Vet bring-back RSI "MONTEROSA" div

[Humble480]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share with you some Italian items that my grandfather brought back with him from the war. My grandfather fought in North Africa and Italy with the U.S. 34th Infantry Division. He started as a private and became a Captain through battlefield promotions. As a 2nd LT he served as the commanding officer of Company "E" of the 135th Regiment in Feb. 1944 at Monte Cassino due to the high KIA/WIA of officers at that time. In that month alone Company "E" had a 2nd LT KIA or WIA every two days on average. After the war he worked with counter-intelligence and then he was the Provost Marshall of Florence, Italy until 1947.

I know that in general he didn't care much for the Italian soldiers (no offense), with the exception of the Alpini who were a formidable opponent. I believe he fought them around the Po Valley.

A couple of questions:

1) Does anyone have any information on the 3 top-right items (the two pins and the 3rd division medal)?

2) I noticed on the MONTEROSA badge that the division was scratched off. Any reason for this? Was there more than one division?

Thanks for your help!
Jordan

[Semovente]

Hello Jordan fantastic group of items & some rare RSI badges too !..the medal you asked about is for the 3rd div of Blackshirts.. '21 April'..out in Scire a area of northern Ethiopea..also along the medals bottom rim are two dates '29th Febbraio' to 3rd Marzo & the XIV numeral is refering to the 14 year of Fascist rule ! ...it seems to be
a unit commemorative medal !...Semovente..

[andrea]

Hello everyone,

...

2) I noticed on the MONTEROSA badge that the division was scratched off. Any reason for this? Was there more than one division?

Thanks for your help!
Jordan

The Monterosa division was born as 1st Division, but was renumbered 4th later after few months, due to this many pins have the number 1 on it, that why probably the number was delete by the soldier...,
Ciao
Andrea

[Passo Stanco]

that why probably the number was delete by the soldier...,

number was deleted from Lorioli and then distribuited to the soldiers

what is the number on the back of volontari badge?

[ETN]

Any chance we could see a photo of the reverse of the badges?

[Humble480]

Thank you so much for the comments! I really appreciate your insights about these pieces. I also appreciate all of the messages from members offering to buy these, but I am going to hold on to them. Coming from my grandfather, they are priceless to me.

Passo Stanco, that definitely makes sense that it was done at the factory, because it is so smooth. I'll upload an image of the Lorioli marking on the back. Was this done as Andrea suggests due to the renumbering of the division?

Semovente, thank you for the information about the commemorative medal! That is very cool.

I am currently uploading more images of the badges for those who are interested.

[Humble480]

Here are some close-up images of the RSI training badge. You can still see some of the gold finish on the badge.

[Humble480]

Images of the Volontario Di Guerra badge. Number "8541" on the back.

[Humble480]

Fronte Russo badge...front and back

[MarcoPennisi]

The second badge from left, top row, may be related to the Alpini (Mountain Troops) Bn Pieve di Cadore a unit of the 7th Alpini Rgt during WW2 (disbanded on Sept 12th, 1943).
The medal is a divisional commemorative one for the 3rd Blackshirt Division "21 aprile" , a Fascist Militia field formation raised in June 1935 and disbanded in May 1940. The bottom lettering and dates refer to the battle of Sciré (an Ethiopian region) that was fought by the division.
Only one Monterosa division existed in 1944-1945. The point is that the formation was organized as 1st Mountain Div then renumbered 4th Mountain Div on May 15th, 1944. This could explain why the number “1” was erased from the badges initially supplied
Sorry, can’t help in identifying the Francoist badge nor do I know the meaning of the FAJI initials.

[Humble480]

MONTEROSA badge...front and back

[Humble480]

At the top of the Monterosa badge on the back side it looks like there are markings as well, but they are hard to make out.

[Semovente]

No wonder you got lots of P.Ms...those RSI badges are rare & valuable items.....but you hang on to them after all they were your Grandfathers !...nice momentoes ..

[Passo Stanco]

The second badge from left, top row, may be related to the Alpini (Mountain Troops) Bn Pieve di Cadore a unit of the 7th Alpini Rgt during WW2 (disbanded on Sept 12th, 1943).
The medal is a divisional commemorative one for the 3rd Blackshirt Division "21 aprile" , a Fascist Militia field formation raised in June 1935 and disbanded in May 1940. The bottom lettering and dates refer to the battle of Sciré (an Ethiopian region) that was fought by the division.

ciao Marco, a little clarification
the second badge from left isn't from Pieve di Cadore. It is a very rare badge for "istruttore militare di sci ed alta montagna - military instructor of skiing and high mountains".

About the 3rd blackshirt division the medal is about the first MVSN division 1935-1938 employed in East Africa. The second one, that have the same name,fought in north africa and was destroyed in 1940 is another division with other structure and regiments with personal half regio esercito half MVSN.

[Humble480]

I spoke with my father today and got more clarification. This is probably a set to one Italian man, excluding the German-Italian medal.

The story on the German-Italian medal is that my grandfather said the German DAK veterans threw these medals away. He said that they were all over the place and so he picked one up.

Apparently, this EKI belongs with this collection. I would have never thought that, because I didn't know Italians could be award the EKI. I have posted pictures of it here. It looks extremely basic. What sticks out to me is that it is flat with no markings.

Also, the unidentified badge in the photo that is second from the top-right I believe has to do with the "Flechas Azules" (Blue Arrows in Spanish), which was a Spanish Brigade (and then became a division) with Italian military advisors during the Spanish Civil War!

If this group belongs to one man, then my grandfather brought two groupings home. One grouping is to a German general and the other to an Italian Officer, which would make sense. The German general group can be found here:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=968841

My biggest question is why would a veteran who fought in Ethopia, was a military advisor for the "Fletchas Azules" in the Spanish Civil War, who fought in Greece/Yugosolvia, and then Stalingrad would then be given the volontario di guerra badge in 1943/1944? Because he obviously had been a volunteer long before that.

Also, if these all belong to one Officer, then I cannot imagine there were many officers in the Monterosa Division with this much combat experience! Maybe we will be able to find who this collection belonged to.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I would appreciate any thoughts/comments.

P.S. - I also have a German wound badge in black that belongs with either this set or the German general set. The wear on the badge matches these other badges is why I ask. Could Italians also receive German wound badges?

Best regards,
Jordan