The 10th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment () is an inactive artillery regiment of the Italian Army, which was last based in Al-Khums in Libya. In 1920, the Royal Italian Army formed twelve heavy field artillery regiments, among them the 8th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment in Naples. In 1926, the regiment was renumbered as 10th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment. In 1939, the regiment moved to Al-Khums in the Italian colony Libya. In the early stages of the World War II the regiment formed the commands of three army corps artillery groupings, two of which participated in 1940 in the Italian invasion of Egypt. In January 1941, the two groupings were destroyed during the British capture of Tobruk. In February 1941, the third army corps artillery grouping formed by the regiment was sent to Libya, where it fought in the Western Desert Campaign and the following Tunisian Campaign, during which it was destroyed.
The regimental anniversary falls, as for all Italian Army artillery regiments, on June 15 1918, the beginning of the Second Battle of the Piave River. This article is about the Royal Italian Army's 10th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment, which was a support unit assigned to a corps-level command. This regiment is unrelated to the 10th Heavy Artillery Regiment, which was a support unit assigned to an army-level command, and unrelated to the 10th Field Artillery Regiment, which was a support unit assigned to a division-level command.
In 1910, the Royal Italian Army decided to form a new artillery speciality, which would be equipped with heavier howitzers than the field artillery's 75/27 mod. 06 field guns and with more mobile howitzers than the fortress artillery's siege mortars and siege howitzers. On 1 April 1912, the Royal Italian Army formed two heavy field artillery regiments: the 1st Heavy Field Artillery Regiment in Casale Monferrato and the 2nd Heavy Field Artillery Regiment in Modena. The two regiments were equipped with 15 cm sFH 13 heavy field howitzers, which Italy had bought from the German arms manufacturer Krupp. Upon entering Italian service the howitzers received the designation 149/12 heavy field howitzer.
In May 1915, when Italy entered World War I, each of the two heavy field artillery regiments fielded six howitzer groups with 149/12 heavy field howitzers. Over the course of the war the two regiments' depots formed three additional howitzer groups and 36 cannon groups, which were equipped with 105/28 cannons, respectively 102/35 mod. 14 naval guns mounted on SPA 9000 trucks. The depots of the Royal Italian Army's field artillery regiments formed additional howitzer groups. To command the heavy field artillery's groups at the front, the two heavy field artillery regiment, formed the commands of nine heavy field artillery groupings, while field artillery regiments formed another 16 heavy field artillery grouping commands.
After the end of the war the Royal Italian Army began the process of downsizing its heavy field artillery. However, in November 1919, the army decided to assign a heavy field artillery regiment to each of its 14 army corps. Consequently, in summer 1920, the army formed an additional twelve heavy field artillery regiments, each of which consisted of two cannon groups and two howitzer groups. As part of this expansion, on 1 August 1920, the 24th Field Artillery Regiment in Naples was disbanded and its personnel used to form the 8th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment. On the same date, the 36th Field Artillery Regiment in Messina changed its name to 24th Field Artillery Regiment and received the traditions of the disbanded field artillery regiment. The new heavy field artillery regiment in Naples received the XL Cannons Group, which had been formed during the war by the depot of the 2nd Heavy Field Artillery Regiment, and the XXII Howitzers Group, which had been formed during the war by the depot of the 4th Field Artillery Regiment. The regiment also retained the 24th Field Artillery Regiment's II and III groups, which exchanged their 75/27 mod. 06 field guns with 105/28 cannons, respectively 149/13 heavy howitzers. Upon entering the new regiment the four groups were renumbered and the XL and II groups became the I and II cannon groups with 105/28 cannons, while the III and XXII groups became the III and IV howitzers groups with 149/13 heavy howitzers. The regiment was then assigned to the VIII Army Corps in Naples.
In 1926, the VII Army Corps in Rome was renumbered VIII Army Corps, while the VIII Army Corps in Naples was renumbered X Army Corps. Consequently, on 1 November 1926, the heavy field artillery regiments were renumbered to better align with their respective army corps: the VIII Army Corps' 7th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment in Rome was renumbered 8th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment, while the X Army Corps' 8th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment in Naples was renumbered 10th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment.
On 20 September 1934, transferred its II Group to the 7th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment. On 1 October 1934, all heavy field artillery regiments were renamed army corps artillery regiment. Consequently, the 10th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment was renamed 10th Army Corps Artillery Regiment (). In summer 1935, the regiment's depot formed the XV Cannons Group with 105/28 cannons for the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, which on 13 December of the same year, was reorganized as CXV Howitzers Group with 149/13 heavy howitzers and assigned to the 7th Army Corps Artillery Grouping, which deployed to Eritrea and participated in the war's campaign in northern Ethiopia. In March 1936, the regiment's depot in also formed the LI Cannons Group with 105/28 cannons, which was sent to Cyrenaica in Libya for the duration of the war. After the conclusion of the war the CXV and LI groups were disbanded.
In April 1939, the regiment formed the 10th Army Corps Artillery Grouping, which consisted of the XVI and XXXII cannon groups with 105/28 cannons and the CXV and CXVI howitzer groups with 149/13 heavy howitzers. The same month, the grouping participated in the Italian invasion of Albania and afterwards remained in the Albania, where it was garrisoned in Tirana. On 1 October 1939, the 10th Army Corps Artillery Grouping was reorganized as Army Corps of Albania Artillery Grouping (26th), which in December of the same year was renamed 26th Army Corps Artillery Regiment. During the same month, October 1939, the regiment moved from Naples to Al-Khums in Libya. After its arrival in Al-Khums the regiment consisted a command, a command unit, the VII Group with 100/17 mod. 14 howitzers, the XVII and XXXV groups with 105/28 cannons, and the 10th Army Corps Specialists Unit. In summer 1940, the regiment reformed the 10th Army Corps Artillery Grouping, which in September 1940 participated in the Italian invasion of Egypt. In December 1940, the British Western Desert Force began Operation Compass, which quickly destroyed the Italian units in Egypt. In January 1941, British forces reached and encircled Tobruk. Among the Italian units encircled in the city were the 10th Army Corps Artillery Grouping and the 25th Army Corps Artillery Grouping, which had also been formed by the 10th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment's depot in Naples. On 22 January 1941, British forces captured Tobruk and the next day, on 23 January 1941, the 10th Army Corps Artillery Grouping and 25th Army Corps Artillery Grouping were declared lost due to wartime events.
During the war the regiment's depot in Naples formed and mobilized the following commands and units:
The groups operated either under command of army corps artillery groupings or as autonomous units. In the evening of 8 September 1943, the Armistice of Cassibile, which ended hostilities between the Kingdom of Italy and the Anglo-American Allies, was announced by General Dwight D. Eisenhower on Radio Algiers and by Marshal Pietro Badoglio on Italian radio. Germany reacted by invading Italy and the 10th Army Corps Artillery Regiment and its depot were disbanded soon thereafter by German forces.