26th Infantry Battalion (Romania)

World War I

By 1916, the regiment was part of the 3rd Infantry Brigade in the 2nd Infantry Division. On Romania's entry into the war, the 26th Infantry Regiment was assigned to the Jiu Group under the 11th Infantry Division of the First Army. With this organization, it participated in the battles on the Jiu Valley, occupying the Petroșani area in August 1916.^[10] Following the First Battle of the Jiu Valley in October, the Romanian 11th Infantry Division was redeployed to the Pitești area.^[11] The regiment continued to fight until its forces were scattered in the battle of "Cota 1001"^[b] on 15 February 1917.^[12]

During the fighting from August 1916 to February 1917, the 26th Regiment suffered heavy casualties, with only 400 soldiers remaining of the original 3000.^[8] After undergoing reorganization and restoring its combat capacity, at the same time being reinforced with Transylvanian volunteers from the Volunteer Corps, the regiment was deployed in the Zăbrăuți–Fitionești sector on the Mărășești front area and participated in the 1917 summer campaign.^[13] In the autumn of 1918, it returned to its garrison in Craiova.^[8] For its combat feats during the First World War, the regiment was awarded the Order of Michael the Brave on 4 July 1937.^[7]

World War II

In 1941, at the start of Operation Barbarossa, the 26th Dorobanți Regiment was part of the 2nd Infantry Division.^[7] As such, it participated in fighting on the Eastern Front. After the 1941 campaign, it was partially reorganized in Rostov.^[14] In July 1942, the 2nd Infantry Division intervened in the battles on the Don bend holding the bridgehead at Tsimlyanskaya until 31 July. Afterwards, the division went on a counterattack to secure the flank of the German 29th Motorized Infantry Division.^[15]

In the First Jassy–Kishinev offensive, the 26th Infantry Regiment fought alongside German troops and other Romanian troops near the Roznovanu Palace in Iași, attempting to push the Soviet troops back over the Jijia river. After the 23 August 1944 coup, the regiment retreated from the front line and by September it reorganized itself in Slatina.^[16] The regiment continued fighting in Hungary in the Battle of Debrecen, and in the Siege of Budapest as part of the 2nd Infantry Division, 1st Army in the 2nd Ukrainian Front.^[17]

Between December 1944 and May 1945, the 26th Regiment fought in Czechoslovakia and took part in the liberation of Kojetín and Kroměříž.^[18] Though Victory was declared on 8 May 1945, the regiment remained fighting against Schutzstaffel units which were refusing to surrender in the Obědkovice area until 12 May 1945. The Romanian troops began returning home in June 1945.^[16]

Nasiriyah

While on deployment to Iraq in 2004 as part of the Italian involvement, the Red Scorpions participated in the first military engagement of the Romanian Army since World War II.^[26] Following Operation Porta Pia and the conclusion of the First Battle for the Bridges of Nasiriyah in April 2004 which ended in an armistice, the Iraqi insurgent Mahdi Army launched another attack on the city in May 2004 seeking to regain control over the Alpha, Bravo and Charlie bridges over the Euphrates. On 14 May, the insurgents began bombarding the headquarters of the Coalition Forces in Dhi Qar at the Camp White Horse base with mortars and 122mm rockets. At the same time, the Iraqis besieged the building of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Nasiriyah.^[27]

On the night of 14/15 May, six VCC armored vehicles left the base by order of general Gian Marco Chiarini, the commander of the Ariete Brigade, to relieve the besieged Coalition building. To protect the flank of the Italian force, general Chiarini also ordered the Romanian 26th Battalion to secure the Delta bridge, later nicknamed the "Scorpions' bridge", located on the far eastern side of the city in the al-Fadliyah district thus preventing insurgent forces coming from Suq al-Shuyukh to enter Nasiriyah. Under the command of lieutenant colonel Nicolae Ciucă, 10 TABs with 70 soldiers departed for the Delta bridge. Upon getting closer to the bridge, the column was attacked with RPGs and small arms fire. In the engagement, the MEDEVAC TABC-79 was struck by an RPG-7 which destroyed both its rear tires and one of the front tires. The decision was taken to leave two TABs behind with the damaged MEDEVAC and continue the mission with the rest. Soon after the objective was reached, the Iraqis launched another attack on the column. The troops proceeded to dismount and formed a defensive perimeter between the road and the nearby railway embankment. The soldiers and armored vehicles remained in the area until the next day, in which time they also repaired the damaged TAB. Once back to base, the soldiers of the battalion were inspected and commended by general Andrew Stewart, the commander of the Multi-National Division.^[28][29]

The Italians had managed to break through the siege and evacuate the civilian personnel including Governor Barbara Contini from the CPA building. In the following days, Italian units cleared the remaining insurgents from the city, the Second Battle for the Bridges ending on 17 May 2004.^[30][31]