It Happened Yesterday: November 6, 1942, the Battle of El Alamein is Over. The Folgore is Legend.

Today we remember the conclusion of the second battle of El Alamein, one of the toughest and noblest chapters in Italian military history. In that distant desert, among sand, blood, and silence, the legend of the Folgore was written, fighting to the last with a fierceness destined never to fade.

While Rommel retreated with the German troops, thousands of Italian soldiers were left without means, abandoned to fate in a sea of dunes, without water, food, and hope.

Yet, right there, where everything seemed lost, the men of the Folgore demonstrated what honor, sacrifice, and dedication to duty mean.

Burned tanks, silenced cannons, columns bombarded relentlessly: the battle was lost, but the dignity of those Paratroopers remained invincible. They fought with gritted teeth, standing, when the strength of the body was no longer enough and the strength of the soul had to take over.

They refused to surrender as long as there was a man able to wield a rifle or a knife. And when the fight ceased, the victors themselves saluted those defeated with respect, recognizing in them enemies of extraordinary value.

From that day, “Folgore!” is no longer just the name of a unit, but a cry that resonates in the memory of the country as a symbol of absolute courage and loyalty to comrades until the last breath. The survivors traveled thousands of kilometers in the desert, facing hunger, thirst, and continuous attacks, carrying with them the weight of defeat but also the immense pride of never having yielded.

Today, 83 years later, we bow before those men.

We do not celebrate war, but human valor, the sense of belonging, the sacrifice, and the choice to fight not for glory or reward, but for honor and love of country.

“Not a single white flag. No man raised his arms. 32 officers and 272 paratroopers, wounded and exhausted, were still in the ranks, with weapons in hand, standing, when the enemy captured them. Without water and supplies for seven days, and without ammunition, and after responding with yet another “FOLGORE!” to the calls to surrender with raised arms.”

Nino Arena, from the book "Folgore"

To you, Paratroopers of El Alamein, who turned defeat into legend and the ultimate trial into eternity: Folgore!