The first time is never forgotten. And it was with Operation Lebanon 2 of the Italcon mission, the first major deployment of the Folgore since the post-war period.
For the Brigade, an operation began in September 1982 in a country where, for many years, various factions of different religions and ethnicities had fiercely fought. The Paratroopers Brigade was present, from the first to the last day, with its personnel and equipment framed within the Multinational Force Contingent.
The Context
On June 6, 1982, in response to the assassination attempt by the Palestinian organization al-Fatah against the Israeli ambassador in the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argo, the first Lebanon war broke out, also known as Operation Peace for Galilee, where Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) invaded the south of the country.
Another reason provided by Israel to justify the operation was that the intervention was carried out to intervene in the Lebanese civil war and counter Syrian influence in Lebanon and possibly allow the establishment of a stable leadership of the Christian population, which would strengthen the regular Lebanese army, restore security, and allow diplomatic relations with Israel to begin.
Later in 1982, an agreement was reached, and US, French, and Italian peace military forces (Italcon Mission) ensured that the survivors of the PLO could find refuge in neighboring Arab states.
Philip Habib, the envoy of US President Ronald Reagan to Lebanon, assured the PLO that Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps would not be rearmed.
The first troops landed on the beaches near Beirut in August 1982. The Italians named their intervention Italcon Mission, the French Opération Diodon.
The paratroopers of the 2e Régiment étranger de parachutistes of the Foreign Legion (2° REP) were the first to enter the city, landing in the port from amphibious vehicles of the Marine nationale and then moving to the suburbs.
On August 19, 1982, the 2° 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.
Part Italcon Lebanon 1
On August 21, 1982, the international evacuation of PLO fighters began; simultaneously, for Italy, the mission Italcon “Lebanon 1” started: the contingent departed aboard the landing ships of the Italian Navy Grado and Caorle and the ferry of Lloyd Triestino “Buona Speranza”, chartered by the Ministry of Defense, with escort from the frigate Perseo. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Bruno Tosetti, the land device was composed of the 2nd Bersaglieri Battalion “Governolo”, structured on command company, two mechanized companies, engineering platoon and carabinieri platoon from the 3rd Battalion “Lombardia”, for a total of 519 men (40 officers, 81 non-commissioned officers, and 389 troops) with about 200 vehicles between wheeled and tracked. Previously, the ship Caorle had provided for the evacuation of civilians from Lebanon.
On August 23, 1982, the former head of the Lebanese Phalanges Basir Gemanyel became President of Lebanon. The event would be highly significant for the continuation, in the following years, of the Italcon mission. Only three days later, on August 26, 1982, the ships with the Italian contingent docked in the port of Beirut, immediately starting operations in the assigned sector.
The international operation lasted about twenty days, and the contingent withdrew along with the rest of the multinational force on the following September 12.
But on September 14, 1982, there was the event that would culminate in new clashes and massacres: the newly elected president, Basir Gemanyel, was assassinated with a bomb attack along with 26 Phalangist leaders.
It is at this moment that Israeli forces occupy West Beirut.
On September 18, 1982, the 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 for the Damour massacre of 1976 where more than 500 Christian Maronite civilians were massacred.
In this case too, the Israeli army did not intervene to stop the killing of civilians.
It was then decided to return the Multinational Force to Lebanon, composed of French, American, and Italian troops.
The situation is tense and extremely complex: Italy launches Italcon “Lebanon 2”, which will see the deployment of the best units of its Armed Forces.
The Italcon Lebanon 2 Mission
The mission began on September 20, 1982 with the departure of the landing ships Grado and Caorle carrying the armored vehicles of the "San Marco" Battalion under the command of Commander Pierluigi Sambo, escorted by the frigate Perseo, and the ferries Canguro Bianco, Buona Speranza departing from Genoa with vehicles and logistics, and Staffetta Jonica departing from Cyprus with the first advanced unit of Incursori from the 9° Btg. Col Moschin who arrived on the island with an Italy/Cyprus air bridge of the Air Force and civilian aircraft.
When the situation on the ground worsened, additional support was provided to the rotating contingent by the Navy units equipped with 127/38 caliber guns: Intrepido, which was the first to arrive in support on May 12, 1983, and those equipped with 127/54 caliber guns: Ardito, Audace, Perseo, Lupo, Sagittario, and Orsa.
An extremely challenging mission in every aspect. For the Folgore, therefore, it was also a real test in the field. It was no longer training, but a commitment, albeit humanitarian, military, and in a war zone.
The tasks are demanding: ensuring security in the area from the airport to the city center, in a peripheral area with a strong presence of Palestinian refugee camps, including those sadly known for the massacres that took place there, Sabra and Chatila, escorting political, civilian, local and foreign military personnel, and, most difficult, protecting themselves from attackers. In practice, fighting.
The Italian contingent, initially consisting of a thousand men, under the command of Paratrooper Colonel Franco Angioni, arrived in Lebanon on September 24, 1982.
Relations with the local population and the various warring parties were greatly facilitated by the construction of a field hospital near Beirut airport, where all wounded from 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 units.
The 1st Carabinieri Paratrooper Battalion “Tuscania”, the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion “Tarquinia”, and the 5th Paratrooper Battalion “El Alamein” rotated as follows:
- September 1982 – March 1983: 1st Carabinieri Paratrooper Battalion “Tuscania”
- March 1983 – July 1983: 2nd Paratrooper Battalion “Tarquinia”
- July 1983 – November 1983: 5th Paratrooper Battalion “El Alamein”
- November 1983 – February 1984: 1st Carabinieri Paratrooper Battalion “Tuscania”
It should also be highlighted the significant involvement of the Carabinieri Corps as a whole: in addition to the paratrooper units of “Tuscania”, a Military Police Platoon (from the 3rd Battalion “Lombardia”) operated in both Italcon I and Italcon II, with functions of military and common judicial police, prevention activities — and, when necessary, repression — of crimes related to drug trafficking (Beirut was one of the main regional hubs of drug trafficking; the work of the Corps was invaluable in acquiring information and countering the phenomenon), road accident management, escorts to convoys and personalities, security of premises and installations, and patrols for liaison.
The strength of the Corps was maintained at an average of 160 units (with peaks up to 274), with rotations of 6 months for battalion commands and 4 months for the remaining personnel.
1983, the toughest year
On March 15, 1983 at 9:00 PM, a patrol of the "San Marco" Battalion fell into an ambush near the Sabra camp, and four men were injured, one seriously. That same night, General Angioni decided to go out with the Col Moschin commandos to intercept the attackers, who had not yet left the area.
Upon contact with the enemy, a violent firefight ensued, in which the Lebanese fought with heavier weaponry and anti-tank weapons. In the combat, three commandos were injured (one lost a leg) and it was decided to suspend the action.
On March 15, 1983, an Italian vehicle on a night patrol near the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj el-Barajneh, in Beirut, fell into an ambush and was attacked with machine gun fire and bomb throwing. The Italian soldier Filippo Montesi, a marine of the San Marco, was shot in the back and died in Italy on March 22, 1983 due to the injuries sustained.
The peak of tension was reached between the end of August and September 1983: on September 22, 1983, a Druze artillery bombardment aimed at Christian neighborhoods hit an ammunition depot of the 5th Par. Battalion "El Alamein", destroying it and injuring three Paratroopers.
The Angioni method: a model for the future
The intervention in Lebanon, during which both the American and French contingents suffered severe losses following two attacks (On October 23, 1983, a double bombing at the bases of the multinational force caused the death of 241 US marines and 56 French soldiers), was thanks to Gen. Franco Angioni a model referred to by subsequent Italian missions abroad, including Somalia (1992-1993).
The General's approach was to encourage his soldiers to understand the local culture, for 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 just another foreign contingent in Lebanese land.
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 the wounded from 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 began on February 11, 1984 with the transfer of Italian civilians to Cyprus by the ship Caorle.
On February 20, the naval squadron under the command of Admiral Giasone Piccioni, composed of Vittorio Veneto, Doria, Ardito, Audace, Orsa, Perseo, Sagittario, Stromboli, Caorle, returned to protect the civilian 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 longer.
The mission ended on March 6, 1984, when the last paratrooper carabinieri company returned.
Filippo Montesi, conscript Marine, 3rd/82, of the "San Marco" battalion of the Navy, who died on March 15, 1983, was the only Italian soldier to fall during the ITALCON "Lebanon 2" mission.
In that mission, there were also 75 wounded on the Italian side.
Inshallah
From the journalistic experience in Lebanon with the Italian troops, the writer Oriana Fallaci published the famous novel "Inshallah" in 1990. Set during the time of the civil war in Lebanon in the eighties during the intervention of international forces.
Through the personal and common stories of the members of the Italian contingent in the three months between the Beirut attacks and the return home of the Italian force, Fallaci describes a complex backdrop that becomes a snapshot 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".
Organization and Employed Units
- Commander and Command
- Command and Signal Company
- 9th Assault Paratrooper Battalion “Col Moschin” Raiders Company
- A Paratrooper Battalion (rotations between 1st Paratrooper Carabinieri Battalion “Tuscania”, 2nd Paratrooper Battalion “Tarquinia”, 5th Paratrooper Battalion “El Alamein”, along with elements from the 185th Viterbo Group, the Command and Signal Unit, the Pioneers Company, and the Military Parachuting School)
- A “San Marco” Battalion of the Navy, with elements from the GOI of the Underwater and Raiders Command
- A Bersaglieri Battalion (first “Governolo”, then “Bezzecca”, then the “Cernaia” stationed in Pordenone)
- Cavalry Squadron with armored cars
- Engineer Platoon
- Logistics Battalion
- Field Hospital, with elements of the military medical service
- Military Police Platoon of the Carabinieri Corps (from the 3rd Battalion “Lombardia”)
- Vehicles: 97 armored combat vehicles, 6 armored cars, 125 cars, 186 trucks, 89 trailers, 8 ambulances.
Fallen
Petty Officer Rifleman Filippo Montesi of the San Marco Battalion, draft 3°/82, born in Fano on May 11, 1963, and died in Rome at the Umberto I° Polyclinic on March 22, 1983, was the only soldier to fall during the ITALCON mission.
On March 15, 1983, he was hit by machine gun fire in the back during an ambush while on night patrol on the road to Beirut airport, near the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj El Barajneh.
He died on March 22, 1983 from the injuries sustained, not even twenty years old.
In Fano, his city, and especially in the Sant'Orso neighborhood where he resided, in memory of Filippo, the following have been dedicated:
- F. Montesi Street
- F. Montesi Primary School
- F. Montesi Sports Field
In Barile, a town in the province of Potenza:
- Filippo Montesi Square
The local group of Fano of the National Association of Italian Sailors also bears his name.
War Cross for Military Valor
A soldier of the peace contingent in Lebanon, on night patrol duty, was attacked with machine gun fire and bomb throws. Seriously wounded in multiple areas, showing selflessness, he urged his comrades to react, inviting them not to care for him.
Beirut (Lebanon), March 15, 1983
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