At the outbreak of World War I the regiment consisted of a command, three groups with 75/27 mod. 11field guns, and a depot. During the war the regiment's depot in Terni formed the command of the 56th Field Artillery Regiment and the command of the 3rd Mixed Artillery Grouping. The depot also formed the 115th Mountain Artillery Battery and two siege batteries.[2]
On 1 August 1920 the regiment was disbanded and its units and base were transferred to the 7th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment, which in 1926 became the 8th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment.[2]
For its conduct in Albania the 33rd Artillery Regiment "Acqui" was awarded a War Cross of Military Valor, which was affixed on the regiment's flag and is depicted on the regiment's coat of arms.[2]
For their sacrifice on Cephalonia the regiments of the 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui" were awarded a Gold Medal of Military Valor, which were affixed on the regiments' flags and are depicted on the regiments' coats of arms.[1][2][3]
Cold War
On 1 February 1947 the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment was reformed in Pisa with two groups with QF 25-pounder field guns and one anti-aircraft group with 40/56 anti-aircraft autocannons ceded by the 184th Artillery Regiment "Folgore". The regiment was assigned to the Infantry Division "Folgore" and one month later, on 1 March, the regiment ceded the anti-aircraft group to reformed 5th Light Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment. On 6 June of the same year the regiment moved from Pisa to Padua, where the regiment formed a third group with QF 25-pounder field guns.[2][4]
On 1 January 1951 the Infantry Division "Folgore" included the following artillery regiments:[2][4]
On 30 January 1951 the 5th Light Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment transferred its I Light Anti-aircraft Group to the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment, which on 31 May of the same year disbanded its III Group with QF 25-pounder field guns. On 30 June 1953 the regiment received a group with M114 155 mm towed howitzers from the 9th Heavy Artillery Regiment and two anti-tank groups with M36tank destroyers from the 184th Field Artillery Regiment. The next day, 1 July 1953, the 184th Field Artillery Regiment in Treviso was disbanded and the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment moved from Padua to Treviso. On 1 January 1954 the regiment consisted of the following units:[2][4]
On 31 July 1954 the 3rd Self-propelled Anti-tank Sub-grouping left the regiment and was assigned the next day to the 155th Self-propelled Army Corps Artillery Regiment. On 15 September 1955 the regiment received the I Group with QF 25-pounder field guns of the 21st Field Artillery Regiment, which had been assigned to the Grouping "Trieste" since 15 October 1954. Between April and September 1956 the regiment formed two light aircraft sections with L-21Bartillery observation planes. During the same year the Infantry Division "Folgore" transferred its Artillery Specialists Unit to the regiment.[2][4]
In 1958 the regiment's I and II groups replaced their QF 25-pounder field guns with M101 105 mm towed howitzers, while the III Group was disbanded. On 30 November of the same year the II Self-propelled Group with M7 Priest self-propelled guns left the 1st Armored Artillery Regiment "Pozzuolo del Friuli" and joined the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment the next day and became the regiment's new III Group. On the same day the two light aircraft sections merged to form the Light Aircraft Unit and the Artillery Specialists Unit was expanded to Artillery Specialists Battery. Consequently on 1 December 1958 the regiment consisted of the following units:[2][4]
During the 1975 army reform the army disbanded the regimental level and newly independent battalions and groups were granted for the first time their own flags: on 31 August the regiment's II Field Artillery Group was disbanded. On 19 October the I Field Artillery Group became an autonomous unit and the next day the group was renamed 46th Field Artillery Group "Trento" and assigned to the Mechanized Brigade "Gorizia". On 31 December 1975 the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment was disbanded and the next day the regiment's III Self-propelled Artillery Group was renamed 33rd Heavy Self-propelled Field Artillery Group "Terni", while the IV Heavy Field Artillery Group was renamed 184th Heavy Self-propelled Field Artillery Group "Filottrano", and the regiment's Command and Services Battery and the regiment's Specialists Battery formed the Artillery Specialists Group "Folgore". The V Light Anti-aircraft Artillery Group was renamed 13th Light Anti-aircraft Artillery Group "Condor" and remained a reserve formation. On the same day the 33rd and 184th groups, as well as the artillery specialists group and light anti-aircraft artillery group, were assigned to the Mechanized Division "Folgore"'s Artillery Command, which had been formed with the personnel of the disbanded regiment's command. To avoid confusion with the support units of the Motorized Brigade "Acqui" the group was named for the city of Terni, where the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment had been formed. The group consisted of a command, a command and services battery, and three batteries with M109G self-propelled howitzers.[2][4]
On 12 November 1976 the President of the Italian RepublicGiovanni Leone assigned with decree 846 the flag and traditions of the 33rd Artillery Regiment "Acqui" to the 33rd Heavy Self-propelled Field Artillery Group "Terni".[2][4][7] At the time the group fielded 477 men (38 officers, 62 non-commissioned officers, and 377 soldiers).[8]
On 31 August 1981 the group was equipped with modern FH70 155mm howitzers and renamed 33rd Heavy Field Artillery Group "Terni". In 1986 the Italian Army abolished the divisional level and so on 31 October 1986 the Mechanized Division "Folgore" was disbanded. The next day the group was assigned to the Artillery Command of the 5th Army Corps.[2][4]
Recent times
On 22 November 1991 the regiment moved from Treviso to Casarsa della Delizia and on 1 December of the same year the group was assigned to the 5th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment. On 31 March 1993 the 5th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment was disbanded and the 33rd Heavy Field Artillery Group "Terni" became once more an autonomous unit. The next day the group entered the reformed 33rd Heavy Field Artillery Regiment "Acqui".[2][4]
On 10 September 1995 the batteries of the 33rd Heavy Field Artillery Regiment "Acqui" in Casarsa della Delizia were disbanded and the flag of the regiment traveled to L'Aquila, where the next day it supplanted the flag of the 48th Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Taro". The 33rd Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Acqui", which incorporated the disbanded regiment's personnel, materiel and base, was equipped with M109L 155 mm self-propelled howitzers and assigned to the Mechanized Brigade "Acqui".[2][4]
As the Mechanized Brigade "Acqui" was scheduled to be disbanded on 30 June 1996 the 33rd Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Acqui" was transferred on 15 May 1996 to the Mechanized Brigade "Granatieri di Sardegna". On 28 June 2013 the 33rd Self-propelled Field Artillery Regiment "Acqui" was disbanded and the flag of the 33rd Artillery Regiment "Acqui" was returned to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome.[2][4]
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzF. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti (1998). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Primo - Tomo II. Rome: SME - Ufficio Storico. p. 129.
^ abc"Cefalonia". Italian Army. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
^Stefani, Filippo (1989). La storia della dottrina e degli ordinamenti dell'Esercito Italiano - Vol. III - Tomo 2°. Rome: Ufficio Storico - Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito. p. 1189.