<P> The first units of Italian parachutists were trained and formed shortly before the Second World War in Castel Benito, near Tripoli, where the first Military school of Parachuting was located . </P> <P> The first troops trained were two Libyan battalions of the Royal Colonial Corps . These were added to the first battalion of Italian troops and the Carabinieri Regiment "Tuscania". </P> <P> Later in Italy, the staff at Castelbenito was expanded into the School at Tarquinia and became the first elements of the future Division Folgore . </P> <P> In 1941, a Parachutist division was completed and was designated the 185th Parachute Division Folgore . It was trained for the assault on Malta in Operation Hercules . During course of the war in Africa, it was engaged in ground combat operations in North Africa . </P>

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