Browse Items (37 total)
- Temporal Coverage is exactly "1943-09-08"
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Interview with Maria Teresa Boazzelli
Maria Teresa Boazzelli describes the bombing of Frascati on 8 September 1943 and provides an account of life inside an improvised shelter: people praying and screaming after explosions. She explains how the Germans had been expecting the bombing and…
Interview with Paolo Bottani
Paolo Bottani recalls wartime memories as part of a working-class family in Milan. He describes the widespread enthusiasm for the declaration of war, followed by a relatively calm period. He remembers the alarms being greeted, initially, with joy…
Interview with Maria Malagni
Maria Malagni (b. 1921) remembers her difficult childhood and chequered schooling history. She recalls wartime episodes: the death of her fiancé, an airman shot down over Brindisi; fascists seizing supplies; the capture of two partisans that her…
Tags: animal; bombing; fear; home front; love and romance; Pippo
Interview with Patrizia Riviera
Patrizia Riviera (b. 1930) gives a brief account of wartime life in Bergamo. She mentions food shortages, fear of bombings and basements used as shelters. She recalls disrupted schooling after the fall from power of the Fascist regime.
Tags: bombing; childhood in wartime; civil defence; fear; home front; shelter
Interview with Angelo Cassia
Angelo Cassia (b. 1926) gives an account of the bombing of Turin in the summer of 1943. He mentions the use of a shelter in the basement until it became clear that it would not withstand a blast wave and could trap the occupants inside. He recalls…
Tags: bombing; civil defence; home front
Interview with Efrem Colombi
Efrem Colombi recalls his care-free childhood, initially in the Bergamo countryside and then in Milan. He emphasises his life-long, radical, anti-Clericalism and recounts how he ran away several times from Catholic boarding schools due to his…
Interview with Francesco and Maria Gigliola Rapozzi
Francesco and Maria Gigliola Rapozzi remember wartime life in Monfalcone. They recall the day the shipyard was engulfed in flames after a severe bombing raid and mention the high number of casualties among civilians. They remember various stories:…
Interview with Gualtiero Silvio Cosolo
Gualtiero Silvio Cosolo recalls attending the Ceriani vocational school in Monfalcone, and every day at the same time the air raid siren went off and the children would run to the nearest shelter. He describes the bombing of 7 March 1944 and the…
Tags: bombing; childhood in wartime; civil defence; home front; Pippo; Resistance; round-up; shelter
Interview with Guido Dell’Era
Guido Dell’Era recollects daily life in wartime Milan, stressing inadequate war preparation. He describes a disciplined, regimented society which later turned to disillusionment. He recollects the declaration of war, the fall of the fascist regime…
Interview with Maurizio Ghiretti
Maurizio Ghiretti describes his early life at Monticelli Terme, a small town near Parma. He remembers various episodes of wartime hardships: food shortages; a tree taken down at night for firewood; men hiding in concealed rooms to avoid roundups; and…
Interview with Marialuigia Buffadossi
Marialuigia Buffadossi remembers her wartime life in the Lombardy region. Born in a low-class neighbourhood with poor-quality housing, she first worked as a shorthand clerk for a solicitor and was then employed by a major bank. She remembers her…
Interview with Adriano Landini
Adriano Landini (b. 1930) recalls his childhood living in the poor neighbourhood of Santa Croce in Reggio Emilia. He describes the profound sense of solidarity during wartime, stressing the community spirit among the so-called ‘popol giost’ (the salt…
Interview with Pietro Varesi
Pietro Varesi describes wartime life in Pavia, focussing on the Borgo neighbourhood. He mentions the Ticino bridges as primary targets for bombers; recalls bent shop shutters and debris on the streets; stresses the limited accuracy of bombing and the…
Interview with Tito Samorè
Tito Samorè recalls wartime memories in Milan, when he was a member of the Balilla youth organisation. He remembers the outbreak of war and its announcement on the radio. Tito describes the first bombing of Milan in 1940, stressing how easy it was…
Interview with Giuseppe Pirovano
Giuseppe Pirovano describes wartime memories as schoolboy at Affori, a Milan neighbourhood, and daily life in fascist youth organisations, with regimented schooling and political rallies. He talks about children’s games and pastimes, such as…
Interview with Giovanni Oderda
Giovanni Oderda recalls the Dogliani bombing on 8 September 1943. He claims that the town was hit because partisans shaved a fascist woman; after the attack Giovanni and his family left the town. He and his brothers ended up in the partisan ranks…
Tags: bombing; evacuation; home front; Resistance
Interview with Aldo Petrina
Aldo Petrina lived in Capodistria with his family until March 1944. He recalls a day when a German warned his mother that they risk being thrown in a karst sinkhole because they did not speak Slovenian. All the family then moved to Varese, where he…
Interview with Leonardo Gravina
Leonardo Gravina describes his early life in the rural district of the Puglia region, near the towns of Foggia and S. Giovanni Rotondo. He remembers seeing formations of aircraft taking off and landing from an airfield nearby and speaks fondly of an…
Interview with Mariagrazia Sinigo Petrina
Mariagrazia Sinigo Petrina recollects her childhood in Trieste and describes hardships during the war. Her father enlisted in the Italian navy while she lived with her mother and grandmother. She describes how difficult it was to find food and…
Tags: bombing; childhood in wartime; fear; home front; shelter
Interview with Annamaria De Manzano Vici
Annamaria De Manzano Vici recalls her wartime childhood in Trieste and describes the struggle of her all female family, coping with fear, hunger, and difficulties in finding food supplies. She remembers the run to the public shelter and the terror…
Interview with Celestino Chiesa
Celestino Chiesa remembers his wartime memories as a schoolboy in Pavia, attending the Artigianelli boarding school, including: food shortages; rationing; “Pippo” bombing at night; machine-gun nests along the Ticino river; a friend joining the…
Interview with a survivor of the Cordenons bombings (informant B)
The interviewee recalls wartime episodes in Cordenons and the Pordenone area. She mentions aircraft en route to Austrian targets contrasted by anti-aircraft fire, while she was taking shelter in a ditch, and remembers the bombings of Casarsa and the…
Tags: anti-aircraft fire; bombing; fear; home front; Pippo; round-up; shelter; strafing
Interview with Liliana Kucic Podda
Liliana Kucic Podda recalls her early years in Fiume, describing a serene childhood playing with her friends. She recalls a severe bombing raid that hit the Whitehead torpedo factory and the ROMSA refinery - the latter burning for days - and mentions…
Tags: bombing; childhood in wartime; fear; home front; shelter; target indicator
Harold Gorton
A side view cartoon of Harold Gorton. He is standing with his hands in his pockets. It is captioned 'Gort' and is signed 'Pat Rooney 1943'.
Tags: aircrew; arts and crafts; pilot
Letter to Hedley Madgett's parents
Thanks them for account of Hedley's doings. Comments on bombing in Germany and Italy. Notes it takes months to get any news of missing crews. Catches up with news. From Ada and Aunt. Additional information about this item was kindly provided by the…
Tags: bombing; missing in action