page_title: 8th Paratroopers Engineer Regiment "Folgore"
section_title: 8th Paratroopers Engineers Battalion
hierarchical_section_title: 8th Paratroopers Engineer Regiment "Folgore" / History / 8th Paratroopers Engineers Battalion
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Sottufficiale VIII BTG GUA PAR - El Alamein
context_page_description: The 8th Paratroopers Engineer Regiment "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.
context_section_description: 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.
  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.
  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, 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 mor
caption: Sergeant Major - VIII Battaglione Guastatori Paracadutisti - El Alamein
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