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- Publisher is exactly "IBCC Digital Archive "
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Interview with Maria Domanovszky
Maria Domanovszky (b. 1937) tells how she threw herself into a swampy ditch when under fire and how she lay down praying and hoping to get back home safely. She describes German soldiers with torn and dirty uniforms escaping from a burning forest.…
Interview with Irma Ferranti
Irma Ferranti recalls a day when there were four bombings in Turin. She gives a complete account of the last one and how she ran through the street in search of shelter, before trying to take cover under a bridge. She goes on to remember the sound of…
Interview with Eraldo Bessone
Eraldo Bessone (b. 1925) remembers the bombing of the Borgo San Paolo neighbourhood in Turin and how, due to the extensive damage it suffered, people started calling it the 'Stalingrad neighbourhood'. He also describes how the extensive damage led to…
Interview with Maria Caterina Siccardi
Maria Caterina Siccardi (b. 1924) remembers attending the funeral of a young soldier and her fear of being bombed. She also describes the makeshift shelter her grandfather built and how she rushed to take shelter in it every time an aircraft…
Interview with Paola Bianchi
Paola Bianchi (b. 1938) recalls daily life in wartime Tuscany. She describes Rosalinda, a strict midwife, and recounts how people used to take refuge in shelters. She also gives an account of how, during the evacuation to Arezzo, at night, they…
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 Piercarlo Debernardi
Piercarlo Debernardi (b. 1928) describes how his father built the family home next to the convent of La Visitazione in Turin, a house now considered a landmark in the city. He gives an account of wartime building regulations, stressing the…
Interview with Carlo Gasparini
Carlo Gasparini (b. 1930) talks about his memories of the bombing raids on Milan. He provides an account of a night bombing with many flares that illuminated the sky as if it were daytime. He also describes the rush to safety during another bombing…
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 Mirco Marelli
Mirco Marelli describes a bombing raid on the factory where he worked in 1941: when the alarm sounded, bombs started falling but he was too far from any of the shelters, so he and a friend took cover under a staircase. He highlights how shocking it…
Interview with Giovanni Monchiero
Giovanni Monchiero (b. 1923) gives a detailed account of his experience in labour camps in Germany: he started working at a train station, but it was bombed. He then moved to the Opel garage, but it was also bombed. He describes an occasion when,…
Interview with Mariannina Di Palma
Mariannina Di Palma (b. 1925) recalls the rush to safety when the air-raid siren sounded. She recalls that, on one occasion, she still had a dish cloth in her hand when she got to the shelter. Mariannina also remembers that her mother used to take…
Interview with Maria Grazia Camperi
Maria Grazia Camperi (b. 1923) recalls how people used to take shelter in railway tunnels, standing on narrow walkways along the track. She stresses how dangerous this was and recalls the sight of people being killed or mutilated by passing trains.…
Interview with Silvano Scarnicchia
Silvano Scarnicchia (b. 1925) recalls his first assignment as a soldier, when he was posted to an anti-aircraft battery, defending a bridge in Piacenza. He also recalls a lunch with high-ranking German officers and remembers the wartime dessert made…
Interview with Silvana Morganti
Silvana Morganti (b. 1924) recalls the bombing of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome, in which she describes the sight of dead people, a destroyed shelter, and children waiting for their dead mothers to return. Silvana also explains that she…
Interview with Gino Lanni
Gino Lanni (b. 1935) describes how he ran through the alleyways of Segni in the aftermath of a bombing. He also recalls his experience of seeing a severed hand being trampled by panic-stricken people and the sight of dying civilians.
Interview with Matteo Basso
Matteo Basso (b. 1934) recalls some foods he ate during the war, at school for breakfast, he used to eat a slice of polenta and two figs. He also talks about his experience in being caught out in the open when a formation of aircraft dropped bombs…
Interview with Margherita Franco
Margherita Franco (b. 1934) describes how an unexploded bomb was found in the garden of their house. She mentions technical terms she learned at that time and describes how her father resorted to the Unione Nazionale Protezione Antiaerea bomb…
P-38 crashing near Pocenia
A P-38 crashes in flames near a canal which is bordered by vegetation. Four other aircraft are visible in the sky amongst bursts of anti-aircraft fire.
Label reads “121”; signed by the author; caption reads “13 LUGLIO 1944. Cacciabombardiere…
Label reads “121”; signed by the author; caption reads “13 LUGLIO 1944. Cacciabombardiere…
The Bombing of Munich
The ruins of buildings and industrial plants in Munich are silhouetted against a wall of flames and smoke. At the top of the frame, a portion of blue sky appears to be full of aircraft, some of them crashing in flames. Anti-aircraft batteries, a…
Battle of the Espero convoy. Part 1
An exchange of salvos is taking place between three Regia Marina vessels and seven Royal Navy ships crossing a calm sea. Plumes of black smoke are billowing out of the funnels. Shell splashes are occurring around the Italian ships.
Label reads…
Label reads…
Battle of the Espero convoy. Part 2
A fire is raging on the deck of the Espero. Explosions send large amounts of water shooting up into the sky. A second vessel, engulfed in flames and smoke, is visible in the background.
Label reads “8”; signed by the author; caption reads…
Label reads “8”; signed by the author; caption reads…
Battle of the Espero convoy. Part 3
A Royal Navy vessel exchanges salvos with an enemy ship in the distance. Both are engulfed in flames and plumes of smoke. Shells are exploding in the water near both vessels.
Label reads “9”; signed by the author; caption reads “(3) … Ed…
Label reads “9”; signed by the author; caption reads “(3) … Ed…
Battle of the Espero convoy. Part 4
The destroyer Espero is sinking rapidly in a rough sea. Its stern is raised high into the air, exposing the rudder and propeller, whilst the bow is already submerged. Flames and smoke are engulfing the bridge. A lifeboat with survivors is visible on…
Battle of the Espero convoy. Part 5
The badly damaged operations room of destroyer Espero, with a gaping hole in the ship's side and pieces of machinery engulfed in smoke. Five men are visible in total, three officers dressed in white uniforms and two seamen in blue with red stripes…