80 years later, Rosignano remembers Operation Herring with the 185th RAO Folgore

Today, eighty years after the last wartime airborne mission on European soil, Italy remembers with solemnity and gratitude theOperation Herringone of the most glorious - and at the same time least known - pages of our military history. A daring, risky and deeply patriotic action that saw protagonists 226 volunteer parachutists of 1º Squadrone da ricognizione “Folgore” (F Squadron) and the Centuria Nembopart of the reconstituted Italian Army in the spring of 1945.

Between the 19 and 23 April 1945in view of the breakthrough of the Gothic Line and the liberation of northern Italy, these men embarked on the Vadafrom the airfield of the Two Casonito infiltrate enemy-controlled territory - in the provinces of Bologna, Modena, Ferrara and Mantua - with the order of endure for 36 hourssabotaging, disrupting and obstructing German movements until the arrival of the Allied troops. There were 31 fallenyoung Italians who offered their lives for the freedom of their homeland.

The commemorative ceremony of the80th anniversary takes place today, 3 April 2025to the Two Casoni di Vada (Via Aurelia Sud 48/52), in the place where that historic mission started. There are the civil and military authoritiesthe local schools, weapon associations and numerous citizens. Paying tribute, as every year, the 185th Target Acquisition Reconnaissance Regiment 'Folgoreawarded in 2021 with the honorary citizenship by the Municipality of Rosignano in memory of Operation Herring itself.

The celebrations will begin with a training airdrop in memory of the men of Operation Herring, followed by the official ceremony with honours to the fallen, the blessing, the prayer of the parachutist and interventions by the mayor Claudio Marabotti and the Colonel Marco Margutti, commander of the 185th RAO 'Folgore.

The mayor also wanted to involve the youngest, inviting all schools to attend the ceremony in recent days, so as not to lose the memory of one of the most valiant missions in our history. This day, we add, represents a link between historical memory and the present: an opportunity to remember the contribution of 226 volunteers in an Italy still reeling from the conflict. Their gesture continues to represent an example of dedication and sense of duty, values that institutions and new generations are called upon to preserve and pass on.