Italcon Lebanon 2, 1982-84

You never forget your first time. And it was with theoperation Lebanon 2 of the mission Italcon, the first major deployment of the Folgore since the post-war period.

Start for the Brigade in September of 1982 an operation in a country where, for many years, many factions of different religions and ethnicities have been bitterly fighting each other. The Parachute Brigade is present, from the first to the last day, with its own personnel and vehicles as part of the Multinational Force Contingent.

The Context

The 6 June 1982as a response to the assassination attempt by the Palesineres al-Fath organisation against the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom Shlomo Argo, the First Lebanon War, also known as Operation Peace in Galilee, where Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) invaded the south of the country.

Another reason given by Israel to justify the operation was that the intervention was implemented to intervene in the Lebanese civil war and counter Syrian influence in Lebanon and possibly allow the establishment of a stable Christian population leadership, which would strengthen the Lebanese regular army, restore security and allow diplomatic relations with Israel.

Later in 1982, an agreement was reached and US, French and Italian military peacekeeping forces (Italcon Mission) ensured that PLO survivors could find refuge in neighbouring Arab states.

Philip Habib, US President Ronald Reagan's envoy to Lebanon, assured the PLO that Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps would not be armed again.

The first troops landed on the beaches near Beirut in the August 1982. The Italians named their intervention Mission Italcon, the French Opération Diodon.

The paratroopers of the 2e Régiment étranger de parachutistes of the Foreign Legion (2nd REP) were the first to enter the city, disembarking in the harbour from amphibious vehicles of the Marine nationale and then moving into the suburbs.

The 19 August 1982the 2nd REP, managed, at the request of the Lebanese, to allow the departure of the Palestinian contingent, entrenched in Beirut, in the face of the Israeli advance.

Parte Italcon Libano 1

The 21 agosto 1982 ebbe inizio l’evacuazione internazionale dei combattenti dell’OLP; contestualmente, per l’Italia prese avvio la missione Italcon “Libano 1”: il contingente partì a bordo delle navi da sbarco della Marina Militare Grado e Caorle e del traghetto del Lloyd Triestino "Buona Speranza”, noleggiato dal Ministry of Defence, con scorta della fregata Perseo. Al comando del tenente colonnello Bruno Tosetti, il dispositivo terrestre era costituito dal 2º battaglione bersaglieri “Governolo”, articolato su compagnia comando, due compagnie meccanizzate, plotone genio e plotone carabinieri proveniente dal 3º Battaglione “Lombardia” , per un totale di 519 uomini (40 ufficiali, 81 sottufficiali e 389 militari di truppa) con circa 200 mezzi tra gommati e cingolati. In precedenza, la nave Caorle aveva provveduto all’evacuazione di civili dal Libano.

The 23 August 1982the former leader of the Lebanese phalange Basir Gemanyel diventa Presidente del Libano. L’evento sarà fortemente significativo per il proseguio, negli anni seguenti, della missione Italcon. SOlo tre giorni dopo, il 26 agosto 1982 attraccarono nel porto di Beirut le navi con il Italian contingent, che avviò subito le operazioni nel settore assegnato.

The international operation lasts some 20 days, and the contingent withdraws along with the rest of the multinational force on 12 September following.

But the 14 September 1982 there is the event that will culminate in further clashes and massacres: the newly elected president, Basir Gemanyel, is assassinated in a bomb attack along with 26 Phalangist leaders.

It is at this moment that Israeli forces occupy West Beirut.

The 18 September 1982, Lebanese Christian militias, led by Elie Hobeik and allied with Israel, including the Phalangists and groups linked to former Lebanese presidents Camille Shaʿmūn and Sulaymān Frānjiyye, massacred 700 civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut, in retaliation for the death of Gemayel and the 1976 Damour massacre in which more than 500 Christian-Maronite civilians were slaughtered.

Again, the Israeli army did not intern to stop the killing of civilians.

Venne quindi deciso il ritorno della Forza Multinazionale in Libano, composta da francesi, statunitensi e italiani.

La situazione è tesa ed estremamente complessa: l’Italia avvia Italcon “Libano 2”, che vedrà schierati i migliori reparti delle sue Forze Armate.

The Italcon Lebanon 2 mission

The mission began on 20 September 1982 with the departure of the landing ships Grado and Caorle carrying the armoured personnel of the 'San Marco' Battalion under the command of frigate captain Pierluigi Sambo, escorted by the frigate Perseo, and the ferries Canguro Bianco, Buona Speranza departed from Genoa with the means and logistics on board, and Staffetta Jonica departed from Cyprus with the first advanced nucleus of Incursors of the 9th Btg. Col Moschin arrived on the island with an Italy/Cyprus airlift of the Italian Air Force and civil aircraft.

When the situation on the ground worsened, Navy units equipped with 127/38 calibre guns were also added to support the contingent on a rotating basis: Intrepid, which was the first to arrive in support of the 12 May 1983, and those equipped with 127/54 calibre cannons: Ardito, Audace, Perseo, Lupo, Sagittario and Orsa.

An extremely demanding mission in every respect. For the Folgore, therefore, also a real field test. It was no longer a question of training, but of a commitment, albeit humanitarian, military and in a war zone.

The tasks are demanding: to provide security in the area from the airport to the centre of the capital, in a periphery with a strong presence of Palestinian refugee camps, including those infamous for the massacres there, of Sabra and Chatila, escorts for local and foreign political, civilian and military personnel and, most difficult of all, protection from attackers. Fighting in practice.

The Italian contingent, initially of a thousand men, under the command of Parachutist Colonel Franco Angioni, the 24 September 1982 arrived in Lebanon.

Relations with the local population and the different warring parties were also greatly facilitated by the construction of a field hospital near Beirut airport, where all wounded of any faction and civilians were treated. In the following months, Angioni was promoted to brigadier general and the contingent reached a strength of 2,300.

Si avvicendarono il 1° Battaglione Carabinieri Paracadutisti “Tuscania”, the 2° Battaglione Paracadutisti “Tarquinia” and the 5° Battaglione Paracadutisti “El Alamein” as follows:

• Settembre 1982 – marzo 1983: 1° Battaglione Carabinieri Paracadutisti “Tuscania”
• Marzo 1983 – luglio 1983: 2° Battaglione Paracadutisti “Tarquinia”
• Luglio 1983 – novembre 1983: 5° Battaglione Paracadutisti “El Alamein”
• Novembre 1983 – febbraio 1984: 1° Battaglione Carabinieri Paracadutisti “Tuscania”

Va inoltre evidenziato il rilevante coinvolgimento dell’Carabinieri Corps nell’insieme: oltre alle unità paracadutiste del “Tuscania” , operò un Plotone di Polizia Militare (proveniente dal 3° Battaglione “Lombardia”) sia in in Italcon I that in Italcon II, con funzioni di polizia giudiziaria militare e comune, attività di prevention — e, quando necessario, di repressione — dei reati connessi allo spaccio di stupefacenti (Beirut era uno dei principali hub regionali del narcotraffico; l’opera dell’Arma fu preziosa per acquisire informazioni e contrastare il fenomeno), infortunistica stradale, scorte ad autocolonne e a personalità, vigilanza di sedi e installazioni e pattugliamenti di collegamento.

La consistenza dell’Arma si mantenne mediamente intorno alle 160 unità (con punte fino a 274), con avvicendamenti di 6 mesi per i comandi di battaglione e di 4 mesi per il restante personale.

1983, the toughest year

The 15 March 1983 At 9 pm, a patrol of the 'San Marco' Battalion was ambushed near the Sabra camp, and four men were wounded, one of them seriously. That same night, General Angioni decided to go out with the Col Moschin raiders to intercept the attackers, who had not yet left the area.

Upon contact with the enemy, a fierce firefight began, in which the Lebanese fought with heavier armament and anti-tank weapons. In the fight, three raiders were wounded (one lost a leg) and it was decided to call off the action.

The 15 March 1983 an Italian vehicle while on night patrol on the way to the airport near the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj el-Barajneh, Beirut, was ambushed and attacked with machine-gun fire and bombs. Italian soldier Filippo Montesi, a San Marco maro, was shot in the back and died in Italy on 22 March 1983 as a result of his injuries.

The apex of tension, however, is reached between late August and September 1983: the 22 September 1983a Druze artillery barrage aimed at the Christian quarters, hit an ammunition depot of the 5th Par. Batallion 'El Alamein', destroying it and wounding three Paratroopers.

The Angioni method: a model for the future

The intervention in Lebanon, during which both the American and French contingents suffered heavy losses following two attacks (The 23 October 1983 a double bombing attack on the bases of the multinational force resulted in the death of 241 US marines and 56 French soldiers), was thanks to Gen. Franco Angioni a model for subsequent Italian missions abroad, including Somalia (1992-1993).

The General's approach was to encourage his soldiers to learn about the local culture, on which he distributed books to everyone. This allowed the Italians to understand the reasons of the parties and to present themselves as an interposition force, rather than as yet another foreign contingent on Lebanese soil.

Relations with the local population and the different warring parties were also greatly facilitated by the construction of a field hospital near the Beirut airport, where all wounded of any faction were treated.

A paradigmatic case of the level of interaction achieved is the story of little Mustapha Haoui, treated in the Italian field hospital, who later became the mascot of the contingent, emigrated to Italy and became a laboratory technician at the Regina Elena Institute in Rome.

The end of the mission was launched on11 February 1984 with the transfer of Italian civilians to Cyprus by the ship Caorle.

Fal 20 February also saw the return of the naval squadron under the command of Admiral Giasone Piccioni, consisting of the Vittorio Veneto, Doria, Ardito, Audace, Orsa, Perseo, Sagittario, Stromboli and Caorle, to protect the civil ferries Anglia and Jolly Arancione and the motor ships Appia and Tiepolo, with the ships Doria, Sagittario and Caorle remaining in Lebanon for a short time.

The mission ended on 6 March 1984when the last Carabinieri parachute company returned.

Filippo Montesi, enlisted Marò, 3rd/82, of the 'San Marco' battalion of the Italian Navy, who died on 15 March 1983, was the only Italian soldier to fall during the ITALCON mission 'Lebanon 2'.

There were also 75 wounded on the Italian side in that mission.

Insciallah

From her journalistic experience in Lebanon with Italian troops, writer Oriana Fallaci published her famous novel 'Inshallah' in 1990. Set at the time of the civil war in Lebanon in the 1980s during the intervention of international forces.

Precisely through the personal and communal vicissitudes of the members of the Italian contingent in the three months between the Beirut attacks and the return of the Italian force, Fallaci describes a complex backstage that becomes a cross-section of Italian society and phases of armed clashes in which more dynamic sequences prevail. The title refers to the Arabic invocation Inshallah 'If God wills'.

Organisation and departments employed

• Commander and Command
• Command and Transmission Company
• Compagnia incursori del 9º Btg. d’assalto par. “Col Moschin”
• Un battaglione paracadutisti (rotazioni tra 1º Btg. CC.par. “Tuscania”, 2º Btg. par. “Tarquinia”, 5º Btg. par. “El Alamein”, oltre a elementi del 185º Gruppo Viterboof the Reparto Comando e Trasmissioniof the Compagnia Pionieri and the Military Parachute School)
• Un Battaglione “San Marco” della Marina Militare, con elementi del GOI del Comando Subacquei e Incursori
• Un Battaglione Bersaglieri (prima “Governolo”then “Bezzecca”, quindi il “Cernaia” di stanza a Pordenone)
• Squadrone Cavalleggeri su autoblindo
• Engineer Platoon
• Logistics Battalion
• Ospedale da Campo, con elementi della Sanità militare
• Plotone di Polizia Militare dell’Arma dei Carabinieri (proveniente dal 3º Battaglione “Lombardia”)
• Mezzi: 97 veicoli corazzati da combattimento, 6 autoblindo, 125 autovetture, 186 autocarri, 89 rimorchi, 8 autoambulanze.

Fallen

The Chief Rifleman Filippo Montesi of San Marco Battalion, conscription 3rd/82, born Fano on 11 May 1963 and died in Rome at the Umberto I° polyclinic on 22 March 1983, was the only soldier to fall during the ITALCON mission.

The 15 March 1983he was hit by machine gun fire in the back during an ambush while on night patrol on his way to Beirut airport, near the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj El Barajneh.

He died on 22 March 1983 as a result of his injuries, at the age of less than 20.

In Fano, his hometown, and especially in the Sant'Orso district where he lived, Filippo's memory has been dedicated:

• Via F. Montesi
• F. Montesi Primary School
• F. Montesi Sports Field

In Barile, a town in the province of Potenza:

• Piazza Filippo Montesi

The local Fano group of the National Association of Italian Sailors also bears his name.

Military Military Cross

A soldier from the peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon, on night patrol, was attacked with machine-gun fire and bombs being thrown. Seriously wounded in several parts, he showed self-sacrifice, incited his fellow soldiers to react, urging them not to care about him.

Beirut (Lebanon), 15 March 1983