The Bombing of Italy 1940 - 1945
According to official estimates, Italian civilian victims of bombing numbered around 60,000. The bombing of Italian cities began little more than 24 hours after Mussolini's declaration of war on France and Britain, while the last bombs of the war in Italy fell at the beginning of May 1945 on the route to the Brenner pass, to obstruct the return home of German troops. During the five years in between, almost every Italian city experienced bombing, first by the British and then, after the United States entered the war, by the Americans as well, and following the Allied invasion in July 1943, also by the Germans. Italy therefore experienced attacks by enemies as well as by ‘friends', bearing a promise of liberation.
On 11 June 1940 Turin was bombed for the first time, followed by Genoa and Milan, Naples and Taranto. The historic centre of Venice was spared, but not the region around it. However, the bombing campaigns that followed in 1942 and particularly in 1943 were much more intense than those of 1940-1941. By the first half of 1943 all Italian regions had been subjected to attack. On 19 July 1943 Rome was bombed for the first time.
Read Full Article »