3rd Artillery Regiment "Pistoia"

3rd Artillery Regiment "Pistoia"
3° Reggimento Artiglieria "Pistoia"
Regimental coat of arms
Active	1 July 1860 — 13 May 1943 1 Jan. 1950 — 1 July 1953 21 Oct. 1975 — 30 April 1991
Country	Italy
Branch	Italian Army
Part of	Mechanized Brigade "Goito"
Garrison/HQ	Vercelli
Motto(s)	"Ardoris peritus"
Anniversaries	15 June 1913 - Second Battle of the Piave River
Decorations	1x Bronze Medal of Army Valour
Insignia
Regimental gorget patches

The 3rd Artillery Regiment "Pistoia" (Template:Lang-it) is an inactive field artillery regiment of the Italian Army, which was based in Vercelli in Piedmont. The regiment was formed in 1860 by the Royal Sardinian Army and in 1861 joined the Royal Italian Army. During World War I the regiment served on the on the Italian front. In 1935 the regiment was assigned to the 16th Infantry Division "Fossalta", which in 1939 became the 16th Infantry Division "Pistoia". In September 1942 the division was transferred to North Africa for the Western Desert campaign of World War II. After the defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein the division retreated with the other Axis forces into Tunisia, where the division fought in the Tunisian campaign until it surrendered to Allied forces on 13 May 1943.

The regiment was reformed in 1950 and assigned to the Infantry Division "Mantova". In 1953 the regiment was disbanded and its personnel used to reform the 6th Mountain Artillery Regiment. In 1975 the unit was reformed in Vercelli as 3rd Field Artillery Group "Pastrengo" and assigned to the 3rd Mechanized Brigade "Goito". In 1982 the group was equipped with self-propelled howitzers and renamed 3rd Self-propelled Field Artillery Group "Pastrengo". With the end of the Cold War the group was disbanded in 1991.