Browse Items (34193 total)
Sort by:
Interview with Anna Maria Baccolini
Anna Maria Baccolini (b. 1933) recalls the first bombing of Turin, aimed at the Lingotto industrial area. Describes the impressive sight of the city burning and highlights the effects of nearby hits. Remembers the tender gesture of her father who…
Interview with Carlo Bertolo
Carlo Bertolo (b. 1939) remembers a bombing of Turin when incendiaries were dropped. Recalls how one of them hit his house, but it was stopped by a trunk full of clothes before it could reach the shelter.
Two B-24s in a desert landscape
Two B-24 in a desert landscape, one on the ground and one flying overhead at low altitude . A starter trolley is visible on the ground.
Two B-24s in flight over cloud
Air-to-air view of a B-24 with the code 'Q' on the fuselage; the port wing of second B-24 is partially visible on the right. Calibration markings along the edges.
B-24 in flight over Italy
A B-24 in flight over land with a river flowing parallel to the vertical margin. On the fuselage, code letter 'H' and barely legible serial number 'KH205' [?]. Captioned on the reverse 'F. J. Auton 178 Sqdn. Italy 1944'.
Aircrew in front of a B-24
Seven aircrew are in front of the fuselage of a B-24 with 'M 19' painted on it. Five aircrew are standing, two crouched. Some are in flying gear, one has sergeant stripes.
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the…
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the…
Five aircrew in front of a Wellington
Five aircrew wearing different combinations of battledresses and non-regulation items such as woollen hats are standing in front of a Wellington parked on a muddy field. Only the nose and part of the inner port engine are visible.
Six aircrew in front of a B-24
Six aircrew in flying gear. One of them wears light-coloured trousers; one sports sergeant stripes, a third is in rolled-up shirt sleeves. Two packed parachutes are visible on Marston Mat. Inner starboard engine, part of the fuselage with the marking…
Jim Auton in uniform
Head and shoulder portrait of Jim Auton in sergeant's uniform with bomb aimer brevet.
Jim Auton in tropical uniform
Head and shoulder portrait of Sergeant Jim Auton in tropical uniform with observer brevet.
Jim Auton in uniform
Head and shoulder portrait of Sergeant Jim Auton in uniform with bomb aimer brevet.
Interview with Renate Rothaler
Renate Rothaler (b. 1937) recounts her wartime experiences in Gotha, where she lived with her mother and sister while her father was drafted. Mentions a bombing in spring 1944 when she watched ‘silver birds’ that soon started to drop bombs, a…
Interview with Marino Ferrari
Marino Ferrari recalls his early life as an engineer at Pavia arsenal, and later in Catanzaro and Verona. Describes his life as an Italian military internee in East Prussia, working in different lumberyards. Speaks with affection of the German…
Interview with Alessandra Rivalta
Alessandra Rivalta recalls her early life, first as member of Opera Nazionale Balilla then as an undergraduate student at the faculty of humanities. Describes the start of the war, early anti-aircraft precautions and wartime life: food shortage,…
Interview with Paola Giorgina Pasini
Paola Giorgina Pasini provides details of her early life in a family of agricultural workers and compares favourably their condition with those living in urban areas. Recalls the ominous sight of target indicators and flares, and remembers Pippo…
Interview with Paolo Bottani
Paolo Bottani recalls wartime memories of a working-class family in Milan. Describes the widespread enthusiasm for the declaration of war, followed by a relatively calm period. Mentions alarms as greeted initially with joy because classes stopped and…
Interview with Lucia Muratori
Lucia Muratori recalls her early life in Bologna in the family of a well-off foundry owner. Stresses that she had less traumatic war experiences compared to many other people at that time, the only disturbing episode being eye-witnessing the killing…
Interview with Fausta Maggioni
Fausta Maggioni recalls memories of her wartime life in Milan. She describes a sizeable shelter reinforced with wooden props, a little bag with the few valuables she had always to bring along, as well as the many duties of her father as warden, who…
Interview with Teresa Messali
Teresa Messali gives a brief account of her pre-war life with her large family in a farmhouse near Bergamo. She mentions Pippo; describes the pressing need to find shelter during the bombings and stresses how she frequently resorted to ditches.…
Interview with Ada Dellaferrera
Ada Dellaferrera (b. 1928) recalls aircraft strafing the railway station and how she tried to hide next to a wall. Remembers when her mother sent her out in the blackout and the fear of the dark she has had ever since.
Interview with Luigia Colussi
Luigia Colussi (b. 1925) gives a short account of her wartime life and describes how she persuaded German troops to release her father. Stresses the contrast between the attitude of adults (who prayed and were generally worried by the situation) and…
Interview with Angela Squicciarini
Angela Squicciarini (b. 1925) gives an account of her life in wartime when she attended school. Mentions relatives, one of whom spent many years in Russia; describes how the living conditions improved over the years and provide details about olive…
Interview with Mafalda De Luca
Mafalda De Luca (b. 1939) recalls how her father moved to Fiume during the D’Annunzio occupation, where he met her mother. Remembers the blackout curtains at the windows and mentions underground shelters. Gives a brief account of a small bomb (or a…
Interview with Carla Griva
Carla Griva (b. 1935) describes different attitudes and various coping strategies of people inside a shelter in Turin: reciting the rosary, putting their hands over their ears to avoid listening, storytelling, and asking children to practice…
Interview with Erika Gautsch
Erika Gautsch (b. 1928) describes her wartime experience of being inside a shelter and the people she met there: an old sick man with his wife, who was incessantly reciting the rosary, and children clinging to their mothers. Emphasises tension and…