The year that Hitler invaded Poland, the Italians were reported to have had 2 battalions of trained parachutists in Libya with a total strength of 504 men. In April 1940 a battalion of 280 native parachutists was said to be stationed at Castel Benito; it operated in 8-man sections led by a noncommissioned or a commissioned officer, and each section was transported in modified S-81 aircraft. However, up to the spring of 1941 the Italians were still counting their parachutists in terms of hundreds instead of thousands.