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Engraving on MVSN Dagger

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Posted 25 October 2007 by ama

Greetings!

Can someone translate this phrase engraved on an MVSN dagger?

On one side, it is engraved:

.... e vincere bisogna


On the other side (pictured) it is engraved:

L'ACCIAJATA AL'ACCIAJATISSIMO

I - V - X E.F.

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Posted 25 October 2007 by FB

... e vincere bisogna = and to win is a must or, probably better: we must win that, if memory serves is the motto of one of our Bersaglieri Regiment, the 6th (? recalling from memory, maybe someone will correct me on this).

I - V - X E.F. = this should be a date, perhaps even if it is not so common to have a date completely written in roman numerals: May 1st 1932 being:

I = roman numeral for 1st

V = roman numeral for 5th

X = roman numeral for 10th

E.F. = acronym for Era Fascista = Fascist Era. First day of first Fascist Era year was Oct. 29, 1922 (the March on Rome was the day before, Oct 28, 1922). It ended on Oct 28, 1923, end of I. E.F. .

L'accajata all'acciajatissimo makes very little sense to me.

It is based on ACCIAJO = old for ACCIAIO = Steel, so the sentence may have a sense of strongness, force but, to be honest I cannot explain its precise meaning, since I don't know what it really means.

Best regards

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Posted 25 October 2007 by Lupo Solitario

confirmed: it the 6th Bersaglieri Regiment motto

agree also on May 1, 1932

I tend to believe that the dagger is a gift for someone nicknamed "acciajatissimo" and the phrase is a sort of greeting...

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Posted 26 October 2007 by ama

Lupo Solitario said:
confirmed: it the 6th Bersaglieri Regiment motto

agree also on May 1, 1932

I tend to believe that the dagger is a gift for someone nicknamed "acciajatissimo" and the phrase is a sort of greeting...


Thank you for clarifying the date and identifying the motto. That should be a helpful clue as I try to find out who this dagger belonged to or what event is associated with it.

As I have been told this is a general's dagger, perhaps I should research what general held command over the 6th Bersaglieri Regiment during 1932? This may be a hopeless quest, but I feel compelled to try. It is history. Thanks again!

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Posted 24 March 2008 by Granatiere

This dagger has nothing to do with bersaglieri.
It's a party dagger, and Acciajata was the name of MVSN 152a Legione, Lecce (the name means reinforced with steel in Renaissance Italian).
His motto was E vincere bisogna
(Venne 'l dì nostro,
e vincere bisogna!,
Our day come, and we must win!
Gabriele D'Annunzio).
The date is 1 may1933 (the X fascist era yeas was from 28 oct. 1932 to 27 oct 1933).
This dagger was offered to a MVSN general, maybe Achille Starace, Fascist Party Secretar, born near Lecce

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Posted 25 March 2008 by FB

Granatiere said:
This dagger has nothing to do with bersaglieri.
It's a party dagger, and Acciajata was the name of MVSN 152a Legione,Lecce (the name means renforced with steel in Renaissance italian).
His motto was E vincere bisogna
(Venne 'l dì nostro,
e vincere bisogna!,
Our day come, and we must win!
Gabriele D'Annunzio).
The date is 1 may1933 (the X fascist era yeas was from 28 oct. 1932 to 27 oct 1933).
This dagger was offered to a MVSN general, maybe Achille Starace, Fascist Party Secretar, born near Lecce

Interesting, thank you.

About the E.F. year: I found that the first day of the first year of the Fascist Era was Oct. 29, 1922 (i.e. the day after the march on Rome), which makes sense, given that the established power began the day after the march.

It seems that you have different days as the first/last day. Maybe what I found is wrong?

Best regards

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Posted 25 March 2008 by Granatiere

No, the year started 28. So, for example, Mussolini's Decennale (10th year anniversary) speech in 1932 was reported on the Popolo d'Italia with the indication 28 ottobre X

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Posted 25 March 2008 by FB

Granatiere said:
No, the year started 28. So, for example, Mussolini's Decennale (10th year anniversary) speech in 1932 was reported on the Popolo d'Italia with the indication 28 ottobre X

I see, thank you very much.

Maybe you should correct what Wikipedia says here:

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascismo (towards the bottom of the page).

They say what I also knew, i.e. that first EF year began Oct 29, 1922 (but EF in itself was established in 1926)

Thanks again.

Best regards
 
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