Badge of the Italian battalion "Morbegno" of the Alpine riflemen

Silver, enamel, stamping. The original token is in excellent collectible condition. Rare. Guarantee of authenticity.

Alpini (Italian Alpini — "Alpines") or Alpine riflemen are mountain infantry troops of the modern Italian Army, whose name in a narrow sense means mountain infantry and mountain artillery units, and in a broad sense — all military units (artillery, transport, communications, engineering troops). The Alpini were formed on October 15, 1872 and are considered the oldest mountain rifle formation in the world, whose initial task was to protect the border of the Kingdom of Italy with France, Switzerland and Austria-Hungary. In 1888, the Alpini first participated in combat operations abroad, in Africa, where they returned more than once during military conflicts. During the First World War, they opposed the German Alpine Corps and the Austrian Kaiserjegers and their campaign became known as the "war in snow and ice". In World War II, Alpini participated in combat operations on the side of the Axis countries against Soviet troops and in the Balkans, but suffered enormous losses in the winter of 1942-1943 and were forced to leave the territory of the USSR. After the end of the Cold War and the subsequent reform of the Italian armed forces in the 1990s, three of the five Alpine brigades were disbanded. Currently, the Alpine riflemen are distributed in two operational brigades under the Command of the Italian Alpine Troops. Since 2003, Alpini has been active in Afghanistan.