FOLGORE...

Italian PARATROOPERS in the desert....enjoy

One of the most epic pages of military history, however, according to both British and German accounts, was written by the Folgore Division at El Alamein in North Africa. They had been trained and readied for the occupation of Malta planned for late Spring of 1942. Operation C3 (Italian code name) which was also supposed to see some of the first air-borne troops of this period in history, the (Aviotrasportabile) La Spezia Infantry Division, was cancelled however, when an overbearing Rommel jumped chain of command, asking Hitler to persuade Mussolini to give him carte blanche so that he could push on to the Nile and to glory.

Unfortunately, on November 3, 1942, the Folgore Div. was essentially destroyed as a large unit after yet another panicked Rommel withdrawal (once again achieved thanks to his disregard for logistics, and the strength of the Commonwealth forces). This caused the rout of the Italo-German Army, during which, Italian and German units who could not be autotransported (mostly the Italian divisions) fell prey, in a slow withdrawal march through the desert, to the pursuing Commonwealth units.

But before the final days, the Folgore Division was to cover itself in the "against all odds" glory reminiscent of Balaclava, Picket’s Charge, Vittorio Veneto and Omaha Beach:
Operation Lightfoot launched on October 24, 1942, was designed to break through the supposed "weak" Italian-held southern sector of the Alamein line where the Bologna, Brescia, Folgore and Pavia Divisions anchored the right flank. The British attack began with a devastating artillery barrage, followed by an all out assault by the 7th Armored and 44th Infantry divisions. However, all that was achieved by the Commonwealth at a high cost of life and equipment was a small lodgment, which was soon to be regained. In the following assaults between October 25 and November 4, 1942 units such as the 50th, 7th, 44th divisions, 1st and 2nd Free French and the Royal Hellenic Brigades, supported by artillery and armor, had not broken nor would they break through the southern sector. The Folgore used all the means at their disposal including the tactic of letting the enemy advance into a "cul-de-sac" and then counterattacking from all sides. They also used their 47mm AT guns from enfilade positions and Molotov cocktails to knock out even Matildas and Grants. In the initial British assault alone the Folgore had managed to destroy over 120 armored vehicles, inflicting over 600 casualties.

Ca y est, j'ai commencé ma compagnie Folgore et je sens que je ne vais pas le regretter!

Greg, merci pour ces infos, si tu en as d'autres, je suis preneur (couleur des uniformes, ...)

va voir ce site...

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/italian.htm

Je cherche des photos des paras italiens en action et les couleurs des uniformes en Afrique. Pour l'Italie, il n'y a pas de problème.

Un petit tour sur le forum Italie 1935-45 et tu trouveras en partie ton bonheur.
On peut d'ailleurs y admirer des prisonniers Folgores se faisant fouiller par des Britons.

Dans mon bonté , voici un autre lien: http://www.afrika-korps.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=916

Tu peux me redonner l'adresse du site Italie 1935-45.

Vas voir dans la section lien, gros fade!

Djall wrote:

Vas voir dans la section lien, gros fade!

Ca se payera

http://tkfiles.storage.msn.com/x1pnp_rgmi5o509CyQTJ6UyFIcG_QEzXw5ZmSmf5qE1SsyPUGc98LSz06mLhC3AqLDNNa1yFHIz4_cUq50iB-AsP0CkyOBCRr-o8moDGfG_x39Oy_A0zYwUr_q56gTbogmxAIBJswRaIaA

Juste pour toi, Oli!

Désolé pour le lien mais je n'arrive pas à afficher la photo sur ce forum.

Un grand merci ! Il serait temps qu'on se refasse une partie! On pourra même jouer ensemble à El Alamein.

J'ai actuellement :

- HQ
- 2 paracadutisti platoons
- 1 paracadutisti Machine-gun Platoon
- 2 paracadutisti Mortar Platoons
- 1 paracadutisti Anti-tank Platoon ( 1 A-T section)
- 1 Paracadutisti Demolisher Platoon
- 1 Heavy Anti-aircraft Platoon ( Lancia )

PETITE CHANSON DES PARAS

Cuori d'acciaio all'erta
il cielo è una pedana
tra poco nell'offerta
noi piomberemo giù
pugnali bombe a mano
viatico di morte
nell'ansia della sorte non sentiremo più...

L'occhio nemico scruta
son nuvole che vanno
ma poi che il vento muta li vedi già son qui
son gli angeli guerra
pugnale in mezzo ai denti
in uno contro venti
SI BATTONO COSI...

Tu pourrais me la traduire.

in English.... it will not sound as it is but.....

Hearts of Stesl watch out
the sky is a trampoline
soon we will dive
knife and grenades
the way of killing
we will feel no pain

enemy's eyes are watching
there are clouds in the sky
but wind blows and in a second they are here
war angels
knife in the mouth
one against 20
THEY FIGHT LIKE THIS


F O L G O R E