Italy’s first female parachutist, she faced numerous and risky assignments as a relay and informant. She’s the only one to have accomplished a war jump during WWII
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s letter to Corriere della Sera, written on the occasion of April 25 (LIBERATION DAY, LIVEBLOG) ends with a reference to the meeting with the partisan Paola Del Din. “During the Resistance she fought with the Osoppo Brigades, the formations of secular, socialist, monarchist and Catholic inspiration. She was the first Italian woman – recalls the Prime Minister – to parachute in wartime. Her courage earned her a Medal of ‘gold for military valor, which still today, almost seventy years after receiving it, he wears on his chest with touching pride. Of the Resistance he says: “Time has renamed us Partisans, but we were Patriots, I always have been and I am still”. In republican Italy – continues Meloni – she was a teacher of Letters and, despite her almost one hundred years, she continues to accept invitations to speak in the schools of Italy and the value of Freedom. I dedicate this day to her, mother of four children and grandmother of as many grandchildren, but also, ideally, of all Italians who put love for their homeland before any ideological opposition”.
The first female parachutist
Immediately after the armistice, with his brother Renato, a former student of the Military School of Milan, he joined the resistance in Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the ranks of the Osoppo Brigade with the battle name “Renata”. Paola Del Din was the first female Italian military paratrooper and the only one to have performed a war jump during the Second World War. When her brother was killed by the Germans, Del Din was tasked with joining the allies in Florence to deliver a message.
The mission
To honor the memory of her brother and continue her patriotic work, Paola Del Din attended a course for paratroopers and on April 9, 1945 she launched in an area of Friuli where she had to make contact with an allied mission and with the Osoppo formation. Although her landing broke her ankle, Paola Del Din managed to complete her task, crossing the battle lines and handing over the secret documents she was carrying.
After the Resistance
When the war was over Paola Del Din graduated in literature at the University of Padua and was a teacher for some years. She then moved to the United States, she won a scholarship and finished a Master of Arts at the University of Pennsylvania. Once back in Italy she continued to teach in public schools. In 2007 she was also the regional president of the National Association of Families Fallen and Missing in War.
Source-tg24.sky.it