3 Julia Divisione Alpina Stalingrad Ashtray

[THATGUY]

Hello all,

I picked this up at a flea market locally and was wondering if anyone could help me determine the authenticity of this piece. I saw one on google images but I couldn't see any more data on it. Thanks in advance!

Sam

[Semovente]

Hello thatguy , interesting item & i would think if original quite rare ? , its sort of what we call or term a item like it as 'Trench Art' ..but italian style , looks like its made of brass ? Maybe from a shell case ? , ...the 3rd Julia Alpini were destroyed by the Russians north of Stalingrad along with most of the 8th italian army that formed the C.S.I.R , the remnants of those units escaped encirclement fought through to German lines the 1st Alpini regt Cuneense burt their regimental flags to prevent Russian capture !!..but some 84,000 italian troops were killed , wounded & captured !!...they never recovered from their losses !

[Ironcrown]

Sorry but I don't like it. The italian 8th (a.k.a. ARMIR, Armata Italiana in Russia) was formed in Summer 1942 from the CSIR (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, then renamed XXXV Army Corps) that was already on the russian soil since the Summer of 1941, the II Army Corps and the Alpini Army Corps. The two additional army corps raised the number of the italian soldiers in Russia to 230.000 men.
However, the ARMIR and the Julia Alpini Division had nothing to do with the battle of Stalingrad, that took place many kms far away. I would have expected another engraving like "Fronte del Don". Battaglia di Stalingrado is historically wrong.

[Semovente]

Sorry but I don't like it. The italian 8th (a.k.a. ARMIR, Armata Italiana in Russia) was formed in Summer 1942 from the CSIR (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, then renamed XXXV Army Corps) that was already on the russian soil since the Summer of 1941, the II Army Corps and the Alpini Army Corps. The two additional army corps raised the number of the italian soldiers in Russia to 230.000 men.
However, the ARMIR and the Julia Alpini Division had nothing to do with the battle of Stalingrad, that took place many kms far away. I would have expected another engraving like "Fronte del Don". Battaglia di Stalingrado is historically wrong.

It strange but some years ago i picked up a German WW1 ashtray in Belgium , it bore a suprizing similarity to this one , except for the Italian script & badge in the middle ( Iron cross in this case ) its shape and style of manufacter were exactly the same as this item ??...its the first thing that struck me when i looked at this one , & that if i recall was dismissed as a fake in the end !!...wish i had a pic to compare but couldnt find one in my records !!......Semovente

[Tora_Tora_Tora!]

Sorry but I don't like it. The italian 8th (a.k.a. ARMIR, Armata Italiana in Russia) was formed in Summer 1942 from the CSIR (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, then renamed XXXV Army Corps) that was already on the russian soil since the Summer of 1941, the II Army Corps and the Alpini Army Corps. The two additional army corps raised the number of the italian soldiers in Russia to 230.000 men.
However, the ARMIR and the Julia Alpini Division had nothing to do with the battle of Stalingrad, that took place many kms far away. I would have expected another engraving like "Fronte del Don". Battaglia di Stalingrado is historically wrong.

I totally agree...specially considering the letters which appears to me too much modern....

[Waffenreich]

I don't like it either. Why would the German "Russland" be there as opposed to the Italian "Russia" to jive with the rest of the text? The whole thing top and bottom looks artificially aged as well.

"Fugazi" in my opinion.