Formation On 1 July 1940, the
Royal Italian Air Force's Paratroopers School in
Tarquinia formed the I Paratroopers Battalion for the
Royal Italian Army. In the following days, the Paratroopers School formed the II Paratroopers Battalion, and then the III Paratroopers Battalion, which consisted of personnel drawn from the
Carabinieri troops. After their formation the three battalions began with their parachute training. On 15 July 1940, the I Paratroopers Battalion ceded its number for reason of precedence to the III Paratroopers Battalion, which on the same day was redesignated
I Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion. On the same day the I Paratroopers Battalion was renumbered as II Paratroopers Battalion, while the II Paratroopers Battalion was renumbered as III Paratroopers Battalion. On 1 April 1941, the Royal Italian Army formed the 1st Paratroopers Regiment in
Viterbo. The new regiment consisted of a command, the I Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion, the II Paratroopers Battalion, the III Paratroopers Battalion, a support weapons company, and a depot. In June 1941, the I Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion left the regiment and moved to
Libya. As a replacement, the regiment received the newly formed IV Paratroopers Battalion. On 1 July 1941, the regiment replaced the Support Weapons Company with the 1st Cannons Company, which was equipped with
47/32 mod. 35 anti-tank guns. On 1 September 1941, the
2nd Paratroopers Regiment was formed in Viterbo with the V, VI, and VII paratroopers battalions. On the same day, the new regiment joined, together with the 1st Paratroopers Regiment, the newly formed
Paratroopers Division in
Tarquinia. The division was one of the Royal Italian Army units assigned to the planned
invasion of Malta and after its formation the division began with the training for the invasion. At the time the 1st Paratroopers regiment consisted of the following units: •
185th Infantry Regiment "Nembo" Invasion of Sicily In July, the 185th Infantry Regiment "Nembo", which at the time consisted of the III, VIII/bis, and XI paratroopers battalions, and III Paratroopers Artillery Group of the
184th Artillery Regiment "Nembo" were sent to
Apulia in southern Italy to guard Royal Italian Air Force airfields on the
Salento peninsula. On 10 July 1943,
Allied forces landed in Sicily and the regiment and artillery group were shipped to
Sicily to reinforce the Axis's line of defence in the island's northeastern corner. On 3 August 1943, the regiment took up its positions on the northern slopes of the
Peloritani mountains between
Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and
Castroreale. However, the American
Seventh Army's advance was unstoppable and the regiment was forced to fall back to
Messina. Allied airpower forced the regiment to abandon all its vehicles and materiel and retreat by foot over the mountains. After reaching Messian the regiment was evacuated on 16 August 1943 to
Reggio Calabria.
Armistice of Cassibile In the evening of 8 September 1943, the same day the VIII/bis Paratroopers Battalion was annihilated, the
Armistice of Cassibile, which ended hostilities between the
Kingdom of Italy and the
Anglo-American Allies, was announced by General
Dwight D. Eisenhower on Radio Algiers and by Marshal
Pietro Badoglio on
Italian radio. The news of the armistice reached the remnants of the 185th Infantry Regiment "Nembo" during the evening of 8 September 1943. At the time the regimental command and XI Paratroopers Battalion were in
Cardinale, while the III Paratroopers Battalion was further East in
Soveria Mannelli. Without clear orders or news from Rome, the regiment split: the units in Cardinale decided to remain there and wait for the arrival of allied forces, while the III Paratroopers Battalion decided to continue retreating with the German
29th Panzergrenadier Division. On 10 September 1943, the news that King
Victor Emmanuel III, the royal family, and the
Badoglio government had fled Rome and taken refuge with British forces in
Brindisi reached III Paratroopers Battalion. Once the news spread among the battalion's troops the 9th Company and some personnel of the 7th Company decided to join the allied side and abandoned the retreating German column. The battalion was equipped with Italian materiel and consisted of a command, a command platoon, the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd paratroopers companies, the 34th Mortar Company, which was equipped with
81mm Mod. 35 mortars, and the 35th Cannons Company, which was equipped with
47/32 mod. 35 anti-tank guns. The battalion was assigned to the brigade-sized
I Motorized Grouping, which was attached to the American
Fifth Army and fought in the
Battle of Monte Cassino. By March 1944, the I Motorized Grouping had grown to a division-sized unit and was therefore split on 22 March 1944 in two brigades and renamed
Italian Liberation Corps. The CLXXXV Paratroopers Battalion "Nembo" was assigned to the corps' I Brigade. On 15 January 1944, the company assumed the name of 1st Reconnaissance Squadron "Folgore" (Squadron "F") and continued to operate behind German lines until the middle of March 1944, when it was transferred to
Sesto Campano in Apulia for a training cycle with the British
Special Air Service that ended in early May. The battalion was assigned to the
Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" as the brigade's recruits training battalion and consisted of a command, a command and services platoon, and the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th paratroopers recruit companies. In 2017, the regiment became a
special forces unit. On 3 November 2018, the regiment was awarded a
Military Order of Italy for its conduct and service during international missions. The order was affixed to the regiment's flag on 4 May 2019, the 158th anniversary of the Italian Army's founding, and added to the regiment's coat of arms. == Organization ==