the city of Venice with the first units.
In the same period, within the ambit of the Armed Forces of the Italian Social Republic, the "San Marco" Naval Infantry Division was set up, which returned to Italy after training in Germany in the summer of 1944. Two battalions were lined up on the Gothic Line in Garfagnana, where they fought valiantly, while most of the Division was deployed in the western Ligurian hinterland to combat a potential Allied landing, while being drawn into guerrilla warfare with the bands of partisans.
In the immediate post-war period marine riflemen converge in a "Joint Amphibious Brigade" in which the Lagunari are included in the army. The barracks of San Marco, Villa Vicentina is a town in the province of Udine, on the banks of the river Isonzo. In the immediate post-war period the San Marco was prevalently deployed to support the Police forces in maintaining law and order. Dissolved in 1946, it was recomposed in 1948 at battalion level with a mixed staff and from 1951 was incorporated in the "Settore Forze Lagunari", under the command of the Navy. Among other things during this time the Navy Rifle stand out in relief operations to the populations affected by the flood of Polesine in 1951.
The Navy maintained control up to 1957, in which year the San Marco, under the name of "Battaglione Isonzo" became a unit of the Army. The General Staff of the Navy ordered that the Battaglione San Marco should be recomposed on 01 January 1965. The initial training of the first echelons took place at Varignano, the base of the Combat Frogmen Force of the Navy, who were also the first instructors, and was then completed at Army structures and within the ambit of the battalion itself. Transferred to Taranto, in 1972 the battalion was stationed in Brindisi, where it found its permanent base. The establishment increased progressively until it was able to qualify as a regiment, having from the very start the task of operating on hostile shore-lines, performing surprise actions or setting up bridgeheads. From 1982 to 1984 the battalion took part in the mission to Lebanon, maintaining about 300 men uninterruptedly in theoperation zone for the entire period. The unit joined the 3rd Marine Division, based in Brindisi, which included all the Navy's amphibious component.
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