The Gold Medal of Military Valour
The Gold Medal of Military Valour (Medaglia d’Oro al Valor Militare) was instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Savoy, King of Sardinia, on 21 May 1793, as a public and lasting mark of honour for non-commissioned officers and soldiers who had performed acts of outstanding valour in war.
The first recipient was Domenico Millelire, a boatswain from La Maddalena, for retaking the island of Santo Stefano and defending La Maddalena against the fleet of the French Republic.
The fighting took place between 22 and 25 February 1793; among the defeated was a 23-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte, then lieutenant colonel of the Corsican volunteers.
In 1796 the king, although the award was meant for individual deeds, granted two gold medals to the “Dragoni del Re” regiment (later “Genova Cavalleria”).
After falling out of use in the Napoleonic period, the medal was restored on 26 March 1833 by Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, as a medal for personal valour in gold or silver.
For this reason Charles Albert’s law is regarded as the foundation of the decoration.
The first recipient of the new series was the mounted Carabiniere Giovanni Battista Scapaccino, awarded posthumously on 8 June 1834.
The bronze medal was added in 1887.
(Summary based on an article in «Storia Illustrata».)
Rules for placing Gold Medals on the ANA Section banners
At the meeting of the ANA National Board of Directors on 14 September 1958 a proposal to regulate the placing of Gold Medals on Section banners was discussed. It was decided to consult the Section Presidents, who were called to a meeting on 19 November. At the following meeting of the National Board, on 14 December 1958, it was resolved to add to the national regulations an article governing the placing of Gold Medals of Military Valour on Section banners: “Only facsimiles of the Gold Medals awarded to Alpini, fallen or living, while serving in Alpini units, and whose place of birth, as stated in the citation, lies within the territory of the Section, may be placed on the Banner (Vessillo) of each Section (and not on the Group pennants, the Gagliardetti).” At the Adunata Nazionale held in Milan in May 1959 to mark the 40th anniversary of the ANA (founded in Milan in 1919), the Section banners paraded for the first time with their Gold Medals pinned on.
The Gold Medals of Belluno
First World War
Second World War
Carlo Calbo
Vittorino Zanibon
