The 101st Tank Battalion's name commemorated the commander of the LI Tank Battalion "M14/41" Lieutenant Colonel Salvatore Zappalà, who had been awarded three Silver Medals of Military Valour (2x World War I, 1x Invasion of Yugoslavia), one Bronze Medal of Military Valour (Spanish Civil War) and three War Crosses of Military Valor (Spanish Civil War, Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Greco-Italian War), and was awarded posthumously a Gold Medal of Military Valour after being fatally injured on 30 June 1942 near El Dabaa in Egypt during the Axis pursuit of the British Eighth Army after the Battle of Mersa Matruh.