World War II The division's history begins on 25 September 1944 with the formation of the Combat Group "Folgore" of the
Italian Co-Belligerent Army with soldiers from the disbanded
184th Infantry Division "Nembo". The name of the combat group was chosen to commemorate the
185th Infantry Division "Folgore", which fought to annihilation in the
Second Battle of El Alamein. The "Nembo" itself had been raised in 1942 with the Folgore's
185th Infantry Regiment "Folgore" as its core unit. The Combat Group "Folgore" consisted of the army's
Paratroopers Regiment "Nembo", the
navy's
Marine Regiment "San Marco", the
Paratroopers Artillery Regiment "Folgore" and the
CLXXXIV Mixed Engineer Battalion. Both regiments consisted of three infantry battalions, a mortar company armed with British
ML 3 inch mortars and an anti-tank company armed with British
QF 6 pounder guns. The artillery regiment consisted of four artillery groups with British
QF 25 pounder guns, one anti-tank group with British
QF 17 pounder guns, and one anti-air group armed with British versions of the
Bofors 40 mm gun. Dressed in British uniforms the combat group took part in the
Italian Campaign of
World War II as part of the British
XIII Corps. During the war the
fascist regime in Northern Italy fielded the 1st Paratroopers
Arditi Regiment "Folgore", which also fielded a "Nembo" and a "Folgore" battalion.
Cold War At the end of World War II the combat group was based in Florence. When the "San Marco" regiment returned to the navy on 5 September 1945 the combat group received the
Infantry Regiment "Garibaldi" as replacement. The "Garibaldi" regiment had been formed on 25 April 1945 in
Viterbo with repatriated veterans of the
Partisan Division "Garibaldi", which had fought alongside
Yugoslav Partisans on the
Yugoslav Front after the
Armistice of Cassibile between Italy and the Western Allies. The "Garibaldi" division had been formed when the
19th Infantry Division "Venezia" on garrison duty in
Montenegro refused to surrender or ally with the Germans. The "Venezia", together with men of the
1st Alpine Division "Taurinense", who had refused to surrender too (mainly troops from the
Alpini Battalion "Ivrea" and the
Mountain Artillery Group "Aosta"), saw heavy combat in Montenegro and out of its 16,000 men only 3,800 made it back to Italy. From these veterans the "Garibaldi" regiment was raised with the battalions "Aosta", "Venezia" and "Torino". On 15 October 1945 the Combat Group "Folgore" was elevated to division and began to move to the Northern Italian city of
Treviso. As the "Folgore" along with the
Infantry Division "Mantova" formed the first line of defence towards
Yugoslavia the division was augmented with the
5th Lancers Reconnaissance Group, the
33rd Field Artillery Regiment, the
41st Anti-tank Field Artillery Regiment, and the
5th Light Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment. On 1 November 1948 the Infantry Regiment "Garibaldi" was renamed
182nd Infantry Regiment "Garibaldi", the Paratroopers Infantry Regiment "Nembo" was renamed
183rd Infantry Regiment "Nembo", • Command and Services Company, in Ialmicco • I Battalion, in
Pavia di Udine /
Brazzano • II Battalion, in
San Lorenzo Isontino /
Farra d'Isonzo /
Lucinico • III Battalion, in
Fogliano Redipuglia /
Perteole •
82nd Infantry Regiment "Torino", in
Gorizia • Command and Services Company, in Gorizia • I Infantry Battalion, in
Trieste • II Infantry Battalion, in
Cormons • III Infantry Battalion, in Gorizia • IV Mechanized Battalion, in Gorizia (M113 armored personnel carriers and M47 tanks) • Regimental Anti-tank Company, in Gorizia (anti-tank guided missiles and M47 tanks) •
182nd Armored Infantry Regiment "Garibaldi", in
Sacile • Command and Services Company, in Sacile (includes an
anti-tank guided missile platoon) • XI Bersaglieri Battalion, in Sacile (
M113 armored personnel carriers) • XIII Tank Battalion, in Sacile (
M47 Patton tanks) •
183rd Infantry Regiment "Nembo", in
Cervignano del Friuli • Command and Services Battery, in Treviso • I Field Artillery Group, in Gradisca d'Isonzo (
M14/61 105 mm towed howitzers) • II Field Artillery Group, in Gradisca d'Isonzo (M14/61 105mm towed howitzers) • III Self-propelled Field Artillery Group, in Treviso (
M7 105 mm self-propelled howitzers) • IV Heavy Field Artillery Group, in Treviso (
M114 155 mm towed howitzers) • V Light Anti-aircraft Artillery Group (Reserve), in Treviso (
Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns and
12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns) • Artillery Specialists Battery, in Treviso •
"Cavalleggeri di Saluzzo" Squadrons Group, in Gradisca d'Isonzo (
Fiat Campagnola reconnaissance vehicles and M47 Patton tanks) • Light Aviation Unit "Folgore", at
Treviso Air Base (
L-19E Bird Dog light aircraft and
AB 206 reconnaissance helicopters) •
Engineer Battalion "Folgore", in Villa Vicentina •
Signal Battalion "Folgore", in Treviso •
Services Grouping "Folgore", in Treviso • Command Platoon, in Treviso • Supply, Repairs, Recovery Unit "Folgore", in Treviso • Transport Unit "Folgore", in
San Giorgio di Nogaro • Medical Battalion "Folgore", in Treviso • Provisions Supply Company "Folgore", in Treviso
1975 reform The Italian Army undertook a
major reform in 1975: the regimental level was abolished and battalions came under direct command of multi-arms brigades. As tensions with Yugoslavia over the city of
Trieste were allayed by the
Treaty of Osimo and because a reduction of the
military service from 15 to 12 months for the army and air force and from 24 to 18 months for the navy, forced the army to reduce its forces by nearly 45,000 troops, it was decided that the units of the Infantry Division "Folgore" would contract to a brigade. Therefore, during 1975 most units of the "Folgore" division were either disbanded or reorganized and on 23 October 1975 the remaining units of the division were used to raise the
Mechanized Brigade "Gorizia" in
Gorizia. To bring the division back to full strength it received the
Mechanized Brigade "Trieste" in
Bologna and the
Armored Brigade "Vittorio Veneto" in
Villa Opicina. By the end of the year the division consisted of the following units. •
Mechanized Division "Folgore", in
Treviso • Command Unit "Folgore", in Treviso •
Mechanized Brigade "Gorizia", in
Gorizia •
Mechanized Brigade "Trieste", in
Bologna •
Armored Brigade "Vittorio Veneto", in
Villa Opicina •
Amphibious Troops Command, in
Lido di Venezia • Divisional Artillery Command, in Treviso •
33rd Heavy Self-propelled Field Artillery Group "Terni", in Treviso (
M109G 155 mm self-propelled howitzers) •
184th Heavy Self-propelled Field Artillery Group "Filottrano", in Padua (
M114 155 mm towed howitzers, the planned transition to M109G 155 mm self-propelled howitzers was canceled) • 53rd Infantry Fortification Battalion "
Umbria", in
Pavia di Udine (13x companies) •
184th Engineer Battalion "Santerno", in Villa Vicentina •
184th Signal Battalion "Cansiglio", in Treviso •
Logistic Battalion "Folgore", in Treviso • 47th Reconnaissance Helicopters Squadrons Group "
Levrieri", at
Treviso Air Base • Command and Services Squadron • 471st Reconnaissance Helicopters Squadron (
AB 206 reconnaissance helicopters) • 472nd Reconnaissance Helicopters Squadron, detached to Trieste-
Prosecco Heliport (AB 206 reconnaissance helicopters) • Medical Battalion "Folgore" (Reserve), in Treviso The division was disbanded on 31 October 1986 and its units came under direct command of the
5th Army Corps. == Today ==