Folgore Division - Infantry in 1/72 scale
| Name | Folgore Division - Infantry 1942 [code AP 002] |
| Producer | WATERLOO 1815 – Italy |
| Packing | cardboard box |
| Type of kit | plastic |
| Quality |
This long-awaited set includes four samples of two different sprues. There are eleven different paras, mostly firing, running and throwing hand-grenades (or Molotov cocktails). All of them are armed with MAB or Breda sub-machine guns knives and pistols. One half-naked figure is digging a hole with a spade. The postures are correct and natural, it is evident that the sculptor of the old ESCI miniatures is also the author of these paratroopers. The typical para helmet is well represented, while the sun helmet is less convincing. All in all a worthy set for diorama environments. |
| Instruction sheet | no |
| Decals | no |
| General Impression & Note |
The Folgore
parachute Division was one of the élite units of the WW II Italian Army.
Instead of being utilised for the deleted onslaught on Malta (Operation C3),
this unit was ordered to join the other Axis troops at El Alamein in the
summer of ’42, and to fight as common infantry. The Folgore was positioned north of the Qattara depression, in front of the British 7th Armoured Division armed with powerful Grant and Sherman tanks. The conditions were extreme, with high temperatures and low supplies. In spite of this, the Folgore paras always fought with bravery, ingenuity and skills, opposing a stiff resistance to the evident enemy superiority. Molotov cocktails and a variety of tank traps and mines were employed against enemy tanks. Even frays with side-arms were not infrequent. The Folgore Division was almost entirely destroyed in the savage fighting south of El Alamein. Only a fraction of the unit survived during the long retreat to Tunisia. After the battle, Radio Cairo declared that "The Italians have fought very well. In particular the parachute division Folgore. They have resisted beyond all possible human capacity and beyond all possible hope." while Churchill stated that the Folgore paras were the <lions of the desert>. |
