Italy (Kingdom); (22ª Divisione fanteria "Cacciatori delle Alpi" Bronze gilt with navy blue enamels, maker marked "LORIOLI & CASTELLI MILANO" on the reverse, 46.5 mm x 60.8 mm, die-holes at all three points for uniform attachment, intact enamels, very light contact, extremely fine.
Footnote: The 22nd Infantry Division "Alpe Hunters" was a large infantry unit of the Royal Army during the Second World War. The origins of the division date back to those of the Allied Hunting Brigade, created on March 14, 1860 by the incubation of the Volunteer Alps hunters in the 51st and 52rd Infantry Regiment "Alps" of the Sarda Army. They participated in the First World War and in 1918, were sent to the western front to fight with the Italian Army Corps in France led by General Albricci. Reconfigured on a ternary basis in 1926, it incorporated the 81st Infantry Regiment "Turin". In 1939, the brigade level was dissolved and the 22nd Infantry Division "Alpe Hunters" were formed on the two original infantry regiments and on the 1st Artillery Regiment for Infantry Division. Upon the entry of Italy into the Second World War, the division was deployed on the front of the Western Alps, in Liguria, as the reserve of the 4th Army, where it never entered into action because of the rapid capitulation of France. In January 1941, with the advancement of the Greeks, they were sent to Albania, assigned to the IV Corps of the 11th Army of the Epirus, to deploy in the valley of the Osum. Beginning on January 25th, furious attacks of the enemy followed, intent on opening the valley road to catch Berat. After a first comeback, in February, the division came to the bottom of the valley, resisting repeated attacks until March, when the division successfully occupied Mali Spadarit and Bregu Gliulei between the 9th and 10th. Beginning on April 15th, it participated in the area of Coriza at the Italian general offensive and on April 21st crossed the Vojuzas blocking, in the area of Premeti, the retreat of the enemy towards the Greek border. At the end of the month, they first settled in Coriza, then on the Greek-Albanian border between Ersekë and Ponte Perat. Following the invasion of Yugoslavia and the Italian occupation of Montenegro, on July 12, 1941, the Kingdom of Montenegro was proclaimed in Cettigne under the protectorate of Italy. On July 13th, the Montenegrin population came under the leadership of the Chetnik Colonel Dragoljub Mihailović of the Yugoslav Communist Party and a group of former Yugoslav Army officers. In response to the occupation of the campaigns and the capture of Italian weapons, the Royal Army disposed of the 14th Armory Corps, consisting of "Emilia", "Pusteria", "Puglia", "Taro", "Venice" and indeed the "Hunters of the Alps" at the disposal of the civilian and military governor Gen. Alessandro Pirzio Biroli. The 22nd Infantry Division in July 1941 was assigned to the Podgorica area, then to September in Dalmatia between Split and Šibenik, where it participated in a large racking operation, supplemented by numerous MVAC units. Within these operations, the division was stained with horrible war crimes for which Pirzio Biroli was declared a "war criminal" by the SFRY, although the Italian State never authorized extradition. In December, the division was transferred to Croatia to Metcovich, where they were employed, from April to June 1942, in Operation "Trio" against the partisans. Transferred to the Province of Ljubljana that had been annexed to the Kingdom of Italy, they were also employed here in large police operations. At the proclamation of the armistice of Cassibile, the division took place from Ljubljana to Rijeka, where it was dissolved on September 11, 1943 .