On 1 December 1940 the Royal Italian Army Engineer School in Civitavecchia raised the 3rd Engineer Company "Folgore" ("Thunderbolt") and the 4th Engineer Company "Uragano" ("Hurricane"). At the same time the school also raised the companies which would go on to form the VIII, XXX, and XXXI sapper battalions. On 14 January 1941 the two companies were sent to Libya, where they formed a provisional battalion under the 1st Special Engineer Grouping. As part of Rommel's Afrika Korps the battalion participated in Rommel's first offensive Operation Sonnenblume. On 15 August 1941, congruent to the activation of Panzer Army Africa], the battalion was renamed XXXII Sappers Battalion and participated in all battles of the Western Desert Campaign until the battalion was disbanded on 1 August 1942 after having suffered heavy casualties during the First Battle of El Alamein. The 70 survivors of the battalion were transferred to the XXXI Sappers Battalion, which was attached to the 185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" for the Second Battle of El Alamein. After the defeat at El Alamein the XXXI Sappers Battalion retreated with the rest of the Italian-German forces to Tunisia, where it surrendered at the end of the Tunisian Campaign on 13 May 1943. For its service in North Africa the XXXII Sappers Battalion was awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valour.