# La Disperata

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Italian fascist bodyguard regiment

*La Disperata* squadra in [Florence](/source/Florence).

A member of *La Disperata* in [Florence](/source/Florence).

Insignia painted in canvas shown in the picture above

***La Disperata*** was the name given to the group of bodyguards who protected [Gabriele D'Annunzio](/source/Gabriele_D'Annunzio). It was taken up in turn by a number of later [squadre](/source/Squadrismo) and [fascist](/source/Fascism) military units in Italy between 1921 and 1945.

## At Fiume

The origins of the name go back to the Fiume expedition of 1919. The writer [Gabriele D'Annunzio](/source/Gabriele_D'Annunzio) seized control of the city, planning to unify it with the [Kingdom of Italy](/source/Kingdom_of_Italy), and creating the short-lived [Italian Regency of Carnaro](/source/Italian_Regency_of_Carnaro). [Guido Keller](/source/Guido_Keller) formed a military corps from volunteers who has made their way to [Fiume](/source/Rijeka) from Italy and had camped out in the city's shipyards. Keller experimented with his ideas of a new military order, making them march bare-chested and singing through the streets of the city.[1] In the evenings they gathered at a restaurant called “La Torretta”, where they started hand grenade fights.[2] This corps took the name *La Disperata* meaning “(the guard) of desperate men”, and became famous among the *[arditi](/source/Arditi)* and fascists for their fearlessness and the charisma of its leaders.

## *Squadre*

The first *squadra* to take the name was formed in [Florence](/source/Florence) on 14 March 1921. It had twenty-one members.

“So a squadra was launched at the head of which was placed an [Arditi](/source/Arditi) lieutenant, naturally one decorated for valour, with four former combatant officers, two Arditi sergeants, two others who had been at Fiume, three students, one employee and a commercial traveler, also was also a student in his spare time. We also thought about the name, and after much deliberation, we decided on “La Disperata”, in honour of D'Annunzio’s bodyguard. And the squadra, with its members and its team as a whole, with its members and its crazy name, was so popular that after a few days we could no longer hold back the press of people wanting to join and we had to let others in, choosing them one by one from among the daredevils.[3]

The name was then taken up by squadre in other cities including [Bari](/source/Bari), [Brescia](/source/Brescia), [Caltanissetta](/source/Caltanissetta), [Cosenza](/source/Cosenza), [Genoa](/source/Genoa),[4] [Gorizia](/source/Gorizia), [Livorno](/source/Livorno), [Lodi](/source/Lodi%2C_Lombardy),[5] [Modena](/source/Modena), [Padua](/source/Padua), [Parma](/source/Parma), [Portici](/source/Portici), [Turin](/source/Turin),[6] [Treviso](/source/Treviso) and [Venice](/source/Venice). [Foligno](/source/Foligno) and [Perugia](/source/Perugia) adopted the variant *La Disperatissima* (“the most desperate”).[7][1]

## Air force squadrons

Insignia of the 83rd fighter squadron *La Disperata*.

[Alessandro Pavolini](/source/Alessandro_Pavolini) with the 15th bomber squadron *La Disperata*, 1935.

The name *La Disperata* was adopted by the [83rd Squadron](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/83%C2%AA_Squadriglia) and the [15th Caproni Bomber Squadron](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/15%C2%AA_Squadriglia_da_bombardamento_Caproni) of the [Regia Aeronautica](/source/Regia_Aeronautica). The Caproni squadron took part in the [Second Italo-Ethiopian War](/source/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War) (1935–1936) under the command of [Galeazzo Ciano](/source/Galeazzo_Ciano).[8][9]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Pike_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Pike_1-1) Hughes-Hallett, Lucy (2013). *The Pike*. London: Fourth Estate. p. 536. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-00-721396-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-00-721396-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Comisso, Giovanni (1963). *Le mie stagioni*. Milan: Longanesi.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Piazzesi, Mario (2010). *Diario di uno squadrista toscano*. Milan: Seb.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Alberico, Francesca. ["Squadrismo a Genova (1921 - 1926)"](https://www.gazzettadisanta.eu/articoli/st_180904.html). *gazzettadisanta.eu*. La Gazetta di Santa. Retrieved 18 August 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Fumich2012_5-0)** Sergio Fumich (August 2012). [*Antifascismo e Resistenza a Brembio e Secugnago*](https://books.google.com/books?id=KaLfAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA107). Lulu.com. pp. 107–. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-291-01463-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-291-01463-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Novelli, Massimo. ["1922 Torino La Prima Strage Nera"](https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2012/12/13/1922-torino-la-prima-strage-nera.html). *repubblica.it*. La Repubblica. Retrieved 18 August 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Elenco delle squadre d'azione in attività dal 1919 al 1922"](https://spazioinwind.libero.it/littorio/squa/elsqua-i.htm) (in Italian).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Tucker2012_8-0)** Phillip Thomas Tucker (1 February 2012). [*Father of the Tuskegee Airmen, John C. Robinson*](https://books.google.com/books?id=CyaIfPI81FwC&pg=PA123). Potomac Books, Inc. pp. 123, 183. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-59797-487-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59797-487-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Nicolle2012_9-0)** David Nicolle (20 July 2012). [*The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935–36*](https://books.google.com/books?id=uKHvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT90). Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 90. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-78200-132-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-78200-132-4).

## Further reading

- Paolo Ferrari (2004). L'aeronautica italiana: una storia del Novecento. FrancoAngeli. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-88-464-5109-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-88-464-5109-5).

- Mimmo Franzinelli (2004). Squadristi. Protagonisti e tecniche della violenza fascista, 1919–1922. Mondadori. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-8804529347](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-8804529347)

- Manlio Cancogni (1980). Gli Squadristi. Longanesi.

- Alessandro Pavolini (1937) [Disperata](https://archive.org/stream/Disperata/Disperata_djvu.txt). Vallechi

v t e Gabriele D'Annunzio Novels Il Piacere (1889) Giovanni Episcopo (1891) The Intruder (1892) Il trionfo della morte (1894) The Maidens of the Rocks (1895) The Flame (1900) Forse che sì forse che no (1910) Plays La città morta (1896) La Gioconda (1899) Francesca da Rimini (1902) La figlia di Jorio (1904) La fiaccola sotto il moggio (1905) Poems Halcyon (1903) Works about Tamara (1981 play) D'Annunzio (1987 drama film) The Pike (2013 biography) The Bad Poet (2020 drama film) Miscellaneous Birthplace of Gabriele D'Annunzio Museum La Disperata Flight over Vienna Mutilated victory Italian Regency of Carnaro Rome–Tokyo Raid Vittoriale degli Italiani

v t e Italian Regency of Carnaro Key people Gabriele D'Annunzio Alceste De Ambris Henry Furst Riccardo Gigante Guido Keller Harukichi Shimoi Events and institutions Bloody Christmas La Disperata League of Fiume Legacy Commemorative Medal of the Fiume Expedition Fiume o morte!

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