Margherita Colonna
She was born in Palestrina about 1255. Her father, Oddone Colonna, died when she was about two years old. Her mother, who was also named Margherita and who was the sister of Matteo Rosso Orsini and a pious woman, died when Margherita was probably a little over ten years old. Margherita was left in the care of her older brothers.
Ambush of Palestro
Ali Khodja was born in Algiers on January 12, 1933. In October 1955, he deserted from the Hussein Dey barracks with two others, carrying with them weapons, and joined the maquis in Palestro led by . Khodja was entrusted with the command of an ALN section with a strength of one hundred men. He soon distinguished himself in action, becoming the commando Ali Khodja, one of the legends of the ALN. To obtain weapons and clothing, the Khodja unit, like all other units of the NLA at that time, favored ambushes executed in accordance with the motto "Strike, Recover and Stall."