Cacciatori d'Africa

The Cacciatori d'Africa (literally "African Hunters") was a title given to Italian light infantry and mounted infantry units raised for colonial service in Africa.

Italian Cavalry in East Africa, 1885–86

First established by Royal Decree n. 4783 of 14 July 1887, the new corps comprising three battalions of infantry, plus a squadron of mounted Cacciatori, were sent to Eritrea the same year to form part of the Corpo Speciale per L'Africa (Special Corps of Africa). Cacciatori units later saw service in Somalia, Eritrea, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.

Recruited initially amongst volunteers from the line infantry and grenadier regiments of the metropolitan army, the Cacciatori d'Africa was subsequently conscripted in part from Italian settlers resident in the territories listed above. Partially mechanised in the early 1920s, the Cacciatori d'Africa remained part of the Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali (Royal Corps of Colonial Troops) until 1942.