Guardia alla Frontiera
The Guardia alla Frontiera (GaF) (transl. Border Guard), was an Regio Esercito Border guard created in 1937 who defended the 1,851 km of northern Italian frontiers with the so-called "Vallo Alpino Occidentale" (487 km with France), "Vallo Alpino Settentrionale" (724 km with Switzerland and 420 km with Austria) and "Vallo Alpino Orientale" (220 km with Yugoslavia).
| Guardia alla Frontiera | |
|---|---|
Guardia alla Frontiera emblem | |
| Active | 1934 – 1953 |
| Country | Italy |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of Italy Republic of Italy |
| Branch | Royal Italian Army |
| Type | Border Guard |
| Role | Mountain Warfare |
| Size | 8 Corps areas with 27 Sectors |
| Regimental Centre | Vallo Alpino |
| Nickname(s) | Vidoa |
| Motto(s) | Dei sacri confini guardia sicura |
| Colors | Green |
| Engagements | World War II |
In 1940 the GaF had 21,000 military personnel, deployed in eight commands, 27 sectors and seven regiments of artillery. It manned 1,000 fortifications, 6,000 machine guns, 1,000 mortars, 100 Cannone da 47/32 M35 , and another thousand other medium and small-caliber cannons (75/27 and 149/35).
By 10 June 1940 (Italy's entry into the war) the GaF (not counting colonies in Libya and Albania) contained 23 sectors, 50,000 men, 28 battalions "Vallo Alpino", and 22 battalions of fascist militia.