Event
WWII bombardment against Italian industrial city Genoa
Owing to the importance of its port (the largest and busiest port in Italy) and industries (such as the Ansaldo shipyard and Piaggio), the Italian port city of Genoa, the regional capital and largest city of Liguria, was heavily bombarded by both Allied air and naval forces during Second World War, suffering heavy damage.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “Bombing of Genoa in World War II”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Owing to the importance of its port (the largest and busiest port in Italy) and industries (such as the Ansaldo shipyard and Piaggio), the Italian port city of Genoa, the regional capital and largest city of Liguria, was heavily bombarded by both Allied air and naval forces during Second World War, suffering heavy damage.
On 14 June 1940, four days after Italy's entry into the war, the French heavy cruisers Dupleix and Colbert with destroyers Albatros and Vautour sortied from Toulon and shelled Genoa's industrial zone, between Sestri Ponente and Arenzano (at the same time, another French naval formation attacked the industrial plants of Savona and Vado Ligure). Italian coastal batteries returned fire and seriously damaged Albatros, while the only reaction from the Regia Marina, owing to the paucity of naval forces available in the area (all the Italian battlefleet was in Taranto at the time), was limited to a daring but ineffectual counter-attack by the torpedo boat Calatafimi. The French naval bombardment, however, did not cause much damage or casualties; three civilians were killed and twelve were wounded. All damage was repaired within ten days.
Another and far heavier naval bombardment of Genoa was carried out on 9 February 1941 by the British Force H. The battlecruiser HMS Renown, battleship HMS Malaya and light cruiser HMS Sheffield, along with the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (whose aircraft launched diversionary attacks on La Spezia and Livorno), sailed from Gibraltar and shelled the city in the early morning, firing altogether 273 15-inch shells, 782 6-inch shells and 400 4,5-inch shells. Only one third of the shells fired hit the targets; industrial plants did not suffer heavy damage, and the only two warships undergoing work in the shipyards, the battleship Duilio and the destroyer Bersagliere, remained unscathed. Of 55 merchant ships in the harbour, two were sunk (steamer Ezilda Croce and floating orphanage Garaventa), two were seriously damaged (steamers Salpi and Garibaldi) and twenty-nine suffered splinter damage. The city instead suffered serious damage, with the destruction of 250 buildings, 144 dead and 272 wounded among the civilian population, and 2,500 people left homeless. Reaction by the coastal batteries was ineffectual, while the Italian battlefleet sortied from La Spezia to intercept Force H, but was unable to do so owing to poor cooperation between the Navy and the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) reconnaissance aircraft.
First air raid on Genoa; together with the simultaneous attack on Turin, this was the first air raid suffered by an Italian city during the war. Two British bombers, part of a group of 36 that had taken off from bases in England (another two were lost), dropped five tons of bombs, causing little damage and few casualties.
Air raid by nine British aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm.
Eight Vickers Wellington bombers from Haddock Force, based in Provence, attacked the Ansaldo shipyards and the Piaggio plants.
Another three bombers of Haddock Force, out of twenty-two that had taken off from bases in Provence, attacked again Ansaldo and Piaggio.
A raid by Royal Air Force Bomber Command hit the city, causing two deaths among the civilians.
Another raid by the Bomber Command.
76 Bomber Command aircraft attacked Genoa and Turin (five were shot down). In Genoa, the bombs fell on the city.
Raid by 41 Bomber Command aircraft, three of which were lost. The bombs fell on the city; some dispersed bombers dropped their loads on La Spezia and Savona.
Raid by eighteen Bomber Command aircraft (many of which failed to reach Genoa and attacked Savona and Imperia instead), which dropped 9.5 tons of bombs.
First area bombing raid on Genoa, carried out by the Bomber Command with a hundred Avro Lancaster bombers (out of 112 that had taken off from bases in England) which dropped 179 tons of bombs on the city (Piazza De Ferrari was the aiming point). The old city centre, the harbour, the shipyards, and the eastern suburbs were hit; among the damaged buildings were the Genova Brignole railway station, the Pammatone hospital, the churches of Santa Maria in Passione and Sant'Agostino, the medieval "portico" of Sottoripa, Palazzo Spinola, Palazzo San Giorgio and the Doge's Palace. Thirty-nine civilians were killed. This was the first area bombing raid on an Italian city, with ample use of incendiary devices, causing damage and fires on an unprecedented scale (some fires were still raging after twenty-four hours) and deeply impressing the population. On the following morning, Genoa was visited by the King and Queen; Victor Emmanuel III visited the hardest hit districts, while Queen Elena visited the wounded in the hospitals.
Second area bombing of Genoa, carried out by 95 Short Stirling and Handley Page Halifax bombers, that dropped 144 tons of bombs. Bad weather dispersed many of the 122 bombers that had originally taken off from England (three of which were lost), with many erroneously attacking Savona (mistaken for Genoa), killing 55 people, Vado Ligure or Turin; in Genoa, material damage was relatively light (among the damaged buildings were the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, the Gio Vincenzo Imperiale Palace and the Paganini Theatre, which was destroyed and never rebuilt), to the point that the Bomber Command considered this raid a failure (unlike the previous and following ones, all of which were considered as successful and well concentrated) The panic caused by the previous night's attack caused a mass stampede at the entrance of an air raid shelter near Porta Soprana, in which at least 354 people (according to the official toll; others estimate 500) lost their lives.
Third area bombing, in which 65 RAF bombers (out of 73 that had taken off from bases in England; two were shot down) dropped 115 tons of bombs. The central and eastern districts were hit, with damage to the church of San Donato and to Villa Pallavicini; twenty civilians were killed.
Fourth and heaviest area bombing raid: 143 bombers (out of 175 that had taken off from England; six were lost) dropped 237 tons of bombs on the city and the Ansaldo shipyard, killing 23 people. The shipyard and the eastern districts were hit, with damage to the basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, to Sottoripa, and to Doria, Spinola, Arcivescovile and Accademia Ligustica palaces. This was the heaviest air raid suffered by an Italian city since the beginning of the war (a record that was surpassed, a few days later, by the 20 November raid on Turin).
Fifth "area bombing" raid on Genoa, carried out by seventy Bomber Command aircraft (out of 76 that had taken off from England) which dropped 80 tons of explosive bombs and 47 tons of incendiary bombs. Both the Ansaldo and the city were targeted; both were hit, with damage to the Sampierdarena marshalling yard, the Brignole district, the Galliera hospital, the Basilica of San Siro, the church of Santo Stefano, the Spinola and Accademia Ligustica palaces, the Loggia della Mercanzia. Ten civilians were killed.
Sixth area attack; 68 bombers (of 78 that had taken off from England) dropped 115 tons of bombs on the city, hitting both the city (including the church of the saints Cosma and Damiano, the basilica of San Siro, la basilica of Santa Maria Assunta and Palazzo Cattaneo) and the harbour, and causing five deaths. The six raids on Genoa in the autumn of 1942 destroyed or badly damaged 1,250 buildings. 1,996 flats were destroyed or badly damaged, 1,249 damaged and rendere partially uninhabitable, 4,438 suffered light damage; in some districts, over a third of all buildings were destroyed or badly damaged. Damage to the port facilities, instead, were not heavy and were repaired in a short time. Civilian casualties (451 deaths) were relatively light when compared to the extent of the damage; this was largely due to the greater availability (both in number and capacity) of air raid shelters in Genoa, many of which were located in tunnels and underground passages, without buildings that could collapse and bury them (one of the main causes of death in air raids). Bomber Command losses amounted to nine bombers, two of which had collided in mid air.
Last area raid, carried out by 72 Lancaster bombers of the Bomber Command. 169 tons of bombs (94 tons of explosive bombs, including twenty-five 4,000-lb blockbuster bombs, and 75 tons of incendiaries) fell on the city, killing about one hundred people (a worse toll was avoided because a large part of the population had already left the city) and leaving 13,000 homeless, and on the harbour, sinking destroyer Freccia. The old city centre was hit the hardest, especially the area surrounding Piazza De Ferrari (again used as "aiming point": 63 of the 72 bombers dropped their load within three miles), Piazza Corvetto and the Carignano district, as well as the Teatro Carlo Felice, the basilica of San Siro and the churches of the Consolazione and of Santo Stefano. This attack was part of a series of raids on Italian cities launched by the Allies after 25 July 1943 and targeting the public opinion in Italy, with the aim of pushing the Badoglio government to surrender; along with the bombs, thousands of propaganda leaflets were also dropped, carrying the message: "The government in Rome says: the war goes on. This is why our bombing goes on".
First raid on Genoa, now occupied by the Germans, by the United States Army Air Force; the raid was carried out by 153 bombers of the Twelfth Air Force. The Armistice of Cassibile having brought an end to the period of area bombing aimed at weakening the morale of the population, the subsequent raids on Genoa were "precision" raids aimed at disabling the port facilities and factories engaged in wartime productions. Inaccurate bombing resulted in many bombs also falling on the city.
133 bombers of the 12th U.S. Air Force attacked the marshalling yard and the Ansaldo, hitting both the targets and the city, killing about sixty people The Vigili del Fuoco (fire brigade) managed to save another thirty-people from under the rubble)and causing serious damage to the water and gas networks.
Another raid by the marshalling yard and the Ansaldo, carried out by twenty bombers of the 12th U.S. Air Force. The bombs hit the city (especially the old city centre and the Sampierdarena and Rivarolo districts).
Raid by the 15th Air Force, targeting the Ansaldo. Both the objective and the city were hit (the Sanctuary of Nostra Signora Incoronata was almost completely destroyed).
Raid by 66 RAF aircraft, targeting the marshalling yard. The bombs fell on Sestri, Pegli, Rivarolo, Sampierdarena and Cornigliano, killing sixteen civilians and wounding about twenty.
Seven RAF bombers attacked the harbour.
Another raid on the harbour, carried out by nine RAF bombers. The bombs fell on the city as well, causing thirteen victims among the civilians.
Raid by 21 RAF bombers.
Fifteen RAF bombers attacked the harbour; bombs also fell on the city, killing nine civilians.
Raid by nine RAF bombers.
Raid on the harbour, by six RAF bombers. Bombs also fell on the city, killing two civilians.
Raid by twelve RAF bombers.
26 RAF bombers attacked the harbour. Bombs also fell on the city, killing four civilians.
Raid by the 15th Air Force, targeting the harbour and the marshalling yard. The objectives were hit, but many of the bombs fell on the city (especially the old city centre; among the damaged buildings were the University, the Cathedral and the San Martino hospital), causing 111 deaths among the population.
Another raid by Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers of the 15th Air Force, targeting the harbour and the marshalling yard.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Bombing of Genoa in World War II”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.