Browse Items (38 total)

Peter Lamprey writes about his latest exploits including operations to Turin and Gelsenkirchen. He ends the letter as he has received a battle order for that night.

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Charles Ward in battledress walking alongside Margaret Pratt in First Aid Nursing Yeomanry uniform with beret. In the background on the left are buildings, one with metal shutter. On the reverse 'On leave in Rome, 1944'.

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Paolo Ferroni (b. 1937) remembers the bombings of Rome, describing the ubiquitous noise of sirens wailing and the psychological distress associated with it. He contrasts night bombings, when civilians dashed to improvised dugouts nearby, and day…

Renato Cardarelli (b. 1923) remembers his youth as an altar boy and then sexton at the church of San Paolo in Rome. He mentions his decision to enter the seminary at 18, where he spent two years, and explains how he was deemed temporarily unfit for…

Adriano Acquistucci (b. 1927) remembers the bombing of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome. Upon the arrival of the Allies on 4 June 1944, he describes how some felt liberated and others occupied. He mentions one of his friends as having “a…

Rosanna Capretta (b. 1935) reminisces about the frightening sound of the sirens and describes how she and her family tried to cope by hugging each other in a corridor. She recalls food shortages, rationing cards, and black market and describes…

Rita Patrignani (b. 1921) mentions wartime food shortages and tells how she picked up what she found on the ground at the market. She describes the bombing of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome. She compares her impulse to dash to the nearest…

Elena Fornari (b. 1936) tells of the private shelter in her house in Rome and describes daily life under bombing. She recollects the frightening encounter with two German soldiers asking for information about her father.

Silvana Zerbini (b. 1924) remembers the bombing of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome and the concern she had for her husband’s fate. She recalls the attempt to move her grandparents to a safer place out of the capital and remembers American…

Matilde Pontecorvi (b. 1910) gives an account of the bombing of Ciampino when she was travelling by tram and bombs started to explode around it. She recalls how she survived only because a priest told her to duck under the seats. She describes the…

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…

Maria Teresa Boazzelli describes the bombing of Frascati on 8 September 1943 and provides an account of life inside an improvised shelter: people praying and screaming after explosions. She explains how the Germans had been expecting the bombing and…