Browse Items (1333 total)
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Interview with Mario Miniussi
Mario Miniussi recalls the 18 March 1944 Monfalcone night bombing. He was sleeping when the siren sounded; then he saw the bombs falling on the shipyard among explosions and fires. Remembers how he was normally at school during alarms, so he and his…
Interview with Francesco and Maria Gigliola Rapozzi
Francesco and Maria Gigliola Rapozzi remember wartime life in Monfalcone. They recollect the day the shipyard was engulfed in flames after a severe bombing raid and mentions the high number of casualties among civilians. They remember various…
Interview with Mario Commisso
Mario Commisso remembers his early years when he lived in the Codroipo area, close to the Rivolto air base. Describes his brother being born on 28 February 1941 during a severe bombing raid during which the bombers were attacked by anti-aircraft fire…
Interview with Livio Ponte
Livio Ponte remembers his wartime life in Monfalcone. He describes the frightening moments when the alarm sounded, usually at night and people rushed to the shelters for safety. He mentions different attitudes: his parents going to a shelter whereas…
Interview with Ferdi Righi
Ferdinando Righi recalls his early life in Monfalcone, brought up by his mother while his father served as a submariner. Describes daily life in wartime: how he used to sleep fully clothed, waiting for the air raid siren. His mother would put some…
Interview with Livia de Savorgnani Zanmarchi
Livia de Savorgnani Zanmarchi reminisces her wartime experiences in Trieste. Describes the 10 June 1944 bombing, mentioning the destruction of the Beata Vergine delle Grazie church and the Modiano card factory. Talks about the gruesome sight of a…
Interview with Jutta Petenati
Jutta Petenati recollects her wartime life in Berlin while she was a young girl. She recounts various episodes: the black market; removing incendiary bombs from her house; seeking shelter in an underground train station instead of her house basement,…
Interview with Hans-Walter Bendzko
Hans-Walter Bendzko recalls his wartime experiences as a young boy in Berlin, before being evacuated. He describes his time at Wannsee, being properly looked after while surviving one of the Berlin bombings and mentions incendiaries falling into a…
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…
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 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…
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 Dieter Essig
Dieter Essig recalls the Pforzheim bombing on 23 February 1945, which he witnessed at the age of six. He talks about the long hours he spent inside a shelter, describing his wartime years as a wasted childhood. He recalls the bombing on 1 April 1944,…
Interview with Wolfgang Jähnichen
Wolfgang Jähnichen recollects being a five-year-old boy in Dresden at the time of the 13 February 1945 bombing. Gives a vivid account of the attack and recounts various episodes: the time spent with his mother in the cellar used as air raid shelter,…
Interview with Hubert Draegert
Hubert Draegert remembers his wartime experiences, first in Berlin and then as an evacuee at his uncle’s farm near Wroclaw. He mentions the bombing of the Berlin State Opera and the repeated efforts made to rebuild the gutted building. He remembers…
Interview with Wilhelm Simonsohn
Wilhelm Simonsohn remembers his wartime service as a Luftwaffe night fighter pilot. He tells of his adoption by a Jewish family, and the discovery of his father’s background after being lampooned as ‘Jewish scum’ at school. He emphasises family…
Interview with Charly Pfeifer
Charly Pfeifer recounts his experiences of the bombing of Betzdorf an der Sieg, a small town not far from the Ruhr. He explains the strategic importance of the city, due to the presence of locomotive works. He recounts taking shelter from the bombs…
Interview with Stella Jones
William Jones was a wireless operator on 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron. He met his future wife Stella in 1946, who recalls the wartime experiences of her late husband. Having just left school at the outbreak of war, William initially worked in an Oxford…
Interview with Jim Wright. One
Jim Wright was born in 1932. He was evacuated from West Ham during the Second World War along with his mother and two brothers. His father joined the Royal Air Force as an Observer Bomb Aimer with 207 Squadron. His aircraft was shot down over…
Interview with Kenneth Cook
Wing Commander Kenneth Cook was born in Randwick in Gloucestershire. At Marlings grammar school, he joined the Air Training Corps. On the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Air Force and went to America under the Arnold Scheme for pilot training.…
Interview with James Hampton
James Hampton was born in February 1925. Before the war, he was an apprentice engineer with Laystall Engineering Company. He was in a reserved occupation before joining the Royal Air Force in 1943, where he trained as a flight engineer in Bomber…
Interview with Gladys Gildersleve
Gladys Gildersleve was working for a laboratory when she decided to join the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She began her training at RAF Bridgenorth and at RAF Morecambe. Her first posting was to barrage balloons at Swansea Docks. She eventually…
Interview with Donald Briggs
Donald Briggs was born in Lealholm near Whitby in Yorkshire. After school, he became an apprentice with the Royal Air Force. He trained at RAF Halton in 1939 and became an engine fitter working on Wellingtons and Manchesters. He volunteered for air…