During World War II, Operation Tombola was a major Special Air Service raid on German rear areas in Italy. Fifty men parachuted to the Cusna Mountain area (Reggio Emilia) between 4 and 24 March 1945, under command of Major Roy Farran. A number of airdrops provided weapons for the rag-tag force which armed local resistance fighters and linked up with seventy escaped Russians. A book written in Italian "Il bracciale di sterline" by Matteo Incerti & Valentina Ruozi (Aliberti April 2011) details the operation.