Browse Items (632 total)
Sort by:
Interview with Gerlinde Keller
Gerlinde Keller (b. 1939) was evacuated in 1942 from Munich to the Altmühltal, where she lived with her aunt in a purpose-built settlement. Explains how the intensifying bombings had made the city unsafe for children and how they managed to cope…
Interview with Günter Lucks
Günter Lucks (b. 1925) describes how he was forced to join the Hitler Youth in 1939, an event that caused a great deal of disturbance in a family of strong communist background. When his parents moved out because of his father’s job as aircraft…
Interview with Alessandro Novellini
Alessandro Novellini (b. 1932) remembers the bombings of Turin and mentions different shelters in the city: the one in the basement of his house and the much bigger one at Piazza Risorgimento, built in 1943 when the tide of war was turning in favour…
Interview with Renato Maldarelli
Renato Maldarelli (b. 1937) describes the 1943 bombing of Naples. Remembers being woken up by the alarm, his mother wrapping him in a blanket and going down to a cold shelter. Doesn’t recall the fear of being buried alive under his collapsed home,…
Interview with Adriano Acquistucci
Adriano Acquistucci (b. 1927) remembers the bombing of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome. Upon the arrival of the Allies on 4 June 1944 describes how some felt liberated and others occupied. Mentions one of his friends as having “a hammer and…
Interview with Gianfranco Maffucci
Gianfranco Maffucci (b. 1930) remembers episodes of everyday life in wartime: bartering food, going into the shelter when the alarm sounded; men working in the factories while women going to market. Gives a detailed account of his neighbourhood:…
Interview with Angelo Cassia
Angelo Cassia (b. 1926) gives an account of the bombing of Turin in the summer of 1943. Mentions the use of a shelter in the basement until it became clear that it wouldn’t withstand a blast wave, therefore trapping the occupants inside. Describes…
Interview with Mario Cocco
Mario Cocco (b. 1938) remembers the torpedoing of the Tirso dam, emphasising its beauty and meaning as an engineering marvel. Describes how a torpedo net prevented three torpedoes from reaching their target. Gives a detailed account of the bombing of…
Interview with Anna Maria Sarno
Anna Maria Sarno (b. 1945) retells wartime hardships in the surroundings of Avellino. Mentions how her family took shelter in a railway tunnel and describes disrupted transport.
Interview with Umberto Veroli
Umberto Veroli (b. 1933) recollects wartime memories when his father was an electrical engineer: living close to power substations; a kitten killed by an electric arc; Germans forcing workers to remove transformers and smash meters. He describes how…
Interview with Osvaldo Gramegna
Osvaldo Gramegna (b. 1937) remembers the bombings of Turin. Mentions civilians initially fleeing along the railway during alarms and explains how, in hindsight, it was foolish behaviour. Anecdotes of his evacuee life at Casalgrasso: ineffective civil…
Interview with Vittorio Finauri
Vittorio Finauri (b. 1931) remembers the first bombing of Foligno on 22 November 1943. Explains that it was completely unexpected and people were caught unprepared, so bombs aimed at nearby barracks resulted in a heavy death toll. Describes how some…
Interview with Antonio Bozzetti
Antonio Bozzetti (b. 1924) remembers the efforts to dodge fascist paramilitary service. Describes how he avoided being enlisted because he had a reserved occupation in a factory working for the Germans. Points out he witnessed all Milan bombings and…
Interview with Tino Luparia
Tino Luparia (b. 1930) chronicles the first daylight bombing of Turin which was aimed at the SPA industries, then a defence contractor. Describes the effects of a massive unexploded bomb which pierced all floors of a building and stopped immediately…
Interview with Pietro Cosma
Pietro Cosma (b. 1927) remembers the bombings of Milan and recollects two wartime anecdotes: the execution of a man in front of his home and Benito Mussolini’s corpse on public display in Piazzale Loreto. Describes wartime hardships: losses; food…
Interview with Paolo Racugno
Paolo Racugno (b. 1917), recollects the February 1943 Cagliari bombing. Mentions scenes of destruction with wounded civilians and describes how he used his coat to protect two girls from falling debris.
Social gathering at the City of Lincoln pub
Group portrait of personnel and civilians at a social gathering at the City of Lincoln pub. Reg Woolgar and his wife are far right back row and Dorothy Scott, the landlady, is in the centre of the back row. Participants are of different genders and…
Home Guard troop
28 Home Guard personnel sitting front row and standing in two rows behind. Troops are all wearing battledress with side caps. In the background a brick building. Captioned ‘Lance Cpl, Lance Cpl, Cpl, Sgt, Major, Captain, Cpl, Cpl’. Basil…
George Bubb's Royal Air Force and Local Defence Volunteers documents
At the top a postponement of calling up for service document with G Bubb service number name and address. Dated 21 MAy 1941. States that recipient should report when ordered, In the meantime will remain in the reserve without pay or allowances and…
Totaler Krieg
Propaganda booklet about total war containing photographs quotes and text about bombing.
30g Käse Lebensmittelmarken
Sheet of green 30 gram cheese ration stamps in eight rows of ten.
They were a fine body of men
Photograph shows a group of home guard men on parade on a road in front of several stone buildings. At the front are two officers behind are three rows of men in uniform with side caps. Three men stand in front of the first row, the two outside men…
20 auxiliary firemen
Group portrait of 20 auxiliary firemen in three rows all in uniform with peaked hats. Front row of eight are sitting on chairs, second row of seven standing and back row of five standing on hidden support. Bob Carter is left hand man in back row. In…
Mary Brophy at Middle Rasen
Mary Brophy, in summer dress, is sitting on a brick wall; behind the wall is a hedge and tree in full foliage and in front of the wall a grass verge. Mary Brophy remained in the village after the war to go to grammar school. Captioned 'Mary Brophy.…
Ron Jones and his bride
Sergeant Ron Jones in Royal Air Force uniform, standing beside his bride, Elizabeth. She is wearing a bride's dress and is carrying a floral bouquet. 26/1/44 is handwritten on the top right corner.