The 67th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" () is an inactive unit of the Italian Army last based in Solbiate Olona. Formed in 1862 and originally named for the city of Palermo the regiment is part of the Italian Army's infantry arm. Since 1939 the regiment is named for the medieval Battle of Legnano.
The regiment was one of ten infantry regiments formed on 1 August 1862. In 1866 the regiment participated in the Third Italian War of Independence. During World War I the regiment fought on the Italian front and the Macedonian front. During World War II the regiment was assigned to the 58th Infantry Division "Legnano", with which it fought in the Greco-Italian War. The command of the regiment and the II Battalion had just arrived Apulia in southern Italy, when the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September 1943. The regiment immediately clashed with invading German forces. The regiment joined the Italian Co-belligerent Army and fought on the allied side in the Italian campaign. From 28 September 1943 to 27 January 1944 the regiment was assigned to the I Motorized Grouping, which was attached to the American 36th Infantry Division. In December 1943 the regiment distinguished itself in the Battle of Monte Lungo, for which it was awarded Italy's highest military honor the Gold Medal of Military Valour. After the war the regiment was assigned to the Infantry Division "Legnano" until it was disbanded in 1975 and its flag and traditions assigned to a battalion sized unit. Reformed as an armored regiment in 1992 the regiment was disbanded in 1995.
History
Formation
On 1 August 1862 the 31st Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Siena"), 32nd Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Siena"), 39th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Bologna"), 40th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Bologna"), 43rd Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Forlì"), and 44th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Forlì") ceded their 17th Company and 18th Company to help form the 67th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Palermo") in Turin. The twelve companies were grouped into three battalions. On the same date the 59th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Calabria") and the 60th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Calabria") ceded both a depot company to help form the new regiment's depot in Turin, while the 5th Provisional Depot in Messina in Sicily provided four companies to form the regiment's IV Battalion, which initially remained based in Messina.
The regiment was assigned, together with the 68th Infantry Regiment, to the Brigade "Palermo" in Turin. The brigade's command and the 68th Infantry Regiment had also been formed on 1 August 1962.
In 1867-69 the regiment operated in Calabria in southern Italy to suppress the anti-Sardinian revolt, which had erupted after the Kingdom of Sardinia had annexed the Kingdom of Two Sicilies in 1862. In 1866 the regiment participated in the Third Italian War of Independence. On 25 October 1871 the brigade level was abolished and the two regiments of the Brigade "Palermo" were renamed 67th Infantry Regiment "Palermo", respectively 68th Infantry Regiment "Palermo". On 2 January 1881 the brigade level was reintroduced and the two regiments were renamed again as 67th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Palermo") and 68th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Palermo").
On 1 November 1884 the regiment ceded some of its companies to help form the 87th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Friuli") in Milan. In 1887 the regiment's 3rd Company participated in the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889. In 1895-96 the regiment provided eight officers and 245 enlisted for units deployed to Italian Eritrea for the First Italo-Ethiopian War. In 1911-12 the regiment provided 32 officers and 1,088 enlisted to augment units fighting in the Italo-Turkish War.
World War I
At the outbreak of World War I the regiment consisted of three battalions, each of which fielded four fusiliers companies and one machine gun section. In March 1915 the 67th Infantry Regiment's depot in Como formed the 154th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Novara"). After Italy's entry into the war on 23 May 1915 the Brigade "Palermo" was deployed to the Italian front: until October 1915 the brigade fought against Austro-Hungarian forces in the Val Camonica valley in the Tonale Pass area. In November of the same year the brigade was on the Karst plateau, where it fought in the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo, with the 67th Infantry Regiment deployed on Monte San Michele.