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Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Writes of rain, gardening and finances. Concludes with family chat and fact that daughter Frances is not taking to new gas mask.
Letter to prisoner of war John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Writes of visits to cinema and of domestic activities. Continues with story of her sister's photographic efforts. Mentions letters she has dispatched with photographs. Writes of spending session in air raid shelter which daughter Frances took in good…
West Bromwich evacuation
A document from the West Bromwich Education Committee providing information and advice on the evacuation of West Bromwich.
Evacuation preparation
A letter sent from the West Bromwich Education Committee, signed by L.G. Rose, Evacuation Officer. The letter provides a list on what is necessary to prepare for when an evacuation is ordered, including what to pack.
Interview with Efrem Colombi
Efrem Colombi recalls his care-free childhood, initially in the Bergamo countryside and then in Milan. Emphasises his life-long radical anti-Clericalism and recounts how he ran away several times from Catholic boarding schools because of his…
Interview with Santina Colombo
Santina Colombo describes her early life in a family of farmers, her father a fervent socialist. She mentions the start of the war announced on the radio and gives a detailed account of civilian life in wartime Milan: scarce food, growing vegetables…
Interview with Annunciata Buffadossi
Annunciata Buffadossi recollects her wartime life in Milan. Annunciata stresses poor-quality housing in a low-class neighbourhood close to potential targets; emphasises how much she feared Germans and Fascists; and speaks with affection of her old…
Interview with Tito Samorè
Tito Samorè recalls wartime memories in Milan, when he was a member of the Balilla youth organisation. He remembers the outbreak of war and its announcement on the radio. Tito describes the first bombing of Milan in 1940, stressing how easy it was…
Interview with Giuseppe Pirovano
Giuseppe Pirovano describes wartime memories as schoolboy at Affori, a Milan neighbourhood, and daily life in fascist youth organisations, with regimented schooling and political rallies. He talks about children’s games and pastimes, such as…
Interview with Alessandro Samorè
Alessandro Samorè reminisces his early life in Milan, Domodossa, Portofino, and Santa Margherita Ligure. Provides details of life in youth fascist organisations, playing with homemade fireworks, and attempts to assemble an improvised scuba gear.…
Interview with Maria Teresa Boazzelli
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…
Interview with Brigitte Terboven
Brigitte Terboven (b. 1930) recalls the bombing of Essen and the dropping of an air mine by a British bomber which was trying to evade a German night fighter. The bomb hit the ground about 20 meters from her home which collapsed like a house of…
Interview with Jörg Funfoff
Jörg Funfoff (b. 1942) recounts the experience of being a young boy at Heiligensee, a Berlin suburb; on the flying path of approaching bombers. Narrates how he was the first to hear the bombers approaching before they are in sight (a fact he was…
Interviews with Jaun Schauerte
Jaun Schauerte (b. 1936) recalls rushing to the shelter with a suitcase and a bag pack. Remembers one night when his grandmother fell under the heavy weight of the rucksack and nobody stopped to help her. Recalls the Bremen bombing, while he was…
Interview with Margarete Meyer
Margarete Meyer (b. 1936) describes the 13 February 1945 Dresden bombing and recounts how her mother reacted to the alarm. She rushed to the shelter and took some belongings, including what she thought was her confirmation dress. Explains how her…
Interview with Christoph Wagner Brausewetter
Christoph Wagner Brausewetter (b. 1929) recounts the hardships civilians endured inside a shelter, the risks involved and the fact they spent there more time there than at home. Maintains that the worst year was 1943, when aircraft were no longer…
Interview with Maria Domanovszky
Maria Domanovszky (b. 1937) recounts how she threw herself into a swampy ditch when under fire and how she lay down praying and hoping to get back home safely. Describes German soldiers with torn and dirty uniforms escaping from a burning forest.…
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, they rushed to take…
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 day. He also describes the rush to safety during another bombing, and…
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 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 also the sight of dying civilians.
Interview with Matteo Basso
Matteo Basso (b. 1934) recalls his diet 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 close to…