8th Paratroopers Engineer Regiment "Folgore"

The 8th Paratroopers Engineer Regiment "Folgore" (Italian: 8° Reggimento Genio Guastatori Paracadutisti "Folgore") is the Italian Army's airborne combat engineer unit. The regiment provides close combat support to the Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore". The unit is fully professional, able to deploy with on short notice and capable to fight in every environment. In peacetime it is available to support the civil protection, be it for disposing explosive remnants of war or in case of natural disasters.

8th Paratroopers Engineer Regiment "Folgore"
8° Reggimento Genio Guastatori Paracadutisti "Folgore"
Regimental coat of arms
Active20 Oct. 1926 - 8 Sep. 1943
11 Sep. 1992 - 30 Nov. 1995
13 Oct. 2004 - Present
Country Italy
AllegianceItalian Republic
Branch Italian Army
TypeRegiment
RoleParatrooper, Combat engineer
Part of Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore"
Garrison/HQGarrison "D. Briscese" in Legnago
PatronSaint Michael
Motto(s)Avanti è la vita (Forward is the life)
MarchAllarmi arditi dell'aria
Anniversaries23 October 1942 - Second Battle of El Alamein
EngagementsWorld War II

Military operations other than war

Decorations
1x Bronze Medal of Military Valour
1x Silver Medal of Army Valour
1x Bronze Medal of Army Valour
Insignia
Maroon Beret (Basco Amaranto)
Airborne sappers gorget patches
combat Service Identification Badge=
Italian wings=

History

The combat engineer speciality was first born in Germany with the name of pionier. After the astonishing results obtained by those special engineers in the Ardenne region during the Battle of France (1940), Italy decided to create its own pionier units which were named guastatori. Starting from 1940, the strongest and bravest combat engineers were sent to the army's Assault Engineer School in Civitavecchia to attend the guastatori course. They were trained to approach enemy strong points and fortifications, place explosive charges to get the most effective results (slots, doors, air ducts), waiting for the explosion a few meters close to the charge and then, supported by assault weapons (such as machine guns, light mortars, flamethrower and offensive hand granades), break into the just opened breach. Pre-conditions for the success were: surprise, temerity, bravery, planning, synchronization and memento.[1]

The Combat Engineers were organized in companies which were subsequently collected in battalions. The basic combat element was the platoon made up of two destruction teams (equipped with M28 rifles, hand grenades, Beretta Model 38, smoke sticks and bangalore torpedoes to open corridors and special charges to destroy fortifications) and two support teams (equipped with heavy machine guns and light M28 mortars). This platoon was considered able to successfully strike a fortification with three or four active positions.[1]

For parachute and alpine divisions were created and trained special assault engineer companies and battalions.[1]

8th Engineers Regiment

The origins of the Regiment go back to the 8th Engineers Regiment (8° Reggimento Genio) of the Royal Army (Regio Esercito) which was constituted in Rome on 20 October 1926 for the renaming of the 7th Engineer Regiment (7° Reggimento Genio). The engineer battalions belonging to the 8th Engineer Regiment were deployed to Italian East Africa and fought in all of the Italian fronts during the World War II. The regiment was disbanded on 8 September 1943, the date on which the Armistice of Cassibile was made public.[2]

Then the regiment was reconstituted on 11 September 1992 in Villa Vicentina, Province of Udine, from the transformation of the 184th Combat Engineer Battalion "Santerno". It participated in the Italian "Pelican Operation" aimed at stabilising Albania but afterwards was again disbanded on 30 November 1995 due to a reorganisation which involved the Italian Army.[2]

8th Paratroopers Engineers Battalion
Sergeant Major - VIII Battaglione Guastatori Paracadutisti - El Alamein

The 8th Paratroopers Engineers Battalion (motto: Rompo, Dirompo, Irrompo), operational and deployable part of the regiment, was born in Tarquinia (Province of Viterbo) in the first months of 1940 as an infantry unit made up of three rifle companies, 22nd, 23rd and 24th, plus headquarters company. Once the parachute training was completed, the battalion was initially assigned to the 3rd Parachute Regiment (3º Reggimento Paracadutisti). In May 1942 it moved to Civitavecchia (Province of Rome) where parachutists attended the Assault Engineer Course (corso guastatori). The course was usually attended by engineers only but, due to the urgent requirement of the Italian Army to have the parachute division available to launch an air assault operation on Malta and the concomitant unavailability of engineers, it was decided to train infantrymen. Afterwards, the just qualified Guastatori of the 8th Parachute Battalion were sent to Bagnoli (Province of Naples) where they attended the course held by the German Engineers.

The 1st Paratroopers Division (1ª Divisione Paracadutisti) was born on 1 September 1941. It was constituted, in addition to the divisional support entities, of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Parachute Regiments (1º, 2º and 3º Reggimento Paracadutisti), the Parachute Artillery Regiment (Reggimento di Artiglieria Paracadutisti) and the 8th Paratroopers Engineers Battalion (8° Battaglione Guastatori Paracadutisti). In June 1942 the division was named "Folgore" and was deployed to Northern Africa to sustain the Axis war effort. The battalion (minus the 23rd Company which stayed in Italy with other units of the "Folgore" to train the constituting 2nd Parachute Division, "Nembo", fought on the Northern African front until the Battle of El Alamein commanded by its first commander, Major Giulio Burzi, a hero of World War I awarded with the Italian Silver Medal of Military Valor. The unit, invicta as the rest of "Folgore", remaining of a few dozen parachutists, withdrew in order as vanguard to protect the rest of the survived soldiers. But the story could not finish with that.

8th Parachute Advanced Combat Reconnaissance Team during an exercise

The very few parachutists who survived the Northern African Campaign who succeeded to move back to their homeland, belonging to the 8th and not captured by the enemies, the 23rd and the re-constituted 22nd and 24th, gave a new life to the battalion which was also called 8th the Second (8° Bis) and was assigned to the 185th Parachute Regiment - former 1st (185° Reggimento Paracadutisti - ex 1°), "Nembo", constituted in Pisa on 1 November 1942.[3]

But this time the parachutists did not attend the Combat Engineer Course (corso guastatori) but stayed fusiliers. In fact the engineer support to the 184th Airborne Division "Nembo" was granted by the CLXXXIV Parachute Assault Engineer Battalion which will gain honor and fame in combat after the Armistice of Cassibile fighting with the Allies in the Italian Italian liberation corps, and particularly during the battle of Filottrano Province of Ancona (July 1944).

In 1943, while the main body of the 184th Airborne Division "Nembo", CLXXXIV Paratroopers Engineers Battalion included, was ordered to deploy to Sardinia to fight as defensive force,[4] the 185th Parachute Regiment and the 8th (bis) Parachute Battalion with it, played detached by its Division a different role. In July 1943, the 185th was first deployed to Apulia to protect local airports, then moved to Calabria and finally to Sicily, to fight the allied invasion and the advance to Messina.

After tough clashes fought in vicinity of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Castroreale and on the foot of Peloritani, which were the last positions of the defensive line Messina, the Regiment was forced to withdraw by the Allies in direction of Messina first and to ferry to the continent later. The fight continued in Calabria in the country and on Aspromonte but for the 8th (bis) it incredibly finished at the dawn of 8 September. That morning, on Zillastro plan, just a few hours before the declaration of the armistice, the battalion, trying to break the possible encirclement, struck the more numerous enemies, the Canadian "Nova Scotia" and "Edmonton"; at the end of the battle, after very hard melee, the parachutists were defeated and the 8º Battalion got out of the roster of the Regio Esercito.[5]

On 1 June 2001 the 8th Paratroopers Engineers Battalion was officially reconstituted in Legnago province of Verona, once again under the adored "Folgore" as it was in origin. This time the battalion was made up of 4 combat engineer companies (instead of 3), plus the logistic support company. Then it was decided to reconstitute the three companies with their historical names 22nd, 23rd e 24th. In addition, for the 4th, it was decided to name it 21st, in honor of the company already belonged to the 7th Paratroopers Battalion, which fought close and with the 8th within the Ruspoli Group during the Battle of El Alamein.

Current structure
8th Engineer Regiment troops building a Medium Girder Bridge

As of 2019 the 8th Paratroopers Engineer Regiment "Folgore" consists of:

  • Regimental Command, in Legnano
    • Command and Logistic Support Squadron "Leoni" ("Lions")
    • Paratroopers Sapper Battalion
      • 21st Paratroopers Sapper Company "Giaguari" ("Jaguars")
      • 22nd Paratroopers Sapper Company "Angeli Neri" ("Black Angels")
      • 23rd Deployment Support Company "Cinghiali" ("Boars")
      • 24th Mobility Support Company "Tigri" ("Tigers")

The Command and Logistic Support Company fields the following platoons: C3 Platoon, Transport and Materiel Platoon, Medical Platoon, Commissariat Platoon, and EOD Platoon. Each of the two sapper companies fields a Command Platoon, an Advanced Combat Reconnaissance Teams Platoon, and two sapper platoons. The Deployment Support Company and Mobility Support Company field the battalion's heavy military engineering vehicles: Biber bridgelayers, Dachs armored engineer vehicles, cranes, excavators, Medium Girder Bridges etc. The sapper companies and Command and Logistic Support Company are equipped with VTLM "Lince" and VTMM "Orso" vehicles.

Commanders

The commanders:[6]

RankNameStartFinish
Ten.Col.M.A.V.M. Giulio Burzi19411942
Cap.Gianfranco Conati19421943
Ten.Col.Scala Massimo20002001
Ten.Col.Fanni Maurizio20012002
Ten.Col.Stella Vittorio Antonio20022003
Ten.Col.Vecchio Vincenzo20032004
Ten.Col.Tummina Salvatore20042006
Ten.Col.Scaratti Pierluigi20062007
Ten.Col.Varesano Pasquale20072008
Ten.Col.Romano Salvatore20082009
Ten.Col.D'Ortenzi Domenico20092010
Ten.Col.Fucci Fabio20102012
Ten.Col.D'Agostino Antonio20122013
Ten.Col.Fazio Claudio20132014
Ten.Col.Vergari Roberto2014

8th Paratroopers Engineers Regiment

It was finally reconstituted in Legnago Province of Verona on 13 October 2004 as the 8th Paratroopers Engineers Regiment, stationed in the "D. Briscese" Barracks. It absorbed the 8th Paratroopers Engineers Battalion.

The commanders (from 2004):[6]

RankNameStartFinish
Col.Scala Massimo20042006
Col.Carancini Giangaetano20062008
Col.Stella Vittorio Antonio20082010
Col.Varesano Pasquale20102011
Col.Tumminia Salvatore20112013
Col.D'Ortenzi Domenico20132016
Col.Di Pasquale Carlo20162018
Col.D'Agostino Antonio2018

Tasks

The main Regiment's task is to provide close combat support to the Folgore Parachute Brigade granting the freedom of deployment and movement within the whole of the assigned objective area/area of responsibility and providing counter-mobility to the opposing forces as required. For this reason the guastatori paracadutisti must be expert scouts, masters in handling and using explosives, engineers able to create and/or remove obstacles as required, high trained troops in assaulting well-organised enemy defensive positions and also able to launch tactical bridge. As for the other parachute units belonging to the Folgore, the preferential area of employment is the airborne operation.

In addition to the previous main military tasks, the 8th Regiment is also asked to support Italian population. The EOD teams dispose explosive remnants of war and other explosive devices, also in support of police forces, on daily basis. Parachute assault engineers also support civilians in cases of natural disaster.

Operations

Wars and battles

Crisis Response Operations
Team EOD

Peace time in country operation

Disaster relief

Recent Heroes

References
  1. "Assalto".
  2. "8° Reggimento Genio Guastatori Paracadutisti "Folgore" - La storia". Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  3. "Associazione "Nembo" - La costituzione della 184ª Divisione paracadutisti "Nembo"".
  4. "Associazione "Nembo" - La 184ª Divisione paracadutisti "Nembo" in Sardegna".
  5. "Associazione "Nembo" - Il 185º Reggimento paracadutisti".
  6. "The commanders".
  7. "Domino operation". Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.

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