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98-521: The Golpe Borghese (English: Borghese Coup) was a failed Italian coup d'état allegedly planned for the night of 7 or 8 December 1970. It was named after Junio Valerio Borghese , wartime commander of the Decima Flottiglia MAS and a hero in the eyes of many post-War Italian fascists. The coup attempt became publicly known when the left-wing journal Paese Sera ran the headline on the evening of 18 March 1971: Subversive plan against

196-705: A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in December 2004. However, only a few marginalized sectors of the CIA were in favour of the coup, while the main response was not to allow major changes in the geopolitical balance in the Mediterranean. According to several state witnesses ( pentiti ) such as Tommaso Buscetta , Borghese asked the Sicilian Mafia to support

294-511: A static line . Mobility of the parachutes is often deliberately limited to prevent scattering of the troops when a large number parachute together. Some military exhibition units and special forces units use "ram-air" parachutes , which offer a high degree of maneuverability and are deployed manually (without a static line) from the desired altitude. Some use high-altitude military parachuting , also deploying manually. Many countries have one or several paratrooper units, usually associated with

392-670: A "fire brigade" role on the western front. Their constituents were often encountered on the battlefield as ad hoc battle groups ( Kampfgruppen ) detached from a division or organised from miscellaneous available assets. In accord with standard German practice, these were called by their commander's name, such as Group Erdmann in France and the Ramcke Parachute Brigade in North Africa . After mid-1944, Fallschirmjäger were no longer trained as paratroops owing to

490-1282: A Parachutist Tactical group was deployed to Kurdistan . Its mission was to provide humanitarian aid. From July 1992, the Brigade supplied personnel to the "Vespri Siciliani" and later "Strade Sicure" internal security operations. The Folgore participated in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia from 3 December 1992 to September 1993. Parts of the Brigade have been employed many times in the Balkans (IFOR/SFOR in Bosnia and KFOR in Kosovo ), with MNF in Albania and INTERFET in East Timor . The Folgore participated from August 2005 to September 2005 in Operation Babylon in Iraq and to December 2014 in Afghanistan . In August 2007,

588-774: A consequence of the fact that his father was a diplomat (with the rank of plenipotentiary minister), Junio Valerio spent the first years of his life travelling between Italy and the main foreign capitals, staying in China, Egypt, Spain, France and Great Britain. In Italy, he mostly spent his time in and around Rome. He married in Florence, on 30 September 1931, the Russian countess Darya Vasilyevna Olsufeeva (Moscow, 1909 – Rome, 1963), sister of Alexandra "Assia" Vasilyevna Olsufeeva, wife of Andrea Busiri Vici . They had four children: Paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist

686-540: A crew of two. These were part of the 1ª Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto (MAS), the "First Assault Vehicle Flotilla" (later called Decima Flottiglia MAS ), an elite naval sabotage unit of the Royal Italian Navy ( Regia Marina Italiana ). As commander of Sciré Borghese took part in several raids using SLC. The first of these, in September and October 1940, were directed at Gibraltar . The September raid

784-598: A massive training program. In 1941, a Parachutist division was completed and was designated the 185th Infantry Division "Folgore" . It was trained for the assault on Malta but was used instead in ground combat operations in the North African Campaign , where it fought with great distinction during the Second battle of El Alamein , effectively stalling the southern part of the Commonwealth attack until

882-630: A plan that encountered opposition from the British, who argued they would not be able to support it properly. The pressure of the British government eventually caused the Poles to give in and agree to let the Brigade be used on the Western Front . On 6 June 1944 the unit, originally the only Polish unit directly subordinate to the Polish government in exile and thus independent of the British command,

980-511: A pope and Napoleon Bonaparte 's sister, Paolina , among his ancestors. He was the second son of Prince Livio Borghese of Sulmona (1874–1939), Prince of Rossano, Prince of Vivaro Romano, Prince of Monte Compatri, Duke of Palombara, Duke of Poggio Nativo and Castelchiodato; his mother was Princess Valeria Maria Alessandra Keun (Smyrna, 1880 – Catania, 1956), daughter of Alfred August Keun and Virgina Amirà. His parents separated in Rome on 31 May 1911. As

1078-413: A protest demonstration against the upcoming visit of President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia , which was later postponed. This protest was supposedly called off because of heavy rain. According to the later testimony of Spiazzi, the coup was in fact fictitious: it would have been immediately suppressed by government forces through an emergency plan called Esigenza Triangolo (Triangle Exigency) similar to

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1176-833: A reconnaissance and sabotage mission, followed on later nights by Lts. Ferruccio Nicoloso and Pier Arrigo Barnaba. The first extensive use of paratroopers ( Fallschirmjäger ) was by the Germans during World War II. Later in the conflict paratroopers were used extensively by the Allied Forces . Cargo aircraft of the period (for example the German Junkers Ju 52 and the American Douglas C-47 Skytrain/Dakota ) being small, they rarely, if ever, jumped in groups much larger than 20 from one aircraft. In English, this load of paratroopers

1274-502: A reorganisation 3 RAR relinquished the parachute role in 2011, and this capability is now maintained by units of Special Operations Command . Constant "Marin" Duclos was the first French soldier to execute a parachute jump on November 17, 1915. He performed 23 test and exhibition parachute drops without problems to publicise the system and overcome the prejudice aviators had for such life-saving equipment. In 1935, Captain Geille of

1372-404: A retired army major and National Front secretary; Remo Orlandini, also a former army major, a real-estate proprietor and close associate of Borghese; and Sandro Saccucci, a young paratrooper . An arrest warrant for Borghese was also served, but he could not be found. Later arrestees included businessman Giovanni De Rosa and a retired Air Force colonel, Giuseppe Lo Vecchio. The investigation into

1470-696: A specific direction. The possible use of paratroopers also forces defenders to spread out to protect other areas which would otherwise be safe. Another common use for paratroopers is to establish an airhead for landing other units, as at the Battle of Crete . This doctrine was first practically applied to warfare by the Imperial German Army in 1916 then the Italians and the Soviets . The first known airborne commando operation in military history

1568-535: A successful mission damaged three merchant ships in the harbour. After this last attack, he was promoted to Capitano di Fregata , and named commander of the Decima MAS' sub-surface unit. On 18 December 1941, he reached Alexandria in Sciré and launched the daring raid by three SLCs that heavily damaged the two Royal Navy battleships HMS  Valiant and HMS  Queen Elizabeth and two other ships in

1666-567: A sudden onset of abdominal pain immediately after supper, could be compatible with arsenic poisoning . He is buried in the Borghese family chapel in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore , Rome. He was born as Junio Valerio Scipione Ghezzo Marcantonio Maria of the Borghese princes in Rome, in one of the most important families of the Roman nobility, of ancient Sienese origins, with 4 cardinals,

1764-533: A supportive introduction, affirming his political ideology of an idealistic neo-fascist new aristocracy meritocratically based purely on character, to far right revolutionary-conservative theorist Julius Evola 's book Men Among the Ruins [1] . He later wrote a memoir of his wartime exploits, published as Sea Devils in 1954. He was associated with the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI),

1862-445: A tip off, aborted the coup at the last minute as the plotters moved into position. Participants at the semi-clandestine rallies seem to have believed that they would take part in the arrest of politicians and the occupation of key installations by sympathetic army units. When Borghese called off the coup late that night, the presumed plotters, reportedly unarmed, improvised a late spaghetti dinner before returning home. Several members of

1960-507: A total of 14 regular, one Rashtriya Rifles and two Territorial Army (India) battalions; of the regular bns, five are Airborne battalions, while nine are Special Forces battalions. Formerly designated "Commando" units, they are now designated Special Forces: Three of the Special Forces battalions were originally trained for use in certain environments; 1st Bn [strategic reserve], 9th Bn [mountain] and 10th Bn [desert]. Subsequently,

2058-541: A train just passing them could continue its journey unhindered. Nazi Germany 's Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger units made the first airborne invasion when invading Denmark on April 9, 1940, as part of Operation Weserübung . In the early morning hours they attacked and took control of the Masnedø fort and Aalborg Airport . The Masnedø fort was positioned such as it guarded the Storstrøm Bridge between

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2156-704: A train just passing them could continue its journey unhindered. The second operational military parachute jump from 490 metres (1,600 ft) was logged in the night of August 8—9 1918 by Italian assault troops. Arditi Lieutenant Alessandro Tandura  [ it ] jumped from a Savoia-Pomilio SP.4 aircraft of the Gruppo speciale Aviazione I  [ it ] piloted by Canadian Major William George Barker and British Captain William Wedgwood Benn (both Royal Air Force pilots), when Tandura dropped behind Austro-Hungarian lines near Vittorio Veneto on

2254-642: A variety of torpedoes—pioneering tactics that remain a standard for Special Forces around the world today. At the start of the Second World War , Borghese took command of submarine Vettor Pisani , and in August 1940 was in command of submarine Sciré , which was modified to carry the new secret Italian weapon, the human torpedo . Known as "slow speed torpedoes" ( siluri a lenta corsa , or SLC), and nicknamed "pigs" ( maiali ) for their poor maneuverability, these were small underwater assault vehicles with

2352-609: A workers' town and a stronghold of the Italian Communist Party . Apparently some militants briefly entered the Ministry of the Interior, but Borghese suspended the coup a few hours before its final phase. A submachine gun (a Beretta Model 38 ) not returned by one of the militants was later viewed as a key piece of evidence in the sedition trial. According to Borghese, the neo-fascists were actually gathering for

2450-641: Is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations , usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infantry armed with small arms and light weapons , although some paratroopers can also function as artillerymen or mechanized infantry by utilizing field guns , infantry fighting vehicles and light tanks that are often used in surprise attacks to seize strategic positions behind enemy lines such as airfields , bridges and major roads . Paratroopers jump out of aircraft and use parachutes to land safely on

2548-540: Is a direct reference to Borghese and his military past as the leader of an assault frogmen unit. The film is peppered with joke references to the fascist period, the post-war neo-fascist Italian Social Movement and the Decima MAS frogmen unit. Junio Valerio Borghese Junio Valerio Borghese was born in Artena , Province of Rome , Kingdom of Italy . He was born into a prominent noble family of Sienese origin,

2646-405: Is called a "stick", while any load of soldiers gathered for air movement is known as a "chalk". The terms come from the common use of white chalk on the sides of aircraft and vehicles to mark and update numbers of personnel and equipment being emplaned. In World War II, paratroopers most often used parachutes of a circular design. These parachutes could be steered to a small degree by pulling on

2744-532: Is popularly known) and are presently involved in COIN operations. 31st Battalion (Commando), Rashtriya Rifles, is also affiliated to the Parachute Regiment, for special operations conducted by the counter-insurgency force. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) paratroopers have a history of carrying out special forces-style missions dating back to the 1950s. Paratrooper Brigade soldiers wear maroon berets with

2842-604: Is unclear. According to a 1987 UPI news cable, he had already fled Italy to Spain on 25 July 1970. However, according to other sources, Delle Chiaie led the commando team which occupied the premises of the Interior Ministry. At the appeal trial in November 1984, all 46 defendants were acquitted because the "fact did not happen" ( il fatto non sussiste ) and only existed in "a private meeting between four or five sixty-years-olds". The Supreme Court of Cassation confirmed

2940-553: The Argentine Army specialised in airborne assault operations. It is based in Córdoba , Córdoba Province . The Fuerza de Despliegue Rápido ("Rapid Deployment Force") is based on this unit. The members of the unit wear Red berets ( Boina Rojas ) of the paratroopers with unit badges. As of 2022 it consists of: Airborne forces raised by Australia have included a small number of conventional and special forces units. During

3038-674: The Army Special Forces Command and of the other Special Forces components provided by the Navy , Air Force and Carabinieri . Teishin Shudan ( 挺進集団 , Raiding Group ) was a Japanese special forces / airborne unit during World War II . The unit was a division -level force, and was part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF). It was commanded by a major general , and

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3136-824: The Combat Group "Folgore" ( Gruppo di Combattimento "Folgore" ) of the Italian Co-belligerent Army . Other scattered elements joined the Italian Social Republic , where they formed several Parachute units that continued to operate alongside the Germans against the Allies, fighting with distinction during the Battle of Anzio . After WW2, the Italian Army conscripted the Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" , currently

3234-770: The Corpo Forestale dello Stato , who were to seize the headquarters of the Italian public television broadcaster RAI . The plan included the kidnapping of the Italian President Giuseppe Saragat ; the murder of the head of the police Angelo Vicari; and the occupation of RAI, the Quirinale , the Ministry of the Interior (from which Vanguard militants would seize weapons), and the Ministry of Defense . Spiazzi's Milan -based battalion also planned to occupy Sesto San Giovanni , at that time

3332-828: The French Air Force created the Avignon-Pujaut Paratroopers Schools after he trained in Moscow at the Soviet Airborne Academy. From this, the French military created two combat units called Groupes d’Infanterie de l’Air . Following the Battle of France , General Charles de Gaulle formed the 1re Compagnie d’Infanterie de l’Air in September 1940 from members of the Free French forces who had escaped to Britain . It

3430-541: The House of Borghese , of which Pope Paul V was a notable member. His father, Livio Borghese, was the 11th Prince of Sulmona and younger brother to the more famous Scipione Borghese . Borghese was the second son of the prince and, as such, had the title of Patrician of Rome, Naples and Venice and the style of Don Junio Valerio Borghese . However, the press and the English-language historiography routinely used

3528-955: The Loire Valley in September 1944, in Belgium on January, and in Netherlands in April 1945. The 1er Régiment Parachutiste de Choc carried out operations in Provence . After World War II , the post-war French military of the Fourth Republic created several new airborne units. Among them were the Bataillon de Parachutistes Coloniaux (BPC) based in Vannes-Meucon , the Metropolitan Paratroopers, and

3626-542: The National Front were arrested and a warrant was served for Borghese. Borghese himself fled to Spain and died there in August 1974. On 18 March 1971, the leftist journal Paese Sera was published with the headline: Subversive plan against the Republic: far-right plot discovered . The first arrests concerning the coup attempt were made on the same day. The first people arrested on 18 and 19 March were Mario Rose,

3724-454: The 1964 Piano Solo , which would have provided the Christian Democratic (DC) government an excuse to declare martial law and enact special laws allowing the deployment of thousands of government troops, as well as military and civil police to seize control of political parties and publishers and undertake mass arrests and deportations, to quell the ongoing social unrest and left-wing protests. However, Borghese, for unknown reasons or acting on

3822-529: The 21st Bn was raised for jungle warfare . Currently, all Special Forces battalions are cross trained for all environments. The 8th Battalion became 16th Battalion, Mahar Regiment in 1976 before reconverting to the 12th Battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment. A sizable part of the battalion was retained in the airborne role for some time, forming the armoured element of the 50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade and equipped with their BMP-2 Infantry Combat Vehicles. But due to administrative and logistic reasons, it

3920-507: The Colonels , as the Fascist Greek colonels were pulling the strings behind the scenes). The main character (played by Ugo Tognazzi ) is a bombastic neo-fascist politician called Tritoni ( Triton ), a clear allusion to Borghese, who was sometimes called the frog prince in Italy, after his time in the Frogmen assault Unit Dècima MAS . Latterly regarded as a political outcast and shunned by his ancestrally blue blood social connections for his "heretical" political extremism and disregard for

4018-434: The Colonial Paratroopers and Bataillons Étrangers de Parachutistes ( French Foreign Legion ), which coexisted until 1954. During the First Indochina War , a Bataillon Parachutiste Viet Nam was created (BPVN) in southeast Asia. In total, 150 different airborne operations took place in Indochina between 1945 and 1954. These included five major combat missions against the Viet Minh strongholds and areas of concentration. When

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4116-435: The DC and to the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI). According to Monzat, investigations also discovered that the military attaché at the US embassy was closely connected to the coup organizers and that one of the main accused declared to the magistrate that US President Richard Nixon had followed the preparations for the coup, of which he was personally informed by two CIA officers. These facts were confirmed through

4214-521: The Decima Flottiglia was revived, headquartered in Caserma del Muggiano , La Spezia . By the end of the war, it had over 18,000 members, and Borghese conceived it as a purely military unit. The X Flottiglia gained a reputation for never firing a shot at any Italian military units fighting with the Allied forces. In April 1945 when the US command discovered that the British had granted permission to Marshal Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia , and his Communist troops, to occupy northeastern Italy from Venice to

4312-428: The Folgore took part in United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon , under aegis of the United Nations (Resolution 1701), as a result of the war between Israel and Hezbollah of summer 2006. The Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" is still mainly deployed abroad in international stabilization and peacekeeping operation, on rotation with the other elite units of the Italian Army . Other paratroopers units operate as part of

4410-450: The French left Vietnam in 1954, all airborne battalions were upgraded to regiments over the next two years. Only the French Air Force's Commandos de l'Air (Air Force) were excluded. In 1956, the 2e Régiment de Parachutiste Coloniaux took part in the Suez Crisis . Next, the French Army regrouped all its Army Airborne regiments into two parachute divisions in 1956. The 10th parachute division ( 10e Division Parachutiste , 10e DP) came under

4508-425: The Immaculate Conception ), referred to as the Golpe Borghese , he was forced to cross the border to avoid arrest and interrogation. In 1984, ten years after Borghese's death, the Supreme Court of Cassation ruled that no coup d'état attempt had happened. Nevertheless, the attempt is well known in Italy and film director Mario Monicelli made a biting satire of it called Vogliamo i colonnelli (1972) ( We want

4606-401: The JGSDF’s Ground Component Command (Japanese: 陸上総隊). During the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War , the Peruvian army had also established its own paratrooper unit and used it to great effect by seizing the Ecuadorian port city of Puerto Bolívar , on July 27, 1941, marking the first time in the Americas that airborne troops were used in combat. In 1965, a paratrooper unit known as the Sinchis

4704-407: The Parachute Brigade alternatively serving their field tenures in counter-insurgency/high altitude areas. One of the two field regiments (9 Para Fd Regt and 17 Para Fd Regt) also forms part of the brigade while the other serves out its field tenure on rotation. The two Territorial Army battalions, 106th (Bangalore) and 116th (Deolali) form the airborne element of the Terriers (as the Territorial Army

4802-491: The Republic: far-right plot discovered . The secret operation was code-named Operation Tora Tora after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . The plan of the coup in its final phase envisaged the involvement of US and NATO warships which were on alert in the Mediterranean Sea . Italian journalists have claimed the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reportedly followed the coup, with President Richard Nixon allegedly being personally informed of it. Yet in leaked documents,

4900-426: The Second World War in Castel Benito , near Tripoli ( Libya ), where the first Military school of Parachuting was located. They were two native battalions of the Royal Libyan Troops Corps and two battalions of Italian troops, later joined by the Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion . Moved back to Italy in 1941, the staff of the Castel Benito school was expanded into the Paratroopers School at Tarquinia and became

4998-429: The Second World War the Australian Army formed the 1st Parachute Battalion ; however, it did not see action. In the post-war period Australia's parachute capability was primarily maintained by special forces units. In the 1970s and 1980s a parachute infantry capability was revived, while a Parachute Battalion Group based on the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) was established in 1983. However, following

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5096-556: The US ambassador to Rome is quoted saying "The last thing we need right now is a half-cooked coup d’état … We wouldn’t support it." The botched right-wing coup took place after the Hot Autumn of left-wing protests in Italy and the Piazza Fontana bombing in December 1969, while in Reggio Calabria the Reggio revolt was supported by neofascists and ongoing. The failed coup involved hundreds of neo-fascist militants from Stefano Delle Chiaie 's National Vanguard , and army dissidents under Lt. Colonel Amos Spiazzi, helped by 187 members of

5194-434: The Wiesel Armoured Weapons Carrier (AWC), a light air-transportable armoured fighting vehicle , more specifically a lightly armoured weapons carrier. It is quite similar to historical scouting tankettes in size, form and function, and is the only true modern tankette in use in Western Europe. The Parachute Regiment is the Special Forces/airborne regiment of the Indian Army. The Regiment was formed in 1952 The regiment has

5292-475: The aftermath of the Algiers putsch , the 10e and 25e Parachute divisions were disbanded and their regiments merged into the Light Intervention Division ( Division Légère d'Intervention ). This division became the 11th Parachute Division ( 11e Division Parachutiste , 11e DP) in 1971. In the aftermath of the Cold War , the French Army reorganised and the 11e DP become the 11th Parachute Brigade in 1999. The first known airborne commando operation in military history

5390-403: The appeal judgment in March 1986. The final trial connected with the Golpe Borghese began in 1991, after it was discovered that evidence involving prominent persons ( Licio Gelli and admiral Giovanni Torrisi) had been destroyed by the secret service before the first trial. Andreotti, minister of defence at the time the evidence was destroyed, declared in 1997 that names had been deleted so that

5488-495: The charges would be easier to understand. This last trial ended without convictions because the period of prescription for destruction of evidence had passed. According to the journalist René Monzat, investigations lasted seven years, during which it was alleged that the Golpe Borghese had benefited from military accomplices, as well as from political support not only from the National Front and from MSI deputy Sandro Saccucci, but also from other political personalities belonging to

5586-495: The command of General Jacques Massu and General Henri Sauvagnac took over the 25th Parachute Division ( 25e Division Parachutiste , 25e DP). Again the Commandos de l'Air were kept under command of the Air Force. By the late 1950s, in Algeria , the FLN had launched its War of Independence . French paratroopers were used as counter insurgency units by the French Army. This was the first time in airborne operations troops used helicopters for air assault and fire support . But in

5684-404: The coup attempt was resurrected after Giulio Andreotti became defense minister again. Andreotti handed over a report by the secret service to the Rome public prosecutor in July 1974, revealing a detailed knowledge of the inner workings of the conspiracy and links to members of the secret service. Shortly thereafter, General Vito Miceli , a former head of SID , was brought for questioning before

5782-408: The coup. In 1970, when the Sicilian Mafia Commission was reconstituted, one of the first issues that had to be discussed was an offer by Borghese, who asked for support in return for pardons of convicted mafiosi like Vincenzo Rimi and Luciano Leggio . The mafiosi Giuseppe Calderone and Giuseppe Di Cristina visited Borghese in Rome. However, other mafiosi such as Gaetano Badalamenti opposed

5880-405: The courtesy style Prince Junio Valerio Borghese . Borghese was first educated in London , England , and, from 1923, he attended the Royal Italian Navy Academy ( Accademia Navale ) in Livorno . In 1929, the naval career of Borghese began. By 1933, he was a submarine commander. Borghese took part in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War . During the Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War , he

5978-526: The division during the Battle of Berlin in April 1945. The Fallschirmjäger were issued specialist weapons such as the FG 42 and specially designed helmets. In the modern German Bundeswehr , the Fallschirmjägertruppe continue to form the core of special operations units. The division has two brigade equivalents and several independent companies and battalions. All told, about 10,000 troops served in that division in 2010, most of them support or logistics personnel. The Fallschirmjägertruppe currently uses

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6076-424: The east, Borghese moved the bulk of the X Flottiglia from the Ligurian and Piedmontese area to the Veneto. The X Flottiglia built a line of defence on the Tagliamento river where they resisted until the arrival of the Allied troops. In this action, the X Flottiglia lost over eighty per cent of the fighting sailors dispatched to the front against Tito's troops, and the Italian Communist Partisans allied with Tito. At

6174-441: The end of the war, Borghese was rescued by Office of Strategic Services officer James Angleton , who dressed him in an American uniform and drove him from Milan to Rome for interrogation by the Allies. Borghese was then tried and convicted of collaboration with the Nazi invaders, but not of war crimes , by the Italian Court. He was "sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, discounted to 3 years, due to his glorious expeditions during

6272-465: The exclusive mission to drop into occupied Poland in order to help liberate the country. The British government, however, pressured the Poles into allowing the unit to be used in the Western theatre of war . Operation Market Garden eventually saw the unit sent into action in support of the British 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944. The Poles were initially landed by glider from 18 September, whilst, due to bad weather over England,

6370-426: The external norms of modern aristocratic etiquette and behaviour, Borghese died under mysterious circumstances in Cádiz , Spain, on 26 August 1974, aged 68. The death certificate records the cause of death as " acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis "; however, since Borghese was visited by a physician who found him in good shape just a few days before, it has been suggested that the circumstances of his death, characterized by

6468-453: The general retreat of the Axis forces, when it was destroyed. Another major paratroopers division was formed during 1942 (the 184th Infantry Division "Nembo") and a third had started forming in 1943 (the 184th Parachute Division "Ciclone"). After the September 8th 1943 Armistice , elements of the "Nembo" division joined the Allies against the germans as part of the Italian Liberation Corps ( Corpo Italiano di Liberazione ) and later as part of

6566-458: The ground. This is one of the three types of "forced entry" strategic techniques for entering a theater of war ; the other two being by land and by water. Their tactical advantage of entering the battlefield from the air is that they can attack areas not directly accessible by other transport. The ability of airborne assault to enter the battlefield from any location allows paratroopers to evade emplaced fortifications that guard from attack from

6664-466: The harbour. The six Italian Navy crew that attacked Alexandria harbour all received the Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare , and Borghese was named Cavaliere dell'Ordine Militare di Savoia . In May 1943, Borghese took command of the Decima Flottiglia MAS ("10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla"), or Xª MAS with Roman numerals , which continued active service in the Mediterranean and pioneered new techniques of commando assault warfare. The Roman numeral

6762-474: The infantry pin and reddish-brown boots. Distinct from all other soldiers of the IDF, Paratroopers wear a tunic and belt over the shirt. The IDF has one active paratrooper brigade and four reserve brigades consisting of personnel who served their mandatory time in the 35th brigade, and who are mostly relatively recently discharged, aside from officers. The IDF paratrooper brigades include: The first units of Italian parachutists were trained and formed shortly before

6860-447: The investigating judge. Miceli's interrogation led to his arrest two days later. Miceli was then sacked, and the Italian intelligence agencies were reorganized by a 1977 law. Three trials were started for conspiracy against the Italian state. In 1978, Miceli was acquitted of trying to cover up a coup attempt. Saccucci, Orlandini, Rosa, and others were convicted of political conspiracy, which also included Delle Chiaie, whose specific role

6958-433: The islands of Falster and Masnedø – on the main road from the south to Copenhagen . Aalborg Airport played a key role acting as a refueling station for the Luftwaffe in the further invasion into Norway . In the same assault the bridges around Aalborg were taken. Fallschirmjäger were also used in the Low Countries against the Netherlands , although their use against The Hague was unsuccessful. Their most famous drop

7056-691: The largest unit of paratroopers of the Italian Army . The Brigade operates as Light Infantry with airborne drop and air transport capability with secondary light mechanized capabilities, as part of the "Vittorio Veneto" Division , the on-call divisional HQ controlling the rapid reaction components of the Italian Army . In 1982 the Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" landed in Beirut with the Multinational Force in Lebanon . In 1991,

7154-515: The national Army or Air Force, but in some cases the Navy. In 1944, Argentina became the second country on the continent of South America to use Paratroopers, after Peru. The first paratroopers were issued jump helmets similar to that used by the British at the time, with other equipment based on the Fallschirmjäger . The 4th Parachute Brigade ( 4 Brigada Paracaidista ) is a unit of

7252-589: The neo-fascist party formed in the post-World War II period by former supporters of the dictator Benito Mussolini . Later, advocating a harder line which the MSI was not able or willing to uphold, he broke from the MSI to form an even stauncher neofascist formation, known as the Fronte Nazionale . Following a last minute aborted coup d'état plot which fizzled out on the night of 8 December 1970 (the Feast of

7350-586: The parachute section of the Brigade was held up, and jumped on 21 September at Driel on the South bank of the Rhine. The Poles suffered significant casualties during the next few days of fighting, but still were able, by their presence, to cause around 2,500 German troops to be diverted to deal with them for fear of them supporting the remnants of 1st Airborne trapped over the lower Rhine in Oosterbeek. The Brigade

7448-527: The plan, and the Mafia decided not to participate. According to Leggio, testifying at the Maxi Trial against the Mafia in the mid-1980s, Buscetta and Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco were in favour of helping Borghese. The plan was for the Mafia to carry out a series of terrorist bombings and assassinations to provide the justification for a right-wing coup. Although Leggio's version differed from Buscetta's,

7546-507: The realities of the strategic situation, but retained the Fallschirmjäger honorific. Near the end of the war, the series of new Fallschirmjäger divisions extended to over a dozen, with a concomitant reduction in quality in the higher-numbered units of the series. Among these divisions was the 9th Fallschirmjäger Division, which was the final parachute division to be raised by Germany during World War II . The Russian army destroyed

7644-448: The risers (four straps connecting the paratrooper's harness to the connectors) and suspension lines which attach to the parachute canopy itself. German paratroopers, whose harnesses had only a single riser attached at the back, could not manipulate their parachutes in such a manner. Today, paratroopers still use round parachutes, or round parachutes modified so as to be more fully controlled with toggles. The parachutes are usually deployed by

7742-524: The state" and newspapers wrote about it as "the coup that never was". Nonetheless, the secret service reported connections with the Nixon administration and NATO units in Malta based on claims made by Orlandini. Orlandini asserted that the plotters would receive assistance from a NATO fleet, though this never materialized. A comic film directed by Mario Monicelli and starring popular Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi

7840-412: The testimony confirmed that Borghese had requested assistance by the Mafia. According to the pentito Francesco Di Carlo , the journalist Mauro De Mauro was killed in September 1970 because he had learned that Borghese – one of De Mauro's childhood friends – was planning the coup. The failed coup has gone down in history as "a comic-opera coup staged by naive incompetents, which posed no real threat to

7938-485: The war, his defence of northeast borders against Tito's IX Corps and his defence of Genoa harbour". He was released from jail after four years' imprisonment by the Supreme Court of Cassation in 1949. With his record as a war hero and his support of Fascism, he became a figurehead for pro-fascist, anti-communist groups in the immediate post-war period, acquiring the nickname Black Prince . Borghese wrote

8036-673: Was Free French SAS Captain Pierre Marienne who jumped into Brittany ( Plumelec , Morbihan ) on June 5 with 17 Free French paratroopers. The first Allied soldier killed in the liberation of France was Free French SAS Corporal Emile Bouétard of the 4e Bataillon d’Infanterie de l’Air , also in Brittany in Plumelec: June 6, 0 h 40. Captain Pierre Marienne was killed on July 12 in Plumelec. French SAS paratroopers also fought in

8134-577: Was abandoned when the harbour was found to be empty. In the October raid, Borghese took Sciré deep into Gibraltar Bay , making a difficult submerged passage in order to release the SLC as close to the target as possible. For this he received the Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare (MOVM), despite the mission's overall lack of success. In May 1941 a further attempt ended in failure, but on 20 September 1941,

8232-511: Was acknowledged in the army report of October 4, 1916: Eastern theater of war: ... Oberleutnant v. Cossel, who was set down from the plane southwest of Rowno by Vice Sergeant Windisch and picked up again after 24 hours, interrupted the Rowno-Brody railway line at several points by means of explosives. ... The First Quartermaster General. Ludendorff. According to Russian reports, however, the tracks were only slightly damaged in one place, so that

8330-451: Was acknowledged in the army report of October 4, 1916: Eastern theater of war: ... Oberleutnant v. Cossel, who was set down from the plane southwest of Rowno by Vice Sergeant Windisch and picked up again after 24 hours, interrupted the Rowno-Brody railway line at several points by means of explosives. ... The First Quartermaster General. Ludendorff. According to Russian reports, however, the tracks were only slightly damaged in one place, so that

8428-628: Was conducted by Maximilian Hermann Richard Paschen von Cossel, then Leutnant of the Royal Prussian Army and his new pilot, then Royal Saxon Vice Sergeant Rudolf Windisch. Windisch flew the Roland Walfisch used for this purpose and set Cossel down in a wooded area behind the Russian front. During the night of October 2/3, 1916, Cossel blew up the Rowno–Brody railway line, 85 kilometers behind the eastern front, in several places. This

8526-438: Was conducted by Maximilian Hermann Richard Paschen von Cossel, then Leutnant of the Royal Prussian Army and his new pilot, then Royal Saxon Vice Sergeant Rudolf Windisch. Windisch flew the Roland Walfisch used for this purpose and set Cossel down in a wooded area behind the Russian front. During the night of October 2/3, 1916, Cossel blew up the Rowno–Brody railway line, 85 kilometers behind the eastern front, in several places. This

8624-747: Was created from the 601e Groupe d'Infanterie de l'Air in Morocco and the 3e and 4e Bataillons d'Infanterie de l'Air (BIA) in England in the Special Air Service . The 2e and 3e Régiments de Chasseurs Parachutistes followed in July 1944. During the Invasion of Normandy , French Airborne forces fought in Brittany , ( Operation Dingson , Operation Samwest ). The first Allied soldier to land in France

8722-464: Was discontinued and their role being taken over by the para battalions themselves, with a platoon strength of each battalion being trained and equipped for the mechanized role within the brigade. The 50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade comprises the following units: ( 50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade Provost Section. The President's Body Guard also forms part of the brigade as the pathfinders company. Three Airborne units in rotation form part of

8820-645: Was established under the Civil Guard as a counterinsurgency and anti-narcotics force. With the dissolution of the Civil Guard in 1991, the unit became part of the National Police of Peru . The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute brigade under the command of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski , created during the Second World War in Scotland in September 1941, with

8918-471: Was in command of the submarine Iride , where he allegedly lost two seamen after his unit was depth-charged by the British destroyer HMS Havock . The elite World War II Italian naval unit Decima Flottiglia MAS is considered by many to be the first modern naval commando squad. Assembled by Prince Junio Valerio Borghese at the beginning of the war, these "frogmen" were trained to fight undercover and underwater with small submarines and assault boats armed with

9016-584: Was in memory of Caesar's famous Decima Legio. After Italy's surrender to the Allies on 8 September 1943 , the Xª MAS was disbanded. While some of its sailors joined the Allies, Borghese chose to continue fighting with the Italian Social Republic (RSI) alongside the German Armed Forces ( Wehrmacht ). On 12 September 1943, he signed a treaty of alliance with Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine . Many of his colleagues volunteered to serve with him, and

9114-583: Was organized as follows: Notably, Japanese troopers fought in the Battle of Palembang and in the takeover of Celebes in the Dutch East Indies. The 1st Airborne Brigade (Japanese: 第1空挺団, Dai-Ichi Kūtei Dan), established in 1958 is the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s elite airborne unit meant for anti-guerilla and commando operations. The unit is currently used for homeland defense and international combat operations as part of

9212-644: Was originally trained close to RAF Ringway and later in Upper Largo in Scotland. It was finally based in Lincolnshire, close to RAF Spitalgate (Grantham) where it continued training until its eventual departure for Europe after D-Day. The Brigade was formed by the Polish High Command in exile with the aim of it being used to support the Polish resistance during the nationwide uprising ,

9310-672: Was released in 1973 and was in the selection of Italian films for the 1973 Cannes Film Festival . It is called Vogliamo i colonelli ( We Want the Colonels , in reference to the contemporary US-backed Greek military dictatorship ). In this film, Tognazzi portrays a boisterous and clumsy far right MP called Tritoni trying to stage a coup against the government. Though the botched attempt sinks in ridicule and chaos, and Tritoni has to go in exile, right wing political measures are nevertheless enforced, such as forbidding labor strikes and political gatherings. The character's name Tritoni ( Triton )

9408-411: Was the 1941 Battle of Crete , though they suffered large casualties. Hence later in the war, the 7th Air Division's Fallschirmjäger assets were re-organised and used as the core of a new series of elite Luftwaffe Infantry divisions, numbered in a series beginning with the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division . These formations were organised and equipped as motorised infantry divisions, and often played

9506-461: Was transferred into the same command structure as all other Polish Forces in the West . It was slotted to take part in several operations after the invasion of Normandy , but all of them were cancelled. On 27 July, aware of the imminent Warsaw Uprising , the Polish government in exile asked the British government for air support, including dropping the Brigade in the vicinity of Warsaw. This request

9604-568: Was transformed into the Compagnie de Chasseurs Parachutistes in October 1941. By June 1942, these units were fighting in Crete and Cyrenaica alongside the British 1st SAS Regiment . As part of the SAS Brigade , two independent French SAS units were also created in addition to the other French Airborne units. They operated until 1945. In May 1943, the 1er Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes

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