In the summer of 1942, the Folgore Division para-troopers, who had to endure a long and hard training in Italy, are sent to the Lybian desert. The young soldiers, who believed that their destination was Malta, realise that they are trapped in a desert, where they have to live in big holes dug in the sand, and face the well equipped English army with insuffcient means. The famous battle of El-Alamein develops, where heroic fighters try their hardest to stop the tanks of General Montgomery. The fight ends with the victory of the English, and the destruction of the heroic formation. The movie shows the lives of some of the para-troopers, heroes since their departure from Italy to their defeat.