Browse Items (60 total)
Sort by:
Interview with Lidia Vendramin
Lidia Vendramin recalls her childhood in Sacile, including details on her primary schooling, family, and town life. She contrasts the public manifestations of joy the day the war was declared, with the shock and dismay of her parents, whose lives had…
Interview with Lidia Fabris and Alfonso Fridiani
Lidia Fabris and Alfonso Fridiani remember 'Pippo'. Alfonso Fridiani recalls how his truck was saved from one of 'Pippo’s' attacks by a partisan. Lidia Fabris remembers the fear she felt when 'Pippo' fired off flares. She describes an incident in…
Interview with Laura Perego
Laura Perego (b. 1919) tells how her village, on the outskirts of Milan, went through the war almost unscathed, despite being close to an ammunition dump and other potential targets. She remembers a mysterious, badly dressed man who lived in a nearby…
Interview with Kenneth William Munro
Ken was a 456 Squadron Mosquito navigator. He initially joined the Army’s Victorian Scottish regiment but changed to the Royal Air force. He was selected to be a navigator and sailed to Canada. Ken did a course at Edmonton and was made an officer. He…
Interview with Guido Di Blas and Ilario Bolletti
Guido Di Blas (pictured on the left) and Ilario Bolletti (pictured on the right) recount wartime memories associated with the town of Monfalcone and the surrounding area. They describe a severe night of bombing, recalling the ominous sight of target…
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 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…
Interview with Giuseppe Pirovano
Giuseppe Pirovano describes his 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 Gino Muratori
Gino Muratori (b. 1929) recollects three Rimini bombings that occurred in November 1944, one of which was aimed at the Ausa river bridge. He mentions his grandmother losing two relatives when their boarding house was destroyed, and recalls how, on 26…
Interview with Giglio Mazzi
Giglio Mazzi (b. 1927) recalls his early life in Reggio Emilia, born into a family with strong anti-fascist sentiments. He describes his first job at the Reggiane works, then at the local labour inspectorate, where he was attached to a debris…
Interview with Gianfranco Nardi
Gianfranco Nardi (b. 1933) recalls the first bombing of Cesenatico in 1944, a night action carried out by 'Pippo'. He explains how the aircraft missed the train station and hit the nearby town centre; he maintains that the pilot was drunk. He…
Interview with Gabriella Bisio and Teresa Mascherpa
Gabriella Bisio and Teresa Mascherpa recollect the bombing of Pavia and give a vivid description of its immediate aftermath. They describe food shortages, resorting to eating potatoes with milk and queuing up for a portion of salt. Gabriella tells…
Interview with Franco Nocchieri
Franco Nocchieri recalls his early years as an orphan living in several different towns in the Province of Pavia. He describes the bombing of the Voghera railway station, which started while he was heading to school. He goes on to explain how he and…
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 Federico Martinotti
Federico Martinotti reminisces over the Pavia bombing on the 26 September 1944, describes the effects on the buildings near the Ticino River (the old bridge being the aiming point of the attack), mentions the salvaging of valuable items from the…
Interview with Ettore Raffin
Ettore Raffin describes his early life in wartime Cordenons, his father being in America and his brother at Friedrichshafen. He remembers watching masses of aircraft heading north enroute to targets in Germany, maintaining that bombers took off from…
Interview with Enrica Mariani
Enrica Mariani recollects her wartime experiences in Milan: her brother dying of bronchitis after spending too much time in the shelter and her father working in an armaments factory; the aggressive fascist militiamen and the long hours she spent in…
Interview with Delia Cardini
Delia Cardini recalls her childhood as an orphan in a boarding school and how, at the age of 10, she moved to Milan. She remembers how the Fascists used castor oil to humiliate their opponents. Delia also describes how, after a night bombing, she was…
Interview with Corrado Marenco
Corrado Marenco (b. 1940) describes various wartime anecdotes: a makeshift shelter dug in his garden where he and other children had fun despite the danger of 'Pippo'; how his father had to hide inside the bell tower of a church to escape from German…
Interview with Clara Dei
L’intervistata è Clara Dei, nata a Prato il 19 maggio 1927, insegnante elementare. Interviene l’amica Annalia Galardini. L’intervista è effettuata da Claudio Rosati a Pistoia, presso l’abitazione dell’informatrice, il 5 settembre 1983. La notte del…
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 Carluccio Intropido
Carluccio Intropido recalls his early life as an orphan studying in Pavia at the Artigianelli, a boarding school providing technical training. He recalls that children used to watch aircraft enroute to Milan, until Pavia was bombed, due to the…
Interview with Annunciata Buffadossi
Annunciata Buffadossi recollects her wartime life in Milan. Annunciata describes poor-quality housing in a low-class neighbourhood close to potential targets; emphasises how much she feared Germans and Fascists; and speaks with affection of her old…
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…