In January 1941, the regiment deployed to North Africa, where it fought in the Western Desert campaign in Libya and Egypt.

After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943, the regiment joined the Italian Co-belligerent Army.

In fall 1940, the III Tank Battalion M13/40 was sent to Libya to bolster Italian forces in Egypt.

On 24 January 1941, the III, V, VI, and XXI tank battalions M13/40 clashed with the British 7th Armoured Division in the action at Mechili.

The end for the remnants of the Italian 10th Army came on 6–7 February 1941, when their retreat was blocked by the 7th Armoured Division at Beda Fomm and the furious and futile attempts of the tank battalions to open a breach in the British line during the Battle of Beda Fomm came to naught.

With 7 February 1941 the 10th Army with all its units and all the reinforcements sent to it had been destroyed or captured by the British XIII Corps.

[7] On 22 January, the day Tobruk fell, the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment, together with the entire 132nd Armored Division "Ariete", embarked in Naples and sailed for Tripoli in Libya where the division arrived on 24 January, the day British spearheads engaged the last Italian units in Cyrenaica.

After arriving in Libya the regiment was in no shape to contest the British advance as it consisted of the I, II, and III tank battalions L with obsolete L3 tankettes.

The regiment then continued to fight in North Africa with only its three tank battalions L as the return to Italy was repeatedly postponed.

The same day General Erwin Rommel ordered his forces to retreat to the Gazala line, where in December the Ariete continued the fight against the British advance.

During the night of 15-16 December Axis forces abandoned the Gazala line and retreated to El Agheila.

The Ariete division had lost 76% of its personnel during Operation Crusader and the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment was taken out of the front on 31 December 1941 and sent to the rear.

The regiment was assigned to the XIII Army Corps, which was tasked with the defence of the Southern part of the island.

In November 1942, the XIII Tank Battalion L participated in the occupation of Corsica, which was part of the German-Italian Operation Anton to occupy Vichy France.

As Italian forces had to leave Corsica the regiment received three tank and self-propelled battalions, which had been based on the French island.

On the same day the Gold Medal of Military Valor awarded to the III Tank Battalion M13/40 and the Silver Medal of Military Valor awarded to the V Tank Battalion M13/40 were affixed to the regiment's flag and displayed on the regiment's coat of arms.

On 20 October 1964, the regiment added the XXIII Bersaglieri Battalion, which was equipped with M113 armored personnel carriers.

Tank and armored battalions created during the 1975 army reform were named for officers, soldiers and partisans of the tank specialty, who had served in World War II and been awarded Italy's highest military honor the Gold Medal of Military Valor.

The 3rd Tank Battalion was named for Sergeant Bruno Galas, who, while serving with the III Tank Battalion M13/40 in North Africa, was gravely injured on 1 January 1941 during the Battle of Bardia and died two days later, on 3 January, in an Italian field hospital.

The three battalions were assigned to the 32nd Armored Brigade "Mameli", which was formed on the same day by reorganizing the command of the 32nd Tank Regiment.

[2][4][6][7] After the end of the Cold War Italian Army began to draw down its forces: on 1 April 1991, the 32nd Armored Brigade "Mameli" was disbanded and the 3rd Tank Battalion "M.O.

Chiamenti", and 23rd Bersaglieri Battalion "Castel di Borgo" were transferred to the 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete".