[12] On 6 November, after having exhausted all its ammunition, the remainder of the Division surrendered. He wanted nothing of material value to fall into the enemy’s hands. To overcome the lack of field artillery (the divisional artillery regiment had only 47L32 AT/IG), the “Folgore” Tactical Artillery Group under Colonel Boffa, formed with the following units : 2nd Battalion/26th Artillery Regiment “Rubicone” (75/27 mod.06 – from the “Pavia” Division) HQ Company Auto-transportable Infantry - North-African Type: This article is about the historic Italian 185th Paratroopers Division Folgore. The others were killed or captured during battle or in retreat. The 185th Artillery, 186th Paratroopers and 187th Paratroopers regiments received a second Gold Medal for specific actions during the Second Battle of El Alamein. 22nd “ Guastatori” Parachutist Company Military cemeteries Germany. Visitors can also go to the Italian and German military cemeteries on Tel el-Eisa Hill outside the town. Divisione Paracadutisti Folgore (185. Rommel at first agreed, but after Clifton attempted an escape during a German interrogation, Rommel changed his mind, and the General transferred to Italy for internment. 17th Parachutists Rifle Company It is an everlasting tribute to perhaps Italy’s finest soldiers of the Second World War. In the early morning darkness of 2 November 1942, the next phase of Montgomery’s plan, Operation Supercharge, began. [8], On 15 September the 185th Infantry Regiment "Folgore", which had remained in Italy, left the division and changed its name to 185th Infantry Regiment "Nembo" and became the basis for the 184th Infantry Division "Nembo" (Nemo Italian for Nimbus). They joined the newly formed 285th Parachutist Battalion Folgore and continued the struggle for their beloved Italy. Italian Paratrooper Badge. 26th Parachutists Rifle Company They were the equivalent to the German Assault Engineers. 139 reviews #1 of 3 Sights & Landmarks in El Alamein "The cemetary is quite well kept, even though its in the middle of sandy desert, with a bit of greenery in between the graves." 13th Parachutists Rifle Company The divisional artillery disbanded the 2nd Battalion and split among the Tactical Groups, together with the other divisional assets. The men could hold out no longer. The attackers sustained heavy losses to their exposed armor as Montgomery expertly parried Rommel’s overly aggressive nature. I feel that the battle accounts are similar to the ones in Montanari’s The Three Battle of Alamein. 18th Parachutists Rifle Company, 7th Parachutist Infantry Battalion, with: Italian troops overwhelmed Montgomery’s forces once again. Brigata Folgore a El Alamein. Regimental Guns Company (47/32 mod.35), 2nd Parachutist Infantry Battalion, with: [3] Two years later, in 1939, two Paratroopers Military School based in Tarquinia and in Viterbo were established. These soldiers made their way back into Tunisia. 185th Medical section El Alamein was a battle that was lost with great honour, facing up to overwhelmingly superior fire power with poor weapons but with great spirit and … Montgomery’s new plan shunned past British doctrine of sending it’s armor out to engage Axis tanks ‘in the open.’ Instead, the valuable tanks were to stay ‘protected’ in the distance and fulfill an ‘anti-tank’ role. "FOLGORE" in Italian means Lightning. The focus then shifts upon the Folgore's major engagement of the campaign during the Battle of El Alamein: 'Operation Lightfoot', which was launched by General Montgomery on 24 October 1942. On 27 July 1942 the division's name was changed to 185th Infantry Division "Folgore" and its regiments were renumbered and renamed as well. Passerby, stop and revere. Sort by: Traveler Ranked. To aid in the raising of the 183rd Infantry Regiment "Nembo" the 185th ceded its X Paratroopers Battalion to the 183rd and raised the XI Paratroopers Battalion in its stead. Div and French forces were once again repelled on 27 October 1942. My Grandfather served in the American army (though not deployed) during WWI. Strong interest in WW2. Parachute Division Folgore). Image: Noclador, CC 3.0. It was accomplished by Italian defenders who were ‘lightly’ armed, but still managed to demolish almost everything thrown at its ranks, including the massive Grant tanks. “Bechi” Tactical Group (2nd and 4th Battalions) The Regiment traces its origins back to the 185th Artillery Regiment "Folgore", framed within the "Folgore" Division established in 1941. While the bravery of the Folgore at El Alamein has often received praise and admiration, its soldiers’ skill level is often overlooked. pub. To put this philosophy into practice, Montgomery had cleverly left a ‘gap’ in the southern sector of the front designed to funnel Rommel’s attacking forces into his ‘trap,’ a substantial grouping of British tanks and artillery near Alam el Halfa ridge. W. Churchill Women's El Alamein battle folgore bersaglieri italian ww2 1942 T-Shi XL Olive: Amazon.ca: Clothing & Accessories “Tantillo” Tactical Group (5th and 6th Battalions). Officially renamed under the cover name of 185th “Cacciatori d’Africa” Infantry Division, although reports and dispatches continued to refer to them as 185th “Folgore” Parachutist Brigade, this “Division” would prove it’s worth to the Axis cause many times over. il cammino dell’onore e della gloria. The British could not break through as planned. During the Second battle of El Alamein the Folgore Division came under attack from three Allied divisions 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, 7th Armoured Division, and the 1st Free French Brigade. [1], By 1939 there were two Libyan Paratroopers Battalions. Italian and German engineers in the area worked diligently to strengthen the existing minefield created by the British but was now in Axis hands, to provide a daunting defensive obstacle in front of their positions. Some praise Rommel’s tactic as sound and perhaps the only option he had to avoid the risk of having his entire army destroyed where they stood. [4] The division initially was organized as follows: For reasons of order of precedence the title I Paratroopers Battalion was reserved for the I Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion. The first step, known as Operation Lightfoot, initiated with an artillery bombardment, the like of which that had never before seen during the entire North African Campaign. In the OOB, those numbers have been “translated” in standard Arabic numerals to avoid confusion. The main Allied effort during the battle was in the northern part of the Axis line. [4] The new structure was as follows: The division was then sent to Italian Libya to bolster Axis forces in the Western Desert campaign. Directed by Guido Malatesta. Browse more videos. However, they continued to employ them when possible against their British pursuers. the path to honor and glory. [6] When the division arrived in Africa the three artillery groups of the 185th Artillery Regiment "Folgore" were merged into two artillery groups of three batteries each, thus providing one group for each infantry regiment, which in turn could now provide one battery to each battalion of a regiment. Thanks to the tip from Manteuffel: "The heroic behavior of the Folgore Division during the Second battle of El Alamein in resisting the attacks of six British divisions (two armored and four infantry) inspired the respect and admiration of its enemy. The 185th artillery found itself dispersed among all the Tactical Groups. This time they were opposed by the British 131st Infantry Brigade, which boasted heavy artillery and a contingent of tanks supplied by the Scots Greys, attached to them to provide support against the Folgore. HQ Battery HQ Company Rommel’s extensive use of mines in both number and depth at the Second Battle of Alamein earned these lethal patches of the earth the nickname of “the Devil’s Garden” by the advancing British forces. For its conduct during the Second Battle of El Alamein the division as whole was awarded a Gold Medal of Military Valor. Dio degli Eserciti, Using Ultra intercepts that forewarned the upcoming Axis operation, Montgomery prepared a new defensive alignment to support his change in the 8th Army’s philosophy on the use of its armor. 25th Parachutists Rifle Company The "Folgore" (Lightning bolt) paratroop Division was a chosen unit within the Italian army and the X Corps during the African campaign. During the Second battle of El Alamein the Folgore Division was under attack from three British divisions 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, 7th Armoured Division, and the 1st Free French Brigade. The British found the warriors standing at ridged attention with their arms at their sides, staring resolutely forward, defeated but not bowed. The first Italian paratrooper units were trained and formed shortly before World War II in Castel Benito, near Tripoli in Libya, where the first Military Parachuting School was located. The division was sent to Africa and fought in the Battle of El Alamein with the following structure:[16]. for the eternity are here as a garrison the boys of the Folgore The focus then shifts upon the Folgore’s major engagement of the campaign during the Battle of El Alamein: 'Operation Lightfoot', which was launched by General Montgomery on 24 October 1942. The Folgore never needed to call upon them during the entire battle as they had proved more than a match against the Allied units. El Alamein Battlefield. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. For the Italian Cold War mechanized division, see, Playfair I.S.O. They charged forward, engaging the unsupported British tanks or vehicles at close range. The Folgore was a tightly knit and highly skilled unit, and they possessed perhaps the greatest ‘esprit de corps’ of any Italian division during the war. El Alamein - 23/ottobre/1942. They also used their 47mm Anti-tank guns from enfilade positions and Molotov cocktails to knock out advancing armor. He ordered a meaningless retreat that pulled back his defenders from their entrenchments and defensive lines and denied them their artillery support. [2], After quarrels,[2] in 1937 paratroopers schools were assigned by law to the Regia Aeronautica. Upon finding General Frattini amongst the captured Folgore, he saluted and expressed the highest of praise for the Folgore’s gallantry in combat. The “Carabinieri” is the Italian Military Police Corps. On 7 November, the commander of the British 44th Infantry Division, General Hughes, made an effort to meet with the Folgore’s commander, General Frattini. [6] The division was intended to be used in Operation Hercules – the planned Axis invasion of Malta. The focus then shifts upon the Folgore’s major engagement of the campaign during the Battle of El Alamein: 'Operation Lightfoot', which was launched by General Montgomery on 24 October 1942. With Fausto Tozzi, Ettore Manni, Monica Clay, Aldo Bufi Landi. HQ Company They further point out that the Axis troops were now openly facing a stronger and more mobile opponent, who would quickly be able to call upon these advantages. “One hundred Folgore parachutists” – The cost in blood at El Alamein was steep for the Folgore. Additional support in this sector was provided by allocated mortar and gun platoons. Folgore at El Alamein: By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D. Rommel, defying Hitler’s explicit command to stand his ground, ordered all Axis forces to fall back on the night of 2-3 November 1942. Egitto, 23 ottobre - 5 novembre 1942. Operation Lightfoot launched on 24 October 1942, was designed to break through The weak Italian-held southern sector of the Alamein line where the Bologna, Brescia, Pavia and FolgoreDivisions anchored the right flank. Italian paratroopers. God of the Armies, “DOBBIAMO INCHINARCI DAVANTI AI RESTI DI QUELLI CHE FURONO I LEONI DELLA FOLGORE“. The 186th Regiment held the southern sector, flanked on the right by the Italian Pavia Division. The focus then shifts upon the Folgore's major engagement of the campaign during the Battle of El Alamein: 'Operation Lightfoot', which was launched by General Montgomery on 24 October 1942. The vast material, fuel, and air advantage he held were about to be brought to bear against Rommel’s entrenched defenders. AckuBruce8504. essi additano agli italiani, nella buona e nell’avversa fortuna, Egypt Historic Sites; WW2 Sites; Related Places . 1 National (i.e. 185th Signal Engineers Company 21st Parachutists Rifle Company, 185th Parachutists Artillery Regiment, with: Queen's Infantry Brigade, 44. Wikipedia Articles More of this material would be welcome. Inflicting approximately 400 casualties upon the British forces, the Folgore suffered less than 50 casualties while repulsing the attack. While scouting, he mistakenly drove his vehicle into the midst of a group of Folgore soldiers. 185th Paratroopers Division Folgore or 185ª Divisione Paracadutisti Folgore was a Parachute Division of the Italian Army (in Italian Regio Esercito) during World War II. On Amazon: Rommel’s Desert War: Waging World War II in North Africa, 1941-1943 (Cambridge Military Histories) Montgomery chose not to follow this defensive victory by immediately pursuing the reeling Axis, a decision that received a lot of criticism. In the northern section of the Axis line, Allied troops began to break through and exploit their earlier gains as the Allied offensive unfolded. It is an everlasting tribute to perhaps Italy’s finest soldiers of the Second World War. The surviving troops had collectively expended almost every piece of ammunition they had possessed to hold the British at bay. General Frattini replied with a simple “Thank you” for what more could be said. 185th Mixed Miners-Construction Engineers Company, 8th “Guastatori” Parachutist Battalion, with : During the battle of Alam El Hafla, the Italian Airborne Division Folgore (185.a Divisione Paracadutisti “Folgore”) had been positioned to guard the left flank of the German 90th Light Division and the Ramcke Brigade and was successful in driving off an attack by New Zealand Infantry during a fierce encounter between the 3rd and 4th of September. Special thanks to Arturo Filippo Lorioli for providing both historical information and content, not to mention the finely constructed OOB. 6th Parachutists Artillery Battery (47/32 mod.35). In the summer of 1942, during the Second World War, a group of young paratroopers from the Folgore Division, after having been subjected to a long and tiring training in Italy, was transported by air to the Libyan desert to cover the Italian-German front. they did show to the Italians, in the good and bad luck, Istituto Luce - Cinegiornali di guerra 17 - La Battaglia Di El Alamein E Stalingrado (Sett-Ott1942) Sergio Porcarelli. Italian paratroopers. The division trained alongside its German counterparts in preperation for the airborne assualt on Malta, which was to be never carried out. In fact, the path leads uphill to a tower . When Rommel regained the upper hand in the Desert War early in 42, accomplished at a high cost in both material and fuel, he pushed for Hitler to ‘postpone’ Operation C3 to concentrate all available Mediterranean resources for a renewed push into Egypt. Shortly after this engagement, a Folgore patrol captured Brigadier General G.H. The goal of operation Brandung was for the forces of the Italian-German Panzerarmee Afrika to outflank and then engage the British 8th Army, now under the commanded of General Bernard Montgomery. School Command (the Commander was a senior officer of the Air force, the Deputy Commander a senior officer of the Army); 1st Paratroopers Infantry Regiment (raised 1 April 1941), 2nd Paratroopers Infantry Regiment (raised 1 September 1941), VIII Paratroopers Battalion (re-roled as Paratroopers Sapper unit in May 1942), Division Headquarters and Headquarters Company, II Paratroopers Battalion (from 185th Infantry Regiment "Nembo"), IV Paratroopers Battalion (from 185th Infantry Regiment "Nembo"), I Paratroopers Artillery Group (3x batteries with, III Paratroopers Artillery Group (3x batteries with 47/32 cannons), 7th Paratroopers Artillery Battery (47/32 cannons), 20th Mortar Company (81mm Model 35 mortars and M28 Mortars), 185th Mining and Explosives Engineers Company, Corporal Major Antonio ANDRIOLO, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, October 23 – November 4, 1942, First Lieutenant Roberto BANDINI, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, October 23–25, 1942, First Lieutenant Ferruccio BRANDI, 187th Paratroopers Regiment, October 24, 1942, Second Lieutenant Pietro BRUNO 132d Transport Regiment, Private Giuseppe CAPPELLETTO, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, October 23–25, 1942, Private Giacomo CESARONI, 187th Paratroopers Regiment, October 29, 1942, Private Leandro FRANCHI, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, November 1942, Second Lieutenant Giovanni GAMBAUDO, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, October 23–24, 1942, First Lieutenant Marco GOLA, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, October 23–24, 1942, Private Gerardo LUSTRISSIMI, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, October 23–25, 1942, Sergeant Major Dario PIRLONE, 185th Artillery Regiment, October 24, 1942, Sergeant Nicola PISTILLO, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, October 23–25, 1942, Corporal Major Dario PONZECCHI, 185th Paratroopers Regiment, October 26, 1942, Captain Costantino RUSPOLI, Prince of Poggio Suasa, 187th Paratroopers Regiment, October 26–27, 1942, Captain Gastone SIMONI, 187th Paratroopers Regiment, October 23–27, 1942, Sergeant Major Mario GIARETTO, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, August 8, 1942, Second Lieutenant Omero LUCCHI, Folgore Division Artillery, August 31 – September 4, 1942, Sapper Clinio MISSERVILLE, 185th Assault Sapper Company, September 10, 1942, Major Aurelio ROSSI, 187th Paratroopers Regiment, August 20 – September 3, 1942, Captain Fabio RUGIADI, 187th Paratroopers Regiment, August 30, 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Carlo Marescotti RUSPOLI, Prince of Poggio Suasa, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, First Lieutenant Giovanni STARACE, Folgore Division, July - November, 1942, Second Lieutenant Giovanni STASSI, 186th Paratroopers Regiment, August 25 – September 2, 1942, This page was last edited on 2 January 2021, at 08:09. These often suicidal charges proved highly effective at both destroying British armor and at unnerving the Allied soldiers who witnessed the assaults or heard rumor of the destruction and mayhem the Folgore inflicted. The fighting raged into the early morning of 24 October 1942 as each side fought hard in this ferocious encounter. Folgore 04/10/1942 EL ALAMEIN - ELENCO DEI CADUTI ITALIANI TUMULATI NEL SACRARIO (Dal libro "ALAMEIN 1933 - 1962" di Paolo Caccia Dominioni) ANDOLINA Paolo Geniere 14° Comp. The Folgore utilized just about anything explosive they possessed, from grenades to improvised Molotov cocktails. The main focus for the Allied assault on the southern part of the Axis line during the Lightfoot operation sought the supposedly “weak” Italian-held areas. The 7th Armoured Division had been ordered to spare their tanks, so their attacks were called off after the bloody fighting during the night of October 24: 31 Allied tanks were destroyed or damaged during that night alone. Learn More . Infantry … The Italian artillery battalions were named “Gruppo” (Group). At El-Alamein, throughout several engagements, the paratroopers were either able to resist the attacks made upon them or, when the Allied forces had been successful in completely wiping out the first line of Folgore outposts, to reform again, usually counterattacking. Comando Supremo is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. They often answered the request with gunfire directed at the British or solely with shouts of “Folgore.”. Th tower is with marble walls almost as white as the surrounding sand. 25th Parachutists Rifle Company Several times during the retreat, British officers called out through loudspeakers across the endless sand, asking for the Italians to surrender. Italian War Memorial El Alamein is like the Commonwealth Cemetery. 6th Parachutists Rifle Company, 4th Parachutist Infantry Battalion, with: By late October of ’42, the Folgore now found itself dug along a stretch of the southern portion of the Axis line. History. In a preview of what would come to pass at Second El Alamein, the soldiers of the 185th Folgore Division, particularly members of the 9th Btn, delivered an impressive defensive victory, mauling the British in this encounter. HQ Company Email This BlogThis! The Desert Fox was defeated. The British military leadership reluctantly conceded that although they held a numerical superiority in almost every category over their adversary, they could not defeat the Folgore in this sector with the forces they had so far employed. Seconda Guerra Mondiale Baby Bjorn Aereo Mondo Mitragliatrici Ricordi. 20th Parachutists Rifle Company Deployment of Forces on October 23rd, 1942 during the Second Battle of El Alamein. By 6 November, only a handful of the original 5,000 Folgore remained. Intervista al sottotenente Renato Migliavacca, 185° Reggimento Artiglieria Folgore. They were now nearly surrounded by British armor and ground forces. 12th Parachutists Rifle Company, 9th Parachutist Infantry Battalion, with: Instead, he decided to build up his forces for the next encounter to come; a confrontation he was determined to fight on his timetable and under his terms. At the beginning of September the division deployed in the southern sector of the El Alamein line as part of the X Corps (together with the 17th Infantry division “Pavia”) and reorganized as follows : “Ruspoli” Tactical Group (7th and 8th Battalions)
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