185th Italian parachute division Bolt action/Rapid fire – Folgore (Lightining bolt)

After painting the Italian armoured division Ariete I could’t not to paint the first Italian parachutists unit: the Folgore (“Lightining bolt”) division. This unit was initially raised to be involved in Operation Hercules (the planned Axis invasion of Malta) but in June 1942 it was sent to Africa.

In North Africa it participated in the Battles of El Alamein, where it was the protagonist of a strong resistance against the attacking Commonwealth forces, managing also to drive off some attacks conducted by tanks and heavy infantry.

For some of the photos I was inspired to an old Italian newspaper that published coloured illustrations very "epic" during the Fascist regime …

… for one my picts I decided to apply some “effects”

The only original colourized photo I found is related to a Cannone mod 47/32 (called also Elefantino).

It was used both as an infantry and anti tank gun but it was effective only on light and medium tanks. During the Second El Alamein our artillerymen fired between 500 and 100 metres to be sure to hit the enemy

I painted also some MMG

All miniatures are Waterloo 1815 20mm and I changed some heads to increase their variety

I painted also some support unit as the medic team. For these unit I choose a mix of Early war miniatures and Waterloo 1815. The effect is fine

The Folgore division fought superbly during El Alamein battle but it suffered such high casualties that they never regained their former effectiveness. In the course of the second Battle of El Alamein the division was completely destroyed and therefore officially disbanded on 23 November 1942. Below the memorial stone place years after the battle by the survivors of the unit

The translation in English of the Italian words is: “Luck and not bravery went amiss”

To complete my infantry army I painted also a SPA-Viberti A.S.42 called “Sahariana”.

It was an Italian reconnaissance car developed to contrast the English Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) actions.

To support the Sahariana I painted also some Bersaglieri motocycle unit. Also in this case I modified the original photo to celebrate this soldier and his way to find a kind of protection in a sunny landscape