Brigata paracadutisti “Folgore”

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Coat of arms of the Folgore Brigade

The Brigata paracadutisti “Folgore” ( German  Paratrooper Brigade “Folgore” ) is a large unit of the Italian Army . The brigade is headquartered in Livorno , Tuscany .

assignment

The paratrooper brigade "Folgore" is subordinate to the division command "Vittorio Veneto" in Florence . It is used for peace missions and combat missions abroad within the framework of the EU , NATO or the UN . In the context of national and alliance defense, it serves as a mobile reserve. If necessary, it also takes on support and security tasks on behalf of civil authorities .

structure

Coat of arms of the 186th Paratrooper Regiment
Coat of arms of the 187th Paratrooper Regiment

The brigade is currently subordinate to the following regiments (in battalion strength ):

Until 2002, the "Folgore" also belonged to the 1st Carabinieri parachute regiment "Tuscania" (Livorno), until 2013 the two special forces units, 9th Paratrooper Assault Regiment "Col Moschin" (Livorno) and 185th Fernspähre regiment "Folgore" (Livorno). The latter two regiments went to the new special forces command of the army in Pisa. In return, the brigade received the "Savoia Cavalleria" cavalry regiment. In the new structure with three light battalions, one heavy battalion and the other support units, the paratrooper brigade corresponds to the two mountain troop brigades " Taurinense " and " Julia ". They form the light component of the army.

The brigade is supported by the 46th Air Transport Brigade of the Italian Air Force (Pisa) and the 1st Army Aviation Regiment of the Italian Army ( Viterbo ).

equipment

The regiments of the brigade are equipped with multi-purpose vehicles of the type VTLM Lince , the cavalry regiment also with wheeled armored vehicles of the type Centauro . In 2013, the brigade received an "artillery component" again with heavy 120 mm mortars . Otherwise the brigade has the usual anti-tank weapons (including MILAN and Panzerfaust 3 ).

history

Origins

The story of the Italian paratroopers begins in the First World War . From August to October 1918, some reconnaissance planes were parachuted behind the enemy lines at night, which then transmitted their reports to their own command posts using carrier pigeons . In the 1920s one experimented with parachutes , particularly at the Guidonia military airfield near Rome. The "Salvator parachute" developed here was procured from 1927 in various versions by the Italian armed forces. The planned establishment of a paratrooper force came to a halt.

Italo Balbo , Italian Minister of Aviation until 1934 and then Governor General of Italian Libya , saw paratroopers as a suitable means of better securing the colonial territory in North Africa. Since it was not possible to agree on a formation of paratrooper associations in Rome, among other things because both the army and the air force made exclusive claims on the planned troops, Balbo decided in March 1938 to found a paratrooper school on the military airfield Castelfito near Tripoli . At the same time he set up the first paratrooper battalion of the colonial troops , which was followed by another in May 1938, and then a third, national battalion in early 1940. The new force was officially recognized by the military leadership in Rome on January 15, 1939.

Due to the development in Libya, the planning in Italy got underway again. On August 28, 1939, it was decided to set up a national paratrooper school for the Air Force and Army in Tarquinia near Rome, which was established there from October 15, 1939 and started training in March 1940. Another school was built in February 1943 on the Viterbo military airfield , which had to be closed in the same year together with the one in Tarquinia due to the war.

The national paratrooper battalions formed from 1940 onwards had a continuous numbering, regardless of the higher-level associations. Battalions 1, 2 and 3 were formed in Tarquinia in July 1940. Two companies of the 2nd Battalion jumped over the Greek island of Kefalonia on April 30, 1941 without encountering any resistance. The 1st Battalion, which was formed by the Carabinieri , distinguished itself in December 1941 in North Africa at Eluet el Asel. The 4th Battalion was established in the spring of 1941 and, together with the 2nd and 3rd Battalion, formed the 1st Parachute Regiment. Shortly thereafter, the 2nd regiment with battalions 5, 6 and 7 and the 3rd regiment with battalions 9, 10 and 11 followed. The 8th battalion became an airborne engineer association. The heavy companies of the three regiments were formed into three battalions (divisions) of airborne artillery, which were then combined into one regiment.

Folgore division

On September 1, 1941, the 1st (it) Paratrooper Division was set up. It consisted of the Parachute Regiments 1, 2 and 3, the Parachute Artillery Regiment, the Parachute Engineer Battalion 8 and various smaller support units. The division received the nickname “Folgore”, which was derived from the regimental motto (1.) Ex alto fulgor , in June 1942.

In Apulia , the division was intensively prepared for the planned invasion of Malta and also for a possible deployment in Corsica . After these plans were abandoned, the division was relocated to North Africa under the new name 185th Infantry Division "Folgore". The paratrooper regiments were given the numbers 185, 186 and 187, the artillery regiment number 185. The 185 paratrooper regiment remained in Italy, where it formed the basis for the construction of the new 184th paratrooper division "Nembo".

In this line-up, the paratrooper division "Folgore" took part in the second battle of El Alamein in autumn 1942 . Under the command of Major General Enrico Frattini, the division resisted the attack of the XIII in the southern section of the front. British Corps and the 7th Panzer Division and brought heavy losses especially to the 44th British Division. A large number of the 6,000 or so soldiers of the "Folgore" fell in the often fanatical battles, a few hundred men went into British captivity due to lack of means of transport, the rest joined other Italian associations and fought with them in the Tunisian campaign , especially at Enfidaville .

After Italy had concluded the armistice of Cassibile with the Allies in September 1943 and was then largely occupied by the German Wehrmacht , the Badoglio government in southern Italy set up a “Folgore” combat group in division strength based on the 184th paratrooper division “Nembo”, which took part in the Allied campaign in Italy and distinguished itself at Filottrano , Borgo Tossignano , Case Grizzano and Poggio Rusco . The fascist Italian Social Republic created under the protection of Hitler by Mussolini in northern and central Italy also set up a “Folgore” association in Tradate and Spoleto , which belonged to the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana . Units of this association fought against the Allies and also against Italian partisans at Nettuno (battalion "Nembo"), near Rome and in the western Alps . This association surrendered to American troops in early May 1945 in the Aosta Valley .

Re-establishment

The "Folgore" and four other Italian divisions, which had fought on the side of the Allies until 1945, formed the basis for the reconstruction of the Italian army at the end of the 1940s. This "Folgore" division was disbanded in 1986 as a mechanized infantry division in northeast Italy, because the division level in Italy at that time was completely omitted (the brigades were then directly subordinate to the three corps or the military regions).

In 1952 a new paratrooper battalion was set up in Viterbo . On January 1, 1963, the new paratrooper brigade was created in Pisa, which on June 10, 1967 was named "Folgore". From 1975 the brigade was subordinate to the 1st Carabinieri paratrooper battalion "Tuscania", the 2nd paratrooper battalion "Tarquinia", the 3rd paratrooper battalion "Poggio Rusco", the 5th paratrooper battalion "El Alamein", the 9th paratrooper assault battalion "Col Moschin" ", The 185th Airborne Artillery Battalion" Viterbo ", the Airborne Logistics Battalion" Folgore "and smaller support units. In 1983 the air landing school was also subordinated to the brigade. From 1986 to 1997 the brigade, together with the “Friuli” infantry brigade and other units, formed the “Rapid Reaction Force” ( Forza d'Intervento Rapido - FIR ) of the Italian Army. From 1991 the battalions again took on their corresponding old regimental designations.

The most tragic accident in the history of the paratrooper brigade occurred on November 9, 1971 during the Cold Stream exercise , during which several transport aircraft of the British Royal Air Force flew paratroopers of the "Folgore" from Pisa Airport to their landing zone near Villacidro in Sardinia . Shortly after taking off from Pisa, a Lockheed C-130 ( Chalk 4 , XV216) of the RAF crashed into the sea, killing 46 Italian paratroopers in addition to the six British crew members on board.

After the cold war

Over time, the brigade has repeatedly made headlines for right-wing incidents and harassment of recruits. Paratroopers of the "Folgore" allegedly tortured civilians in Somalia in 1992 , whereupon some circles in Italy demanded the dissolution of the brigade and the distribution of its regiments to other brigades. Since these plans failed, the brigade was weakened by manipulations in the recruitment and withdrawal of aircraft. It was also proposed to merge the “Folgore” with the airmobile brigade “Friuli” ( Bologna ), but these plans have not yet been implemented. In the meantime, the “Folgore” has returned to its usual level of performance as part of the professionalisation of the army (suspension of conscription and employment of women).

Units and associations of the "Folgore" have taken part in numerous missions abroad in the last few decades, including in the former Yugoslavia , Iraq and particularly in Afghanistan .

reception

The fate of the paratrooper division "Folgore" was thematized in the film King Tiger before El Alamein (Original: La battaglia di El Alamein , 1968): A group of Italian soldiers belonging to the "Folgore" fights the attacking British at El Alamein for the to cover German withdrawal. The few survivors eventually surrender and are captured by the British.

photos

  • Division “Folgore” in 1942 near El Alamein

  • Paratroopers of the "Folgore"

  • Brigade air cargo personnel in Afghanistan

  • During a parade in 2007

  • Soldiers of the 183rd Nembo Regiment

  • 185th Airborne Artillery Regiment

  • Airborne pioneers defusing

  • Italian paratrooper beret

  • Collar tab and emblem (beret)

  • Italian knight badge

See also

Web links