Interview with Gilberto Martina

Interview with Gilberto Martina

Gilberto Martina recalls his childhood in Chiusaforte and in the Canal del Ferro area: disrupted schooling; fear of Germans; subsistence farming; saboteurs; and tells how one of his friends was killed by a bomb found in a pile of litter. He describes the town as a strategic target, due to its position on a main Alpine railway; describes the regular sights of aircraft flying to Germany; and reminisces how villagers spent most of their time inside an underground shelter. Gilberto describes the 17 February 1945 bombing, in which aircraft were so tightly packed that one, which was taken down by anti-aircraft fire, collided with another one mid-air and both crashed nearby: 10 aircrew were buried in the local cemetery, two survived and visited Chiusaforte when the remains of their fellow crew members were later repatriated. He claims that Allied air forces were more hated than the Germans for inflicting widespread damage and senseless suffering; describes an episode when villagers spat on American and British troops at the end of the war; elaborates on the tormentors/liberators duality.

2018-06-11

00:30:29 audio recording

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