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In 1941 the staff at Castel Benito was transferred to Tarquinia near Rome where the main Italian Parachuting School was raised, which immediately began to form the first units for the 185th Infantry Division "Folgore".
The divisions
Original military uniform of a paratrooper of the division Folgore in 1942
In 1941 the 5,000-man strong 185th Infantry Division "Folgore" was raised for the planned assault on Malta in Operation Hercules. When the Malta invasion was cancelled the paratroopers were sent as regular infantry to Libya, despite being poorly equipped for this role. The division was engaged in ground combat operations in the Western Desert Campaign from July 1942 until its destruction in the Second Battle of El Alamein. After the battle the survivors were grouped into the CLXXXV Paratroopers Battalion.
During the Second battle of El Alamein the division was attacked by six British divisions (two armored and four infantry). Lacking effective anti-tank weapons, the Italian paratroopers stopped British tanks with their obsolete 47/32 guns and petrol bombs. The Folgore, having run out of water, withdrew from the El Alamein at 2:00 a.m. on 3 November 1942. At 2:35 p.m. on 6 November what was left of the division was surrounded by the British forces. The exhausted paratroopers destroyed their weapons and then surrendered.
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