The corps of Carabinieri Reali was created by he King by issuing a Regie Patenti (Royal Patent) on July 13, 1814. This force was to be the 1st Corps of the regular army and was to perform state gendarme as well ass military police duties. Its official name is L'Arma dei Carabinieri" (the Carabinieri Corps) or, more commonly, La Benemerita (The Meritorious Corps). It still wears as a dress uniform its distinctive dark blue tunic with silver and gold braid and a unique two pointed hat known as the "lucerna". The term Carabinieri comes from the fact that the unit was equipped with shortened rifles, referred to as carbines, which did not take a bayonet as it was considered un-necessary in their work. The Carabinieri first saw combat in 1815 against Napoleon's troops at Grenoble. They later served in the Crimean War, and saw storied service in the Italian Wars of Independence, Eritrea, and Libya. In 1868 a mounted unit of the Carabinieri known as the Cuirassiers (Corazzieri) has provided protection for the King and later the president. The corps donned a khaki uniform and fought in the alpine trenches of World War one, being wasted along the Isonzo.
In the 1920's and 30's the corps was accused of what would be considered war crimes while serving in Libya, Somalia and Ethiopia. This stain was scrubbed clean by their record in World War Two. The Carabinieri fought with valor in Greece and East Africa under impossible odds. When their country was occupied by Nazi German forces after the invasion of Sicily the corps chose to serve their country even if it was illegal at the time. During the war 13,850 of the Carabinieri Force participated in the Resistance movement and were the scourge of the Nazi forces. When King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy ordered the arrest of Mussolini in 1943 it was Carabinieri that carried out his wishes. On September 23, 1943 a 22 year old Carabinieri by the name of Salvo D'Acquisto lied took credit for a bomb that killed a German soldier in the village of Palidoro to prevent SS troops from shooting 22 local civilians in retaliation. D'Acquisto was himself executed but his sacrifice saved the lives of the civilians. This story has grown to become the Corps most honored tale.
After the war the Carabinieri was restructured but retained its roles. True to its law enforcement duties has fought banditry in Sicily against such likes as the Giuliano Band, and helped put down numerous crime rings over the years. It has helped set up police forces in San Marino, Crete, El Salvador and many other countries. It has served in peacekeeping duties in the former Yugoslavia, Haiti, Egypt, Timor and Lebanon. In March 2001, the corps was separated from the Army and placed on equal footing as an independent armed service. The corps is currently commanded by a full general and has a company in each province and town in Italy. A truck bomb in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah killed 17 Carabinieri in November 2003. In its current role the 30,000 man force is serving at 4653 Carabinieri Stations. It currently includes many specialist units including a lost art task force, eleven mobile battalions, the Tuscania airborne regiment, the GIS special operations unit, more than a hundred sea-borne units, K9 teams and helicopter squadrons.
Their motto is Nei Secoli Fedele (Faithful throughout the Centuries) and they have lived up to it.
Source
The Official Carabinieri Website
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