Main article: Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" įor their conduct and sacrifices during the Western Desert Campaign and at El Alamein the three regiments of the 185th Infantry Division "Folgore" were awarded Italy's highest military honor, the Gold Medal of Military Valour. The few survivors who managed to escape were organized into the CCLXXXV Paratroopers Battalion "Folgore", which fought in the Tunisian Campaign on the Mareth Line and was destroyed during the Battle of Takrouna on 20-21 April 1943. On 25 November 1942 the division was declared lost due to wartime events. On 6 November the remnants of the division were overtaken and surrounded by motorized British forces and forced to surrendered. During the retreat the division formed the Axis' rearguard. The division began its retreat during the night of 2 to 3 November 1942, leaving behind 1,100 dead. When the Folgore received the order to abandon its positions and retreat westwards on 2 November 1942 none of the division's positions had been lost to the British. The attack was repulsed by 3am of 26 October. On 23 October 1942 the Second Battle of El Alamein began and on 25 October the British launched an all out attack by three British divisions and a Free French Brigade against the Folgore's positions. Due to the losses suffered by the IX and X paratrooper battalions during Operation Braganza the X Paratroopers Battalion was disbanded and its personnel assigned to the IX Paratroopers Battalion. On 29 September 1942 the British launched Operation Braganza against the paratroopers of the Folgore, who despite numerical inferiority managed to repulse the British attack. From 30 August to 5 September 1942 the division participated in the unsuccessful Axis attempt to outflank the British Eighth Army at El Alamein in the Battle of Alam el Halfa. 187th Cannons Company (with 47/32 anti-tank guns)Īfter arriving in North Africa the division was sent to the extreme South of the Axis line at El Alamein between Deir el Munassib and Qaret el Himeimat, where the Qattara Depression began.The regiment consisted now of the following units: Before departing for North Africa the regiment ceded the not yet fully trained XI Paratroopers Battalion to the 185th Infantry Regiment "Folgore", and received from that regiment the II and IV paratrooper battalions in return. On the same date the 3rd Paratroopers Regiment was renamed 187th Infantry Regiment "Folgore". As the division would be deployed as infantry it was renamed on 27 July 1942 185th Infantry Division "Folgore". In July 1942 the invasion of Malta was postponed indefinitely and after the First Battle of El Alamein the General Staff of the Royal Italian Army decided to sent the Paratroopers Division to Libya as reinforcements for the depleted German-Italian Panzer Army Africa. Main article: 185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" As replacement the regiment received the XI Paratroopers Battalion, which was being formed at the Royal Italian Air Force's Paratroopers School in Tarquinia. In May 1942 the VIII Paratroopers Battalion left the regiment to become the VIII Paratroopers Sappers Battalion. On 15 March 1942 the regiment was formed in Pisa with the VIII, IX, and X paratrooper battalions and the 3rd Cannons Company, which was equipped with 47/32 anti-tank guns. After the command had been formed the order to move to North Africa was canceled and the command was assigned on 1 January 1942 to the Paratroopers Division, which was planned to participate in the proposed invasion of Malta. On 4 October 1941 the General Staff of the Royal Italian Army issued an order form the command of the 3rd Paratroopers Regiment, which would then move to Libya and take command of the I Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion and the Libyan Paratroopers Battalion there. In 1975 the regiment was reformed as a battalion sized unit. For its conduct at El Alamein the regiment was awarded Italy's highest military honor the Gold Medal of Military Valour. There the division and regiment were destroyed in November 1942 during the Second Battle of El Alamein. When the invasion was canceled the division was sent in September 1942 as reinforcement for the German-Italian Panzer Army Africa to North Africa. The regiment was assigned to the Paratroopers Division, which was intended to parachute onto Malta during the planned invasion of Malta. The regiment was the third Italian paratroopers regiment to be formed. The regiment is part of the Italian Army's infantry arm's Paracadutisti speciality and assigned to the Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore". The 187th Paratroopers Regiment "Folgore" ( Italian: 187° Reggimento Paracadutisti "Folgore") is an active unit of the Italian Army based in Livorno in Tuscany.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |