Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:03 am by FB
That's an extremely beautiful pic, thank you.
They are Artiglieri Alpini (Alpini Arty), "confidentially" known as Montagnini.
Please note the tallness of those men (not the Officer, look at the Sargent and the man immediately next to him): HRH Prince Umberto was a very tall men, those Montagnini are as tall as him, if not taller. Physical strength has always been a very important factor for Artiglieria Alpina.
Note also how the Penna is put on the Sargent's hat and on the man immediately next to him, to his left: it is practically horizontal. The same is not true for the others, particularly the man on the extreme right. This means that the first are "old" (meaning that they have been in the Army for a long period), while the last one is "young", only a few monthes of service.
The horizontal Penna could ONLY be worn by the "olds". Btw: and "old" or "ancient" is usually referred to, in the Alpini family as a Vecio (literally old in veneto dialect), while a "young" is a Bocia (literally young boy, boy, same dialect).
Best regards
P.S.: if the little clear spot that is visible in the Nappina (at the base of the Penna) of the tallest man could be readable (I couldn't make it out), we could learn the Battry number and hence the Group a