60th Tank Battalion "M.O. Locatelli": Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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| image_size =160px

| caption =Battalion coat of arms

| dates = DecemberDec. 1939 - DecemberDec. 1940<br>1 May 1960 - 2001

| disbanded =

| country ={{ITA}}

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== History ==

The battalion was formed during the [[Italian Army 1975 reform|1975 army reform]]: on 1 November 1975 the LX Armored Battalion of the [[Infantry Brigade "Pinerolo"]] was renamed 60th Armored Battalion "M.O. Locatelli". The 60th Locatelli was granted a new war flag on 12 November 1976 by decree 846 of the [[President of the Italian Republic]] [[Giovanni Leone]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Decreto del Presidente della Repubblica 12 novembre 1976, n. 846 |url=https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/serie_generale/caricaDettaglioAtto/originario?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=1976-12-22&atto.codiceRedazionale=076U0846 |publisher=Quirinale - Presidenza della Repubblica |access-date=7 December 2019}}</ref> The battalion received the traditions of the LX Tank Battalion "L", which had been formed by the XX Tank Battalion "L" in [[Italian Libya]] in December 1939. Equipped with [[L3/35]] tankettes the LX battalion fought in the early stages of the [[Western Desert Campaign]] and was destroyed during the [[Battle of Sidi Barrani]] near [[Buq Buq]] by the British [[Western Desert Force]].

After World War II the LX Armored Battalion was reformed on 1 May 1960 as armored unit of the [[Infantry Brigade "Avellino"]]. The Avellino was disbanded on 30 October 1965 and the LX battalion was transferred to the [[Infantry Brigade "Pinerolo"]].

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On 1 February 1979 the 60th Armored Battalion "M.O. Locatelli" ceded its two [[M113 armored personnel carrier|M113]] [[Armoured personnel carrier|armored personnel carrier]] equipped companies to the infantry battalions of the brigade and received two new tank companies. Consequently, the battalion was renamed on the same date 60th Tank Battalion "M.O. Locatelli". Additionally the battalion was equipped with modern [[Leopard 1]]A2 tanks and the brigade's infantry battalions were equipped with [[M113 armored personnel carrier|VCC-1]] [[Armoured personnel carrier|armored personnel carriers]]. Therefore, on 1 February 1979 the brigade was renamed Mechanized Brigade "Pinerolo".<ref name="Storia"/><ref name="verso il 2000"/>

On 17 October 1992 the 60th Tank Battalion "M.O. Locatelli" was renamed [[133rd Tank Regiment (Italy)|133rd Tank Regiment]] without changing size or composition. On 9 October 1995 the [[31st Tank Regiment (Italy)|31st Tank Regiment]] in [[Bellinzago Novarese]] received the war flag and name of the [[4th Tank Regiment (Italy)|4th Tank Regiment]] and transferred its own name and war flag to the 133rd Tank Regiment in [[Altamura]], while on the same date the war flag of the 133rd Tank Regiment was transferred to the army's Tank School in [[Lecce]], where it was stored in the commander's office, until, in case of war, the personnel of the Cavalry School would have formed the 133rd Tank Regiment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=F. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti |title=L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 - Vol. Primo - Tomo I |date=1998 |publisher=SME - Ufficio Storico |location=Rome |page=556}}</ref> On 3 December 1996 the Pinerolo, which fielded now two tank regiments, was renamed: Armored Brigade "Pinerolo".<ref name="Storia"/><ref name="verso il 2000"/>

In fall 2001 the 133rd Tank Regiment was disbanded and its war flag transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the [[Vittoriano]] in Rome.

== See also ==