185e division parachutiste Folgore

185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" (185a Divisione Paracadutisti "Folgore") was an airborne division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division was formed in Tarquinia near Rome on 1 September 1941. In July 1942 the division was sent to Libya to fight in the Western Desert Campaign and was destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein in early November 1942. Ascari del Cielo On 20 March 1938 the first Italian Parachuting School was activated by the Royal Italian Air Force in Italian Libya at Castel Benito air base. At the outbreak of World War II the school had raised two Libyan and one Italian paratroopers battalion. In July 1940 the school moved to al-Marj, where the school was overrun by British forces during Operation Compass. On 15 October 1939 the Royal Italian Air Force activated the Royal Air Force Paratroopers School in Tarquinia near Rome, which trained the units for the Folgore division. On 10 November 1942 the Royal Air Force Paratroopers School in Viterbo was formed, which trained units for the 184th Paratroopers Division "Nembo" and the planned 183rd Paratroopers Division "Ciclone". On 1 July 1940 the school in Tarquinia raised the I Paratroopers Battalion and on 15 July the Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion. For order of precedence reasons the Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion received the number I from the I Paratroopers Battalion, which was renumbered as II Paratroopers Battalion. On 1 April 1941 the I Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion, the II, III, and IV paratrooper battalions, and the 1st Paratroopers Anti-tank Company entered the newly formed 1st Paratroopers Regiment. In July 1941 the I Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion was transferred to Libya, where it participated in the Western Desert Campaign. On 30 April 1941 the Italian paratroopers were deployed for the first time when a company of the II Paratroopers Battalion jumped onto Cephalonia during the Battle of Greece. On 1 September 1941 the 2nd Paratroopers Regiment and the Paratroopers Division were activated in Tarquinia.