Browse Items (69 total)

  • Tags: strafing

PBuvoliA1801.jpg
Alberto Buvoli recollects his wartime childhood in Udine, when he lived in the railway station area. Describes how furniture was moved to a safer place at the onset of the war and explains air raid precautions, such as leaving the windows open and…

PToccacieliG1701.jpg
Guido Toccaceri remembers his wartime experiences as a schoolboy in Milan: the day war broke out, food shortages, his father working at an airfield near Bergamo, train strafing, basements used as makeshift shelters, being evacuated outside Milan with…

PFilliputtiA16010036.jpg
On a clear day, a four engined United States Army Air Force aircraft attacks the submarine U-156. Bullets are raining down on the figures on the deck of the submarine. Some of the figures are diving into the water, others are running for cover and…

PHarrisonJ1501.jpg
John Harrison grew up in Yorkshire and worked in the Civil Service before joining the Royal Air Force at 18. After training, he flew operations as a mid-upper gunner with 106 Squadron from RAF Metheringham before being shot down over Leipzig and…

PWadeR1503.jpg
Ron was born in Stoke-on-Trent. He left school at fourteen and tells of his experiences working in a pottery factory doing odd jobs until he was called up. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 at the age of twenty-two. Ron trained as an air gunner…

AInstoneTS160407.mp3
Thomas (Stan) Instone was working at a factory making Bristol Hercules engines but volunteered to be aircrew as soon as he was of age. Initially his application was unsuccessful but he persevered and trained as ground crew. He later remustered as a…

ATylerEA171208.mp3
Elizabeth Anne Tyler talks about her family’s farmland, its history and when it was purchased by the Air Force for the construction of RAF North Luffenham. Mentions various episodes of wartime life around Edith Weston, as reported by family members…

MB CR 4. Ada Breschi.mp3
L’intervistata è Ada Breschi, nata a Pistoia il 22 settembre 1917, impiegata. L’intervista è effettuata da Claudio Rosati a Pistoia, presso l’abitazione dell’informatrice, il 22 settembre 1983. Dopo l’Armistizio, Ada Breschi aiutò…

PMuratoriG160314.JPG
Gino Muratori (b. 1929) recollects three Rimini bombings that occurred in November 1944, one of which was aimed at the Ausa river bridge. Mentions his grandmother losing two relatives when their boarding house was destroyed. Remembers how on 26…

PMakensL1701.jpg
Louis Makens worked as a farm worker before the war but volunteered for aircrew. He discusses his training on Wellingtons and operations flying Stirlings with 196 Squadron including a crash landing, and glider towing. His Halifax was shot down 18/19…

ABirchallJW170816.mp3
James Burchill was in the ATC before he volunteered for aircrew training. He was expected to be deferred but was told he had been chosen for immediate service. On one operation he was injured and by the time he was ready for operational duties again…

MCurnockRM1815605-171114-093.pdf
In the log Dick Curnock recorded crew and friends names and addresses, an obituary of Ginge Wheeldon who was shot by a Typhoon whilst on a march, cartoons, sketches of aircraft, dates of letters received and samples of window.

ABottaniP1601.jpg
Paolo Bottani recalls wartime memories of a working-class family in Milan. Describes the widespread enthusiasm for the declaration of war, followed by a relatively calm period. Mentions alarms as greeted initially with joy because classes stopped and…

PDellEraG1701.jpg
Guido Dell’Era recollects daily life in wartime Milan, stressing inadequate war preparation. Describes a disciplined, regimented society which later turned to disillusionment. Recollects the declaration of war, the fall of the fascist regime and…

ANocchieriF170202.mp3
Franco Nocchieri recalls his early years as an orphan in several different towns in the Province of Pavia. He describes the bombing of the Voghera railway station, which started while he was heading to school. He goes on to explain how he and his…

ABianchiA170223.mp3
Angela Bianchi remembers wartime life in the outskirts of Pavia, where she lived on a farm with other families. Recalls her experiences of being bombed while working in a clothes factory situated close to one of the most important Ticino bridges,…

AAn00974-170413.mp3
The informants remember wartime hardships endured near Pavia and Piacenza. Several stories recalled: a farmhouse being thoroughly searched for partisans, children questioned, people injured by shell splinters, a makeshift dugout used as shelter,…

AMagnaniT170303.mp3
Tullio Magnani remembers his wartime years in the Pavia province. Although his father was blacklisted as a subversive communist he did not have any trouble at school. He recounted his role as a young resistance helper smuggling food rationing…

APaganoA170712.mp3
Andreino Pagano (b. 1934) remembers his wartime experiences in the Pavia province. He explains how a parish church provided a good shelter owing to its thick walls. Recalls various stories: resorting to the black market, the bombing of the Voghera…

AAn01183-170724.mp3
The informant recollects his wartime memories in Voghera. Emphasises how bombings, strafing, and Pippo flying at night became part of everyday life and how the population tried to cope. Gives a vivid and detailed account of the August 1944 bombing,…

AChiesaC170210.mp3
Celestino Chiesa remembers his wartime memories as a schoolboy in Pavia, while he was attending the Artigianelli boarding school: food shortages; rationing; Pippo bombing at night; machine-gun nests along the Ticino river; a friend joining the…
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