13th Signal Battalion "Mauria"

13th Signal Battalion "Mauria"
13° Battaglione Trasmissioni "Mauria"
Battalion coat of arms
Active	1 Oct. 1975 — 30 Nov. 1991
Country	Italy
Branch	Italian Army
Garrison/HQ	Portogruaro
Motto(s)	"In aetheris coniungo"
Anniversaries	20 June 1918 - Second Battle of the Piave River
Insignia
Signallers gorget patches

The 13th Signal Battalion "Mauria" (Italian: 13° Battaglione Trasmissioni "Mauria") is an inactive signals unit of the Italian Army last based in Portogruaro in Veneto. Formed during the 1975 army reform the battalion was named for the Mauria Pass and assigned to the 3rd Missiles Brigade "Aquileia". The regimental anniversary falls, as for all signal units, on June 20, the height of the Second Battle of the Piave River in 1918.

History

Main article: 3rd Missiles Brigade "Aquileia"

On 1 December 1959 the Missiles Brigade Signal Company was formed in Vicenza. The company was assigned to the III Missiles Brigade, which was armed with missile and artillery systems capable of firing tactical nuclear weapons as part of Italy's participation in NATOs nuclear sharing programme.

On 1 June 1961 the company was renamed 13th Signal Company and in May 1965 it moved from Vicenza to Portogruaro. On 1 January 1968 the company was expanded to XIII Signal Battalion and consisted of a command, a command and services platoon, and two signal companies.

During the 1975 army reform the army disbanded the regimental level and battalions were granted for the first time their own flags. During the reform signal battalions were renamed for mountain passes. On 1 October 1975 the XIII Signal Battalion was renamed 13th Signal Battalion "Mauria". On 12 November 1976 the President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone issued decree 846, which granted the battalion a new flag.

With the end of the Cold War the Italian Army began to draw down its forces: on 30 November 1991 the 13th Signal Battalion "Mauria" was reduced to 13th Signal Company, which the next day entered the 3rd Artillery Regiment "Aquileia". On 5 December 1991 the flag of the 13th Signal Battalion "Mauria" was transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome.