1.
Winter Line
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The Winter Line was a series of German military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt and commanded by Albert Kesselring. The series of 3 lines was designed to defend a western section of Italy, focused around the town of Monte Cassino, through which ran the important Highway 6 which led uninterrupted to Rome. The two subsidiary lines, the Bernhardt Line and the Hitler Line ran much shorter distances from the Tyrrehnian sea to just North East of Cassino where they would merge into the Gustav Line. Relative to the Gustav Line, the Hitler Line stood to the North-West, the Gustav Line, though ultimately broken, effectively slowed the Allied advance for months between December 1943 and June 1944. Major battles in the assault on the Winter Line at Monte Cassino, the center of the Gustav line crossed the main route north to Rome at strategically crucial Highway 6. It followed the Liri Valley and was anchored around the mountains behind the town of Cassino, a bloody and protracted battle was waged over the monastery, known as the Battle of Monte Cassino. The north end of the line was held by the town of Ortona. On the western side of the Apennines were two lines, the Bernhardt Line in front of the main Gustav positions, and the Hitler Line some 5 miles to the rear. The Winter Line was fortified with gun pits, concrete bunkers, turreted machine-gun emplacements, barbed-wire and it was the strongest of the German defensive lines south of Rome. About 15 German divisions were employed in the defence and it took the Allies from mid-November 1943 to June 1944 to fight through all the various elements of the Winter Line, including the well-known battles at Monte Cassino and Anzio. The offensive on the Bernhardt line was launched on December 1,1943 as part of Operation Raincoat. British and American troops took the terrain around Monte Camino and the Mingano Gap within a week, other authorities use the Winter Line name interchangeably with the Gustav Line as defined above. Washington, United States Army Center of Military History, from the Volturno to the Winter Line 6 October-15 November 1943. Washington, United States Army Center of Military History, smith, Col. Kenneth V. WWII Campaigns, Naples-Foggia 9 September 1943-21 January 1944. Washington, United States Army Center of Military History, German Tactics in the Italian Campaign. La Tattica tedesca nella Campagna dItalia, in Linea Gotica avanposto dei Balcani, roma, Amedeo Montemaggi - Edizioni Civitas. The Imperial War Museum Book of the War in Italy 1943-1945, hitler’s Fortresses, German Fortifications and Defences 1939-45. Winter Line Stories Original stories from the front lines of the Italian Campaign by US Army Liaison Officer Major Ralph R
2.
Italian Campaign (World War II)
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The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. It is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945, some 60, 000–70,000 Allied and 60, overall Allied casualties during the campaign totaled about 320,000 and the corresponding German figure was well over 600,000. Fascist Italy, prior to its collapse, suffered about 200,000 casualties, mostly POWs taken in the Allied invasion of Sicily, including more than 40,000 killed or missing. Besides them, over 150,000 Italian civilians died, as did 15,197 anti-Fascist partisans and 13,021 troops of the Italian Social Republic. The campaign ended when Army Group C surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on May 2,1945, the independent states of San Marino and the Vatican, both surrounded by Italian territory, also suffered damage during the campaign. Even prior to victory in the North African Campaign in May 1943, the British, especially the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, advocated their traditional naval-based peripheral strategy. The United States, with a larger army, favoured a more direct method of fighting the main force of the German Army in Northern Europe. The ability to such a campaign depended on first winning the Battle of the Atlantic. There was even pressure from some Latin American countries to stage an invasion of Spain, the British argued that the presence of large numbers of troops trained for amphibious landings in the Mediterranean made a limited-scale invasion possible and useful. A contributing factor was Franklin D. Roosevelts desire to keep US troops active in the European theatre during 1943 and it was hoped that an invasion might knock Italy out of the conflict, or at least increase the pressure on them and weaken them further. A combined Allied invasion of Sicily began on 10 July 1943 with both amphibious and airborne landings at the Gulf of Gela, the land forces involved were the U. S. Seventh Army, under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, the original plan contemplated a strong advance by the British northwards along the east coast to Messina, with the Americans in a supporting role along their left flank. The defending German and Italian forces were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island, but succeeded in evacuating most of their troops to the mainland, the Allied forces gained experience in opposed amphibious operations, coalition warfare and mass airborne drops. Forces of the British Eighth Army, still under Montgomery, landed in the toe of Italy on 3 September 1943 in Operation Baytown, the armistice was publicly announced on 8 September by two broadcasts, first by General Eisenhower and then by a proclamation by Marshal Badoglio. Although the German forces prepared to defend without Italian assistance, only two of their divisions opposite the Eighth Army and one at Salerno were not tied up disarming the Royal Italian Army, on 9 September, forces of the U. S. Fifth Army, under Lieutenant General Mark W, although none of the northern reserves were made available to the German 10th Army, it nevertheless came close to repelling the Salerno landing, due mainly to the cautious command of Clark. As the Allies advanced, they encountered increasingly difficult terrain, the Apennine Mountains form a spine along the Italian peninsula offset somewhat to the east, the rivers were subject to sudden and unexpected flooding, which constantly thwarted the Allied commanders plans. This would make the most of the natural geography of Central Italy, whilst denying the Allies the easy capture of a succession of airfields
3.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
4.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
5.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
6.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
7.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
8.
Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
9.
Kingdom of Italy
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The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government, according to Payne, Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases. The first phase was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, then came the second phase, the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929. The third phase, with activism, was 1929–34. The war itself was the phase with its disasters and defeats. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943 and it switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas controlled by the Allied invaders. Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the referendum of 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of Italy claimed all of the territory which is modern-day Italy. The development of the Kingdoms territory progressed under Italian re-unification until 1870, the state for a long period of time did not include Trieste or Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which are in Italy today, and only annexed them in 1919. After the Second World War, the borders of present-day Italy were founded, the Kingdom of Italy was theoretically a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, as executed through appointed ministers, two chambers of parliament restricted the monarchs power—an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdoms constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible to the king. However, in practice, it was impossible for an Italian government to stay in office without the support of Parliament, members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by plurality voting system elections in uninominal districts. A candidate needed the support of 50% of those voting, and of 25% of all enrolled voters, if not all seats were filled on the first ballot, a runoff was held shortly afterwards for the remaining vacancies. After a brief multinominal experimentation in 1882, proportional representation into large, regional, Socialists became the major party, but they were unable to form a government in a parliament split into three different factions, with Christian Populists and classical liberals
10.
Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet
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In 1942, the British Cabinet agreed to the area bombing of German cities. Harris was tasked with implementing Churchills policy and supported the development of tactics, Harris emigrated to Southern Rhodesia in 1910, aged 17, but returned to England in 1915 to fight in the European theatre of the First World War. At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Harris took command of No.5 Group RAF in England and he retained that position for the rest of the war. After the war Harris moved to South Africa where he managed the South African Marine Corporation, Harris was born on 13 April 1892, at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where his parents were staying while his father George Steel Travers Harris was on home leave from the Indian Civil Service. A former Allhallows student, the actor Arthur Chudleigh, often visited the school, Harris received such a ticket in 1909, and went to see the play during his summer holidays. The lead character in the show was a Rhodesian farmer who returned to England to wed, harriss father was disappointed, having had in mind a military or civil service career for his son, but reluctantly agreed. In early 1910, Harris senior paid his sons passage on the SS Inanda to Beira in Mozambique, Harris earned his living over the next few years mining, coach-driving and farming. Harris quickly gained his employers trust, and was made manager at Lowdale when Townsend went to visit England for a year in early 1914. Having acquired the necessary to ranch successfully in Rhodesia, Harris decided that he would start his own farm in the country as soon as Townsend returned. According to Probert, Harris by now regarded primarily as a Rhodesian. When the First World War broke out in August 1914, Harris did not learn of it for nearly a month, having learnt to bugle at Allhallows, he successfully applied for the bugler slot and was sworn in on 20 October 1914. The 1st Rhodesia Regiment briefly garrisoned Bloemfontein, then served alongside the South African forces in South-West Africa during the first half of 1915. When the South-West African Campaign ended in July 1915, the 1st Rhodesia Regiment was withdrawn to Cape Town, Harris sailed for England from Beira at the Company administrations expense in August, a member of a 300-man party of white Southern Rhodesian war volunteers. 45 Squadron, flying the Sopwith 1½ Strutter and Sopwith Camel, before he returned to Britain to command No.44 Squadron on Home Defence duties, Harris claimed five enemy aircraft destroyed and was awarded the Air Force Cross on 2 November 1918. Intending to return to Rhodesia one day, Harris wore a shoulder flash on his uniform. He finished the war a major, in April 1920 Squadron Leader Harris was jointly appointed station commander of RAF Digby and commander of No.3 Flying Training School. He later served in different functions in India, Mesopotamia and Persia and he said of his service in India that he first became involved in bombing during the usual annual North West Frontier tribesmen trouble. In Mesopotamia he commanded a Vickers Vernon squadron and we cut a hole in the nose and rigged up our own bomb racks and I turned those machines into the heaviest and best bombers in the command
11.
Arthur Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder
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Marshal of the Royal Air Force Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder, GCB was a senior Royal Air Force commander. His bombing tactics became known as the Tedder Carpet, later in the war Tedder took command of Mediterranean Air Command and in that role was closely involved in the planning of the Allied invasion of Sicily and then the Allied invasion of Italy. When Operation Overlord—the invasion of France—came to be planned, Tedder was appointed Deputy Supreme Commander at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force under General Eisenhower, after the war he held senior positions in business and academia. Tedder was born the son of Sir Arthur John Tedder and Emily Charlotte Tedder at the Glenguin Distillery in the Campsie Fells and his father was distinguished as the Commissioner of the Board of Customs who devised the old age pension scheme. His fathers occupation meant that the young Tedder saw different parts of the British Isles, spending 1895 to 1898 in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles and 1899–1901 in Elgin, in the County of Moray. In 1902 the family moved to Croydon in Surrey and Tedder attended the Whitgift School until 1909, Tedder spent his university years at Magdalene College, where he read history. He was awarded a second class honours in June 1912. Tedder spent the summer of 1912 in Berlin studying German, with the start of a new academic year, he decided to return to Magdalene for a fourth year in order that he might prepare himself for a career as a diplomat. On 2 September 1913, during his last year at Magdalene, after university, Tedder joined the Colonial Service as a cadet and departed Britain in February 1914, serving in the administration in Fiji. He did not find life in Fiji to his liking. Tedder was promoted to lieutenant in the Dorset Regiment on 14 October 1914 and he was posted to a reserve unit at Wyke Regis on the Dorset coast where he seriously injured his knee in February. Following his injury Tedder was unable to carry out full infantry service and, although he carried out duties at a case camp in Calais. In January 1916, Tedder was accepted into the Royal Flying Corps and he was promoted to captain on 21 March 1916. In April he attended the Central Flying School where he learned to fly, in June 1916, Tedder served as a pilot with No.25 Squadron RFC flying the Bristol Scout C on the Western Front. On 9 August 1916, Tedder was given additional responsibilities as he was made a commander with 25 Squadron. The first day of 1917 saw Tedder promoted to major and appointed officer commanding No.70 Squadron RFC, Tedder remained on the Western Front and his new squadron was equipped with the Sopwith 1½ Strutter. He was awarded the Italian Silver Medal for Military Valour on 26 May 1917, Tedder was appointed officer commanding No.67 Squadron at RAF Shawbury on 25 June 1917 and became commander of the School of Navigation and Bomb Dropping in Egypt the following year. Another change soon followed and on 24 June 1918 Tedder was appointed officer commanding 38th Wing and he was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel on 23 July 1918
12.
Jimmy Doolittle
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James Harold Jimmy Doolittle was an American aviation pioneer. He was eventually promoted to lieutenant general and commanded the Twelfth Air Force over North Africa, the Fifteenth Air Force over the Mediterranean, Doolittle was born in Alameda, California, and spent his youth in Nome, Alaska, where he earned a reputation as a boxer. His parents were Frank Henry Doolittle and Rosa Cerenah Shephard, by 1910, Jimmy Doolittle was attending school in Los Angeles. When his school attended the 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field Doolittle saw his first airplane and he was a member of Theta Kappa Nu fraternity, which would merge into Lambda Chi Alpha during the latter stages of the Great Depression. Doolittle received his Reserve Military Aviator rating and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Signal Officers Reserve Corps of the U. S. Army on March 11,1918, Doolittles service at Rockwell Field consisted of duty as a flight leader and gunnery instructor. At Kelly Field, he served with the 104th Aero Squadron and his detachment of the 90th Aero Squadron was based at Eagle Pass, patrolling the Mexican border. On May 10,1921, he was engineering officer and pilot for an expedition recovering a plane that had force-landed in a Mexican canyon on February 10 during a flight attempt by Lieut. Doolittle reached the plane on May 3 and found it serviceable, then returned May 8 with a replacement motor, the oil pressure of the new motor was inadequate and Doolittle requested two pressure gauges, using carrier pigeons to communicate. The additional parts were dropped by air and installed, and Doolittle flew the plane to Del Rio, Texas himself, subsequently, he attended the Air Service Mechanical School at Kelly Field and the Aeronautical Engineering Course at McCook Field, Ohio. Having at last returned to complete his degree, he earned the Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley in 1922. Doolittle was one of the most famous pilots during the inter-war period, the U. S. Army awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross. Within days after the flight, he was at the Air Service Engineering School at McCook Field, Dayton. For Doolittle, the assignment had special significance, In the early 20s. So some of us who had previous engineering training were sent to the school at old McCook Field. After a years training there in practical aeronautical engineering, some of us were sent on to MIT where we took advanced degrees in aeronautical engineering, I believe that the purpose was served, that there was thereafter a better understanding between pilots and engineers. In July 1923, after serving as a test pilot and aeronautical engineer at McCook Field, in March 1924, he conducted aircraft acceleration tests at McCook Field, which became the basis of his masters thesis and led to his second Distinguished Flying Cross. He received his M. S. in Aeronautics from MIT in June 1924. Because the Army had given him two years to get his degree and he had done it in just one, he started working on his Sc. D. in Aeronautics
13.
Henry H. Arnold
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Henry Harley Hap Arnold was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and General of the Air Force. Instructed in flying by the Wright Brothers, Arnold was one of the first military pilots worldwide, and one of the first three rated pilots in the history of the United States Air Force. He overcame a fear of flying that resulted from his experiences with flight, supervised the expansion of the Air Service during World War I. He was called Harley by his family during his youth, Arnold was known to his West Point classmates as Pewt or Benny. By his immediate subordinates and headquarters staff he was referred to as The Chief, born June 25,1886, in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, Arnold was the son of Dr. Herbert Alonzo Arnold, a strong-willed physician and a member of the prominent political and military Arnold Family. His mother was Anna Louise Harley, from a Dunker farm family, Arnold was Baptist in religious belief but had strong Mennonite ties through both families. However, unlike her husband, Gangy Arnold was fun-loving and prone to laughter, when Arnold was eleven, his father responded to the Spanish–American War by serving as a surgeon in the Pennsylvania National Guard, of which he remained a member for the next 24 years. Arnold attended Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1903, the athletic fields at Lower Merion are named after him. Arnold had no intention of attending West Point but took the examination after his older brother Thomas defied their father. Arnold placed second on the list and received an appointment when the nominated cadet confessed to being married, prohibited by academy regulations. Arnold entered the United States Military Academy at West Point as a Juliette and his cadet career was spent as a clean sleeve. At the academy he helped found the Black Hand, a group of cadet pranksters and he played second-team running back for the varsity football team, was a shot putter on the track and field team, and excelled at polo. Arnolds academic standing varied between the middle and the end of his class, with his better scores in mathematics. He initially protested the assignment, but was persuaded to accept a commission in the 29th Infantry, Arnold arrived in Manila on December 7,1907. Arnold disliked infantry troop duties and volunteered to assist Capt. Arthur S. Cowan of the 20th Infantry, Cowan returned to the United States following completion of the cartography detail, transferred to the Signal Corps, and was assigned to recruit two lieutenants to become pilots. Cowan contacted Arnold, who cabled his interest in transferring to the Signal Corps. In June 1909, the 29th Infantry relocated to Fort Jay, New York, in 1911, Arnold applied for transfer to the Ordnance Department because it offered an immediate promotion to first lieutenant. While awaiting the results of the competitive examination, he learned that his interest in aeronautics had not been forgotten
14.
Albert Kesselring
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Albert Kesselring was a German Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall during World War II. Nicknamed Smiling Albert by the Allies and Uncle Albert by his troops, he was one of the most popular generals of World War II with the rank, Kesselring joined the Bavarian Army as an officer cadet in 1904, and served in the artillery branch. He completed training as an observer in 1912. During World War I, he served on both the Western and Eastern fronts and was posted to the General Staff, despite not having attended the War Academy. During World War II he commanded air forces in the invasions of Poland and France, as Commander-in-Chief South, he was overall German commander in the Mediterranean theatre, which included the operations in North Africa. Kesselring conducted an uncompromising defensive campaign against the Allied forces in Italy until he was injured in an accident in October 1944, in the final campaign of the war, he commanded German forces on the Western Front. He won the respect of his Allied opponents for his military accomplishments, after the war, Kesselring was tried for war crimes and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. A political and media campaign resulted in his release in 1952 and he was one of only three Generalfeldmarschalls to publish his memoirs. Alberts early years were spent in Marktsteft, where relatives had operated a brewery since 1688, matriculating from the Christian Ernestinum Secondary School in Bayreuth in 1904, Kesselring joined the German Army as an Fahnenjunker in the 2nd Bavarian Foot Artillery Regiment. The regiment was based at Metz and was responsible for maintaining its forts, Kesselring married Luise Anna Pauline Keyssler, the daughter of an apothecary from Bayreuth, in 1910. Their marriage was childless, but in 1913 they adopted Rainer, in 1912, Kesselring completed training as a balloon observer in a dirigible section – an early sign of an interest in aviation. Kesselrings superiors considered posting him to the School of Artillery and Engineering as an instructor because of his expertise in the interplay between tactics and technology. During World War I, Kesselring served with his regiment in Lorraine until the end of 1914, when he was transferred to the 1st Bavarian Foot Artillery, on 19 May 1916, he was promoted to Hauptmann. In 1916 he was transferred again, to the 3rd Bavarian Foot Artillery and he distinguished himself in the Battle of Arras, using his tactical acumen to halt a British advance. For his services on the Western Front, he was decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd Class, in 1917, he was posted to the General Staff, despite having not attended the Bavarian War Academy. He served on the Eastern Front on the staff of the 1st Bavarian Landwehr Division, in January 1918, he returned to the Western Front as a staff officer with the II and III Bavarian Corps. At the conclusion of the war, Kesselring was involved in the demobilisation of III Bavarian Corps in the Nuremberg area and he was soon released but his superior, Major Hans Seyler, censured him for having failed to display the requisite discretion
15.
Allies of World War II
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The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
16.
Axis powers
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The Axis powers, also known as the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied Powers. The Axis agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity, the Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936, Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term Axis. The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, Italy joined the Pact in 1937. At its zenith during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied parts of Europe, North Africa. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, the war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, at the time he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume. The term was used by Hungarys prime minister Gyula Gömbös when advocating an alliance of Hungary with Germany, when Mussolini publicly announced the signing on 1 November, he proclaimed the creation of a Rome–Berlin axis. Italy under Duce Benito Mussolini had pursued an alliance of Italy with Germany against France since the early 1920s. He believed that Italy could expand its influence in Europe by allying with Germany against France, in early 1923, as a goodwill gesture to Germany, Italy secretly delivered weapons for the German Army, which had faced major disarmament under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. General Hans von Seeckt supported an alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union to invade and partition Poland between them and restore the German-Russian border of 1914. The discussions concluded that Germans still wanted a war of revenge against France but were short on weapons, however at this time Mussolini stressed one important condition that Italy must pursue in an alliance with Germany, that Italy must. Tow them, not be towed by them, the French government warned Italy that it had to choose whether to be on the side of the pro-Versailles powers or that of the anti-Versailles revanchists. Grandi responded that Italy would be willing to offer France support against Germany if France gave Italy its mandate over Cameroon, France refused Italys proposed exchange for support, as it believed Italys demands were unacceptable and the threat from Germany was not yet immediate. In 1932, Gyula Gömbös and the Party of National Unity rose to power in Hungary, Gömbös sought to alter Hungarys post–Treaty of Trianon borders by forming an alliance with Austria and Italy, knowing that Hungary alone was not capable of challenging the Little Entente powers. At the meeting between Gömbös and Mussolini in Rome on 10 November 1932, the question came up of the sovereignty of Austria in relation to the rise to power in Germany of the Nazi Party. Mussolini was worried about Nazi ambitions towards Austria, and indicated that at least in the term he was committed to maintaining Austria as a sovereign state. Italy had concerns over a Germany which included Austria laying land claims to German-populated territories of the South Tyrol within Italy, Mussolini said he hoped the Anschluss could be postponed as long as possible until the breakout of a European war that he estimated would begin in 1938
17.
Pope Pius XII
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Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, reigned as Pope from 2 March 1939 to his death in 1958. After the war Pius XII advocated peace and reconciliation, including lenient policies towards Axis, the Church experienced severe persecution and mass deportations of Catholic clergy in the Eastern Bloc. Pius XII was an opponent of Communism and of the Italian Communist Party. He explicitly invoked ex cathedra papal infallibility with the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in his 1950 Apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus and his magisterium includes almost 1,000 addresses and radio broadcasts. His forty-one encyclicals include Mystici corporis, the Church as the Body of Christ, Mediator Dei on liturgy reform and he eliminated the Italian majority in the College of Cardinals in 1946. In 1954, Pius XII began to suffer ill health. The embalming of his body was mishandled, with effects that were evident during the funeral and he was buried in the Vatican grottos and was succeeded by Pope John XXIII. In the process toward sainthood, his cause for canonization was opened on 18 November 1965 by Pope Paul VI during the session of the Second Vatican Council. He was made a Servant of God by Pope John Paul II in 1990, Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli was born on 2 March 1876 in Rome into a family of intense Catholic piety with a history of ties to the papacy. His parents were Filippo Pacelli and Virginia Pacelli, together with his brother Francesco and his two sisters, Giuseppina and Elisabetta, he grew up in the Parione district in the centre of Rome. Soon after the family had moved to Via Vetrina in 1880 he began school at the convent of the French Sisters of Divine Providence in the Piazza Fiammetta, the family worshipped at Chiesa Nuova. Eugenio and the children made their First Communion at this church. In 1886 too he was sent to the school of Professor Giuseppe Marchi. In 1891 Pacellis father sent Eugenio to the Liceo Ennio Quirino Visconti Institute, a school situated in what had been the Collegio Romano. He was also enrolled at the State University, La Sapienza where he studied modern languages, at the end of the first academic year however, in the summer of 1895, he dropped out of both the Capranica and the Gregorian University. According to his sister Elisabetta, the food at the Capranica was to blame, having received a special dispensation he continued his studies from home and so spent most of his seminary years as an external student. In 1899 he completed his education in Sacred Theology with a degree awarded on the basis of a short dissertation. Shortly after ordination he began studies in canon law at SantApollinaire
18.
Open city
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The attacking armies of the opposing military will then be expected not to bomb or otherwise attack the city but simply march in. The concept aims at protecting the historic landmarks and resident civilians from an unnecessary battle. Attacking forces do not always respect the declaration of an open city, defensive forces will use it as a political tactic as well. According to the Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions, it is forbidden for the party to attack, by any means whatsoever. This led the Mayor of Krakow to declare it a city on 5 September 1939. The German army entered the city the next day, brussels was declared an open city by the Belgian Government in 1940 during the Battle of Belgium. It was later occupied by the Germans, paris was declared an open city by the French Government in June 1940 during the Battle of France. Belgrade was declared open in April 1941 by the Government of Yugoslavia, the German Wehrmacht did not respect the open city status and heavily bombed the city. Manila was declared a city on 26 December 1941 by US general Douglas MacArthur during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. The Imperial Japanese Army ignored the declaration and bombed the city, batavia was declared an open city on 5 March 1942 after the Dutch Army was evacuated. The Japanese occupied the city the next day, Rome was declared open on 14 August 1943 by the Italian government following the cessation of Allied bombing. Subsequently Allied forces entered Rome in June 1944 and retreating German forces also declared Florence, athens was declared an open city by the Germans on 11 October 1944. Hamburg was declared open on 3 May 1945 by the Germans and was occupied by the British. However, the Social Democratic Party which was the party of the ruling coalition from 1994 to 1996 supported it. Nevertheless, four wards of Tokyo and Kagoshima City, Japans southernmost port, laws of war Rome, Open City, an Italian film about Romes days as an open city
19.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and emerged as a figure in world events during the mid-20th century. He directed the United States government during most of the Great Depression and he is often rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U. S. Presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old, prominent Dutch family from Dutchess County and he attended the elite educational institutions of Groton School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School. At age 23 in 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, and he entered politics in 1910, serving in the New York State Senate, and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. In 1920, Roosevelt was presidential candidate James M. Coxs running mate and he was in office from 1929 to 1933 and served as a reform governor, promoting the enactment of programs to combat the depression besetting the United States at the time. In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency, Roosevelt took office while in the United States was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history. Energized by his victory over polio, FDR relied on his persistent optimism and activism to renew the national spirit. He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and farmers, and to labor union growth while more closely regulating business. His support for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 added to his popularity, the economy improved rapidly from 1933–37, but then relapsed into a deep recession in 1937–38. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court, when the war began and unemployment ended, conservatives in Congress repealed the two major relief programs, the WPA and CCC. However, they kept most of the regulations on business, along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wagner Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security. His goal was to make America the Arsenal of Democracy, which would supply munitions to the Allies, in March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China. He supervised the mobilization of the U. S. economy to support the war effort, as an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented a war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and initiate the development of the worlds first atomic bomb. His work also influenced the creation of the United Nations. Roosevelts physical health declined during the war years, and he died 11 weeks into his fourth term. One of the oldest Dutch families in New York State, the Roosevelts distinguished themselves in other than politics. One ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, had served with the New York militia during the American Revolution, Roosevelt attended events of the New York society Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the organization while he was president
20.
Francis Spellman
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Francis Joseph Spellman was an American bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 1939 until his death in 1967, he served as the sixth Archbishop of New York and he was named a cardinal in 1946. Francis Spellman was born in Whitman, Massachusetts, to William Spellman and his father was a grocer whose own parents had immigrated to the United States from Clonmel and Leighlinbridge in Ireland. The eldest of five children, Francis had two brothers, Martin and John, and two sisters, Marian and Helene, as a child, he served as an altar boy at Holy Ghost Church. Spellman attended Whitman High School because there was no local Catholic school and he enjoyed photography and baseball, he was a first baseman during his first year of high school until a hand injury forced him to stop playing, and later managed the team. Following his high school graduation, Spellman entered Fordham University in New York City in 1907 and he graduated in 1911 and decided to study for the priesthood. He was then sent by Archbishop William Henry OConnell to study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, during his years in Rome, Spellman befriended such figures as Gaetano Bisleti, Francesco Borgongini Duca and Domenico Tardini. He suffered from pneumonia, however, leaving his state of health so poor that the administration wanted to send him home. He nevertheless remained and managed to complete his theological studies, Spellman was ordained a priest by Patriarch Giuseppe Ceppetelli on May 14,1916. Upon his return to the United States, he did work in the Archdiocese of Boston. Cardinal OConnell, who had earlier sent Spellman to Rome, took an apparent dislike to the young priest, OConnell referred to him as a little popinjay and later said, Francis epitomizes what happens to a bookkeeper when you teach him how to read. Spellman served a series of relatively insignificant assignments, following the United States entry into World War I in 1917, Spellman applied to become a military chaplain in the Army but did not meet the height requirement. Spellmans comparable application to the Navy was personally rejected, twice, by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, finally, OConnell assigned him to promote subscriptions for the archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot, instead. He was named assistant chancellor in 1918 and in 1924 archivist of the Archdiocese, after translating into English two books written by his friend Borgongini Duca, Spellman was made the first American attaché of the Vatican Secretariat of State in 1925. He also worked with the Knights of Columbus in running childrens playgrounds in Rome, during a trip to Germany in 1927, Spellman established a lifelong friendship with Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli, who was serving as Apostolic Nuncio. He translated Pius XIs first broadcast over Vatican Radio in 1931, on July 30,1932, Spellman was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Boston and Titular Bishop of Sila by Pope Pius XI. He had originally considered for the Dioceses of Portland, Maine. He received his consecration on the following September 8 from Pacelli, with Archbishops Giuseppe Pizzardo and Francesco Borgongini Duca serving as co-consecrators and his was the first consecration of an American bishop ever held at St. Peters
21.
Vatican City
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Vatican City, officially Vatican City State or the State of Vatican City, is a walled enclave within the city of Rome. With an area of approximately 44 hectares, and a population of 842, however, formally it is not sovereign, with sovereignty being held by the Holy See, the only entity of public international law that has diplomatic relations with almost every country in the world. It is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Bishop of Rome – the Pope, the highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. Vatican City is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the episcopal see of 1.2 billion Latin. According to the terms of the treaty, the Holy See has full ownership, exclusive dominion, within Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peters Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the worlds most famous paintings and sculptures, the unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications. The name Vatican City was first used in the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, the name is taken from Vatican Hill, the geographic location of the state. Vatican is derived from the name of an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum meaning garden, located in the area the Romans called vaticanus ager. The official Italian name of the city is Città del Vaticano or, more formally, Stato della Città del Vaticano, although the Holy See and the Catholic Church use Ecclesiastical Latin in official documents, the Vatican City officially uses Italian. The Latin name is Status Civitatis Vaticanæ, this is used in documents by not just the Holy See. The name Vatican was already in use in the time of the Roman Republic for an area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome. Under the Roman Empire, many villas were constructed there, after Agrippina the Elder drained the area and laid out her gardens in the early 1st century AD. In AD40, her son, Emperor Caligula built in her gardens a circus for charioteers that was completed by Nero, the Circus Gaii et Neronis, usually called, simply. Even before the arrival of Christianity, it is supposed that this originally uninhabited part of Rome had long considered sacred. A shrine dedicated to the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis remained active long after the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter was built nearby, the particularly low quality of Vatican water, even after the reclamation of the area, was commented on by the poet Martial. The Vatican Obelisk was originally taken by Caligula from Heliopolis in Egypt to decorate the spina of his circus and is thus its last visible remnant and this area became the site of martyrdom of many Christians after the Great Fire of Rome in AD64. Ancient tradition holds that it was in this circus that Saint Peter was crucified upside-down, opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by the Via Cornelia. Peters in the first half of the 4th century, the Constantinian basilica was built in 326 over what was believed to be the tomb of Saint Peter, buried in that cemetery
22.
Roma Termini railway station
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Roma Termini is the main railway station of Rome, Italy. It is named after the district of the name, which in turn took its name from ancient Baths of Diocletian. The station has train services to all major Italian cities, as well as daily international services to Munich, Geneva. With 33 platforms and over 150 million passengers each year, Roma Termini is the second largest railway station in Europe after Paris Gare du Nord, Termini is also the main hub for public transport inside Rome. Both current Rome Metro lines intersect at Termini metro station, and a bus station is located at Piazza dei Cinquecento. However, the tram lines of the city cross at Porta Maggiore. On 23 December 2006, the station was dedicated to Pope John Paul II, on 25 February 1863, Pope Pius IX opened the first, temporary Termini Station as the terminus of the Rome–Frascati, Rome–Civitavecchia and Rome-Ceprano lines. The dilapidated Villa Montalto-Peretti, erected in the 16th Century by Pope Sixtus V, was chosen as the site for new station. It was laid out according to a plan by the architect Salvatore Bianchi, the front of this station reached Via Cavour, which means it stuck some 200 metres deeper into the city than the current station. In 1937, it was decided to replace the old station, as part of the planning for the 1942 Worlds Fair, the old station was demolished, and part of the new station was constructed, but works were halted in 1943 as the Italian fascist government collapsed. The side structures of the design by Angiolo Mazzoni del Grande are still part of the current-day station, the building is characterized by the linear lobby hall, a tall space of monumental dimensions. This great hall is fronted by full height glass walls, and is covered with a roof that consists of a flattened and segmented arch. The vault is structurally integrated with a canopy that extends over the entrance drive. The end result is a gravity-defying modernist structure that recalls a similar achievement of Roman architecture. Its bold presence in the urban fabric expresses the diversity of the Citys history, the anodized aluminium frieze panels set in sequence along the length of the glass wall are the work of artist Amerigo Tot. The composition is about capturing the dynamics in sound and speed of a train, a length of the early Roman Servian Wall is preserved outside the station
23.
Winston Churchill
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Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill KG OM CH TD PC DL FRS RA was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall, in 1963, he was the first of only eight people to be made an honorary citizen of the United States. Churchill was born into the family of the Dukes of Marlborough and his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a charismatic politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, his mother, Jennie Jerome, was an American socialite. As a young officer, he saw action in British India, the Anglo–Sudan War. He gained fame as a war correspondent and wrote books about his campaigns, at the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, during the war, he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign caused his departure from government. He then briefly resumed active service on the Western Front as commander of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to government under Lloyd George as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, Secretary of State for Air, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister and he led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured. After the Conservative Party suffered a defeat in the 1945 general election. He publicly warned of an Iron Curtain of Soviet influence in Europe, after winning the 1951 election, Churchill again became Prime Minister. His second term was preoccupied by foreign affairs, including the Malayan Emergency, Mau Mau Uprising, Korean War, domestically his government laid great emphasis on house-building. Churchill suffered a stroke in 1953 and retired as Prime Minister in 1955. Upon his death aged ninety in 1965, Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral and his highly complex legacy continues to stimulate intense debate amongst writers and historians. Born into the family of the Dukes of Marlborough, a branch of the noble Spencer family, Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, like his father. His ancestor George Spencer had changed his surname to Spencer-Churchill in 1817 when he became Duke of Marlborough, to highlight his descent from John Churchill, Churchill was born on 30 November 1874, two months prematurely, in a bedroom in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire. From age two to six, he lived in Dublin, where his grandfather had been appointed Viceroy, Churchills brother, John Strange Spencer-Churchill, was born during this time in Ireland
24.
The Blitz
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By September 1940—two months into the battle—faulty German intelligence suggested that the Royal Air Force was close to defeat at the hands of the Luftwaffe. The German air fleets were ordered to attack London, thereby drawing up the last remnants of RAF Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation, Adolf Hitler and commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, sanctioned the change in emphasis on 6 September 1940. From 7 September 1940, one year into the war, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 out of the following 57 days, on 15 September 1940, a large daylight attack against London was repulsed with significant German losses. Thereafter, the Luftwaffe gradually decreased daylight operations in favour of nocturnal attacks, ports and industrial centres outside London were also attacked. The main Atlantic sea port of Liverpool was bombed, the North Sea port of Hull, a convenient and easily found target or secondary target for bombers unable to locate their primary targets, was subjected to raids in the Hull Blitz during the war. More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged and more than 40,000 civilians were killed, by May 1941, the threat of an invasion of Britain had ended, and Hitlers attention turned to Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The bombing failed to demoralise the British into surrender or significantly damage the war economy, the eight months of bombing never seriously hampered British production and the war industries continued to operate and expand. The German offensives greatest effect was forcing the dispersal of aircraft production, British wartime studies concluded that cities generally took 10 to 15 days to recover when hit severely but exceptions like Birmingham took three months. The German air offensive failed for several reasons, discussions in OKL revolved around tactics rather than strategy. Poor intelligence on British industry and economic efficiency was also a factor, in the 1920s and 1930s, air power theorists Giulio Douhet and Billy Mitchell espoused the idea that air forces could win wars, without a need for land and sea fighting. It was thought there was no defence against air attack, particularly at night, enemy industry, seats of government, factories and communications could be destroyed, taking away their means to resist. It was also thought the bombing of residential centres would cause a collapse of civilian will, democracies, where the populace was allowed to show overt disapproval of the state, were thought particularly vulnerable. This thinking was prevalent in both the RAF and the United States Army Air Corps, the policy of RAF Bomber Command became an attempt to achieve victory through the destruction of civilian will, communications and industry. In the Luftwaffe, there was a view of strategic bombing. OKL did not believe that air power alone could be decisive, contrary to popular belief, evidence suggests that the Luftwaffe did not adopt an official bombing policy in which civilians became the primary target until 1942. The vital industries and transport centres that would be targeted for shutdown were valid military targets and it could be claimed civilians were not to be targeted directly, but the breakdown of production would affect their morale and will to fight. German legal scholars of the 1930s carefully worked out guidelines for what type of bombing was permissible under international law. Wever outlined five points of air strategy, To destroy the air force by bombing its bases and aircraft factories
25.
H. G. Wells
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Herbert George H. G. Wells was an English writer. He was prolific in many genres, including the novel, history, politics, social commentary, Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is called a father of science fiction, along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man and he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Wellss earliest specialised training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took place in a specifically and fundamentally Darwinian context and he was also from an early date an outspoken socialist, often sympathising with pacifist views. His later works became increasingly political and didactic, and he wrote science fiction. A diabetic, in 1934, Wells co-founded the charity The Diabetic Association, Herbert George Wells was born at Atlas House,46 High Street in Bromley, Kent, on 21 September 1866. Called Bertie in the family, he was the fourth and last child of Joseph Wells and his wife, Sarah Neal. An inheritance had allowed the family to acquire a shop in which they sold china and sporting goods, although it failed to prosper, the stock was old and worn out, and the location was poor. Joseph Wells managed to earn an income, but little of it came from the shop. Payment for skilled bowlers and batsmen came from voluntary donations afterwards, a defining incident of young Wellss life was an accident in 1874 that left him bedridden with a broken leg. To pass the time he started reading books from the local library and he soon became devoted to the other worlds and lives to which books gave him access, they also stimulated his desire to write. Later that year he entered Thomas Morleys Commercial Academy, a school founded in 1849 following the bankruptcy of Morleys earlier school. The teaching was erratic, the curriculum mostly focused, Wells later said, Wells continued at Morleys Academy until 1880. In 1877, his father, Joseph Wells, fractured his thigh, the accident effectively put an end to Josephs career as a cricketer, and his subsequent earnings as a shopkeeper were not enough to compensate for the loss of the primary source of family income. No longer able to support financially, the family instead sought to place their sons as apprentices in various occupations. From 1880 to 1883, Wells had an apprenticeship as a draper at the Southsea Drapery Emporium. Wellss parents had a turbulent marriage, owing primarily to his mother being a Protestant, when his mother returned to work as a ladys maid, one of the conditions of work was that she would not be permitted to have living space for her husband and children. Thereafter, she and Joseph lived separate lives, though they never divorced and remained faithful to each other, as a consequence, Herberts personal troubles increased as he subsequently failed as a draper and also, later, as a chemists assistant
26.
Pope Paul VI
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Pope Paul VI, born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, reigned as Pope from 21 June 1963 to his death in 1978. Montini served in the Vaticans Secretariat of State from 1922 to 1954, Montini later became the Secretary of the Italian Bishops Conference. John XXIII elevated him to the College of Cardinals in 1958, upon his election to the papacy, Montini took the name Paul VI. He re-convened the Second Vatican Council, which was closed with the death of John XXIII. The magnitude and depth of the reforms affecting all fields of Church life during his pontificate exceeded similar reform policies of his predecessors and successors, Paul VI was a Marian devotee, speaking repeatedly to Marian congresses and mariological meetings, visiting Marian shrines and issuing three Marian encyclicals. Following his famous predecessor Saint Ambrose of Milan, he named Mary as the Mother of the Church during the Second Vatican Council, Paul VI sought dialogue with the world, with other Christians, other religions, and atheists, excluding nobody. He saw himself as a servant for a suffering humanity and demanded significant changes of the rich in North America. His positions on birth control, promulgated most famously in the 1968 encyclical Humanae vitae, Pope Benedict XVI declared that the late pontiff lived a life of heroic virtue and conferred the title of Venerable upon him. Pope Francis beatified him on 19 October 2014 after the recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession and his liturgical feast is celebrated on the date of his birth on 26 September. Giovanni Battista Montini was born in the village of Concesio, in the province of Brescia and his father Giorgio Montini was a lawyer, journalist, director of the Catholic Action and member of the Italian Parliament. His mother was Giudetta Alghisi, from a family of rural nobility and he had two brothers, Francesco Montini, who became a physician, and Lodovico Montini, who became a lawyer and politician. On 30 September 1897, he was baptized in the name of Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini and he attended Cesare Arici, a school run by the Jesuits, and in 1916, he received a diploma from Arnaldo da Brescia, a public school in Brescia. His education was interrupted by bouts of illness. In 1916, he entered the seminary to become a Roman Catholic priest and he was ordained priest on 29 May 1920 in Brescia and celebrated his first Holy Mass in Brescia in the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Montini concluded his studies in Milan with a doctorate in Canon Law in the same year, afterwards he studied at the Gregorian University, the University of Rome La Sapienza and, at the request of Giuseppe Pizzardo at the Accademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici. Consequently, he spent not a day as a parish priest, in 1925 he helped found the publishing house Morcelliana in Brescia, focused on promoting a Christian inspired culture. Montini had just one posting in the service of the Holy See as Secretary in office of the papal nuncio to Poland in 1923. Of the nationalism he experienced there he worte, This form of nationalism treats foreigners as enemies, then one seeks the expansion of ones own country at the expense of the immediate neighbours
27.
Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls
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The Papal Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls is a Roman Catholic Papal minor basilica and parish church, located in Rome, Italy. The Basilica is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and one of the five patriarchal basilicas. The Basilica was assigned to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Basilica is the shrine of the tomb of its namesake, Saint Lawrence, one of the first seven deacons of Rome who was martyred in 258. Pope Pius IX are also buried at the Basilica, which is the center of a large, before the present-day Basilica was constructed, the former estate upon which it sits was once home to a small oratory built by Emperor Constantine I. The Emperor built it over the site on which it held that St. Lawrence was executed in 258. In the 580s, Pope Pelagius II commissioned the construction of a church over the site in honor of the Saint, in the 13th century, Pope Honorius III commissioned the construction of another church in front of the older one. It was adorned with frescos depicting the lives of Saint Lawrence and the first martyred deacon, St. Stephen, the two structures were later united during a program of urban renewal. Excavations have revealed several other crypts of various persons, buried below the street level. Pope St. Hilarius is also buried here, the portico of circa 1220 has Cosmatesque decoration by the Vassalletto family of craftsmen. The 13th-century frescoes, which were reconstructed, depict scenes from the lives of St. Lawrence and St. Stephen, both being martyred, young deacons. There are two ancient sarcophagi in the portico, a Christian one, possibly decorated in the 7th century on a sarcophagus, has a relief depicting putti picking grapes. While vines and grapes are symbols of the Holy Eucharist, these images are probably not symbols thereof, further, two Romanesque stone lions were moved here from the old entrance. The campanile was built in the 12th century, inside, the choir enclosure and pulpit have Cosmatesque decoration, and there is also a fine Cosmatesque Paschal candlestick from the 12th or 13th century. The antique Ionic capital on the column directly behind the pulpit has carvings of a frog, on the triumphal arch are Byzantine mosaics from the 6th century, depicting Christ with saints. The confessio below the altar is entered from the nave. Here, St. Lawrence and St. Stephen are enshrined, the latter was transferred from Constantinople by Pope Pelagius II during his restoration of the Basilica. Behind the high altar is a Papal altar with an inscription of the names of the makers, namely the Cosmati family, the Basilica was home to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1374 to 1847. In 1943 the Basilica was bombed during the Second World War, restoration continued until 1948, allowing some accretions from the 19th century to be removed
28.
Lira
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Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the name of the currencies of Lebanon. It is the currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Vatican City, all of which were replaced in 2002 with the euro, and of Israel. The term originates from the value of a Troy pound of high purity silver, the libra was the basis of the monetary system of the Roman Empire. When Europe resumed a monetary system, during the Carolingian Empire, the Roman system was adopted, particularly this system was kept during the Middle Ages and Modern Age in England, France, and Italy. In each of countries the libra was translated into local language, pound in England, livre in France. The Venetian lira was one of the currencies in use in Italy, during the 19th century, Egypt and the Ottoman Empire adopted the lira as their national currency, equivalent to 100 piasters or kuruş. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in years 1918-1922, many among the successor states kept the lira as their national currency. In some countries, such as Cyprus, which have belonged to both empires, the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire, the lira and pound are used as equivalents. For Turkish lira, the Turkish lira sign is used, otherwise L, sometimes in a double-crossed script form or less often single-crossed, is usually used as the symbol. The Turkish lira was introduced in 1844 during the Ottoman reign, the Turkish Lira is now the currency of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The Lebanese pound is called lira in Arabic, which is the language of Lebanon. The Syrian pound is called lira in Arabic, which is the language of Syria. The Jordanian dinar is widely called a lira, the Bulgarian and Romanian languages refer to the English pound as lira in opposition to Croatian which refers to the Italian currency as lira. Cipolla, Le avventure della lira, Bologna, Il Mulino,1975, stefano Poddi, La lunga storia della lira, stralcio, Fondazioni, n.2 marzo-aprile,2008. Stefano Poddi, La lunga storia della lira, articolo completo, Difesa e Lavoro, overview of Italian lira from the BBC
29.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
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The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps. Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, although Boeing lost the contract because the prototype crashed, the air corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances, the B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces in the daylight strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. The B-17 also participated to an extent in the War in the Pacific, early in World War II. From its prewar inception, the USAAC promoted the aircraft as a weapon, it was a relatively fast, high-flying. It developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base, the B-17 developed a reputation as an effective bomber, dropping more bombs than any other U. S. aircraft in World War II. Of the 1.5 million tonnes of bombs dropped on Germany, in addition to its role as a bomber, the B-17 was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft. As of May 2015, ten aircraft remain airworthy, none of them are combat veterans. Dozens more are in storage or on static display, the oldest of these is a D-series veteran of combat in the Pacific and the Caribbean. On 8 August 1934, the U. S. Army Air Corps tendered a proposal for a bomber to replace the Martin B-10. The air corps was looking for a capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama. Requirements were that it would carry a useful bombload at an altitude of 10,000 ft for ten hours with a top speed of at least 200 mph. They also desired, but did not require, a range of 2,000 mi, the competition for the air corps contract would be decided by a fly-off between Boeings design, the Douglas DB-1, and the Martin Model 146 at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. The prototype B-17, with the Boeing factory designation of Model 299, was designed by a team of engineers led by E. Gifford Emery and Edward Curtis Wells and it combined features of the experimental Boeing XB-15 bomber with the Boeing 247 transport aircraft. The B-17s armament consisted of up to 4,800 lb of bombs on two racks in the bay behind the cockpit, and initially possessed five.30 caliber machine guns. It was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines each producing 750 hp at 7,000 ft, the first flight of the Model 299 was on 28 July 1935 with Boeing chief test-pilot Leslie Tower at the controls. Richard Williams, a reporter for the Seattle Times, coined the name Flying Fortress with his comment, Why, when the Model 299 was rolled out bristling with multiple machine gun installations. The most unusual gun emplacement was the installation which allowed the single machine gun to be fired toward almost any frontal angle
30.
Vatican City in World War II
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Vatican City pursued a policy of neutrality during World War II, under the leadership of Pope Pius XII. Although the city of Rome was occupied by Germany from 1943, the Vatican organised extensive humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the conflict. The Lateran Treaty of 1929 with Italy recognized the sovereignty of Vatican City and it declared Vatican City a neutral country in international relations, and required the Pope to abstain even from mediation unless requested by all parties. In 1939, the city state was recognized by thirty-eight nations, with a corps of thirteen full ambassadors. As early as April 1939, Pius XII announced a plan for peace, the first leader contacted was Benito Mussolini, via Pius XIIs usual go-between, Jesuit Father Tacchi Venturi. With Mussolinis approval, the next day Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Maglione contacted the nuncios in Paris, Warsaw, and Berlin and the Apostolic Delegate in London. The proposed Vatican meeting accomplished little of substance, if there was any coherent position espoused by the Vatican among its various communications. In his 24 August 1939 Radio Message, just a week before war, Pius warned, The danger is imminent, nothing is lost with peace, all can be lost with war. With Poland overrun, but France and the Low Countries yet to be attacked, despite the early collapse of peace hopes, the Taylor mission continued at the Vatican. Early on, Pius XII believed that the destruction of Poland meant the end of the war. Summi Pontificatus, issued 20 October 1939, was the first papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII, According to Chadwick, Summi Pontificatus exemplified both the hesitancy and the care of the pontiff. During the drafting of the letter, the Second World War commenced with the Nazi/Soviet invasion of Catholic Poland, with Italy not yet an ally of Hitler in the war, Italians were called upon to remain faithful to the Church. The Pope wrote of anti-Christian movements bringing forth a crop poignant disasters and called for love, mercy and compassion against the deluge of discord. Following themes addressed in Non abbiamo bisogno, Mit brennender Sorge and Divini redemptoris, misled by error, passion, temptation and prejudice, have strayed away from faith in the true God. Against the invasion of Poland and killing of civilians he wrote, In Poland, in 1942, Pius XII delivered a Christmas message over Vatican Radio, which voiced concern for the victims of the Nazis genocidal policies. From May 1942, the Nazis had commenced their industrialized slaughter of the Jews of Europe - the Final Solution, gypsies and others were also marked for extermination. The Pope addressed the racial persecutions in the terms, The New York Times called Pius a lonely voice crying out of the silence of a continent. The speech was made in the context of the total domination of Europe by the armies of Nazi Germany
31.
Bombing of the Vatican
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Bombing of Vatican City occurred twice during World War II. The first occasion was on the evening of 5 November 1943, the second bombing, which affected only the outer margin of the city, was at about the same hour on 1 March 1944, and caused the death of one person and the injury of another. Vatican City State was neutral throughout the war, both Allied and Axis aircraft crews were generally commanded to respect its neutrality even when bombing Rome. On 25 July 1943, after Allied forces had conquered the Italian possessions in Africa and had taken Sicily, the Fascist Grand Council removed Benito Mussolini from power. The Kingdom of Italy at first remained an ally of Nazi Germany, both bombings occurred while Rome was under German occupation. An undated eyewitness account written by Monsignor Domenico Tardini in 1944 states and it was a very clear and cloudless evening. For over half an hour an aeroplane was heard circling insistently over Rome, at about 8,10, while an Allied squadron passed over the Vatican, the aeroplane that until then had been circling over Rome dropped four bombs and flew away. If they had fallen a few metres off, they would have hit the Radio, the Government building, that of the Tribunals. They caused considerable damage, for all the windows were blown to pieces, the future cardinal Tardini continued, General opinion, and general indignation, blamed the Germans and, perhaps more, the Republican Fascists. The latter view was reinforced by notes about a conversation of Barracu that a telephone operator gave to the Holy Father. 5 November is for England, Father Hughes told me, an anti-Pope day, Monsignor Carroll did not know whether the delinquent had been punished. Perhaps we will know, when the war is over, what really happened, the message from Monsignor Walter S. Carroll that Monsignor Tardini spoke of as addressed to Monsignor Montini was in reality addressed to Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Maglione. The German and British authorities gave similar assurances regarding aircraft of their countries, aware that the bombs used were British, the British pointed out that this proved nothing as they could have been taken from captured ordinance and used for precisely that purpose. Augusto Ferraras 2010 book 1943 Bombe sul Vaticano, declares that the attack was orchestrated by leading Italian Fascist politician, the aim was to knock out Vatican Radio, which was suspected of sending coded message to the Allies. The aircraft that delivered the bombs was a SIAI Marchetti S. M.79, a three-engined Italian medium bomber known as the Sparviero, which had taken off from Viterbo, some 80 kilometres north of Rome. One piece of evidence on which Ferrara bases his account of the responsibility of Farinacci was a call from a priest called Giuseppe to the Jesuit Pietro Tacchi Venturi. In Ferraras account, five bombs were dropped, of one did not explode. The 2007 book Venti angeli sopra Roma by Cesare De Simone speaks of an admission of responsibility by the RAF in the postwar period
32.
Vatican Radio
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Vatican Radio is the official broadcasting service of the Vatican. Set up in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave, medium wave, FM, satellite, since its inception, Vatican Radio has been maintained by the Jesuit Order. During World War II and the rise of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, a week after Pope Pius XII ordered the programming, Vatican Radio broadcast to an incredulous world that Poles and Jews were being rounded up and forced into ghettos. Today, programming is produced by two hundred journalists located in 61 different countries. Vatican Radio produces more than 42,000 hours of simultaneous broadcasting covering international news, religious celebrations, in-depth programs, the current general director is Father Federico Lombardi, S. J. Vatican Radio began broadcasting with the callsign HVJ on two shortwave frequencies using 10 kilowatts of power on 12 February 1931, with the pontificial message Omni creaturae of Pope Pius XI. In 1933, a permanent microwave link was established between the Vatican Palace and the residence of the papacy, Castel Gandolfo. In 1936, the International Telecommunication Union recognized Vatican Radio as a special case, on 25 December 1937 a Telefunken 25 kW transmitter and two directional antennas were added. Vatican Radio broadcast over 10 frequencies, during World War II, Vatican Radios news broadcasts were banned in Germany. During the war, the service operated in four languages. While some critics have said Pope Pius XII was too quiet regarding the Holocaust, Adler argues that it exposed Nazi persecution of the Church and opposed collaboration with Nazism. It appealed to Catholics to remain true to their faiths injunctions, to defend the sanctity of life, in so doing the Pope pursued a policy of spiritual resistance to Nazi ideology and racism. In 1948, services expanded to 18 languages, because of space purposes, the Holy See acquired a 400-hectare area located 18 kilometres north of Rome at Santa Maria di Galeria. The Italian Republic granted the site status in 1952. The next phase involved two 100 kW transmitters aimed at Africa and Oceania, a 250 kW mediumwave transmitter for Europe, Radio Vaticana was one of 23 founding broadcasting organisations of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950. In the 21st century, Vatican Radio has experimented with digital technologies and has used electronic newsletters, podcasts. Vatican Radio and CTV began their own YouTube channel in 2010, operating in four languages, in May 2009 it was announced that Vatican Radio would begin broadcasting commercial advertisements for the first time in July. The decision was made so as to meet the rising costs
33.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
34.
Strategic bombing during World War II
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Strategic bombing during World War II was the sustained aerial attack on railways, harbours, cities, workers housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory during World War II. Strategic bombing is a strategy which is distinct from both close air support of ground forces and tactical air power. As the war continued to expand, bombing by both the Axis and the Allies increased significantly, in September 1940, the Luftwaffe began targeting British cities in The Blitz. From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites and eventually, when the United States began flying bombing missions against Germany, it reinforced these efforts and controversial firebombings were carried out against Hamburg, Dresden, and other German cities. In the Pacific War, the Japanese bombed civilian populations throughout the war, the effect of strategic bombing was highly debated during and after the war. Both the Luftwaffe and RAF failed to deliver a blow by destroying enemy morale. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which address the codes of conduct on land. Despite repeated diplomatic attempts to update international humanitarian law to include aerial warfare, many reasons exist for the absence of international law regarding aerial bombing in World War II. Most nations had refused to ratify laws or agreements because of the vague or impractical wording in treaties such as the 1923 Hague Rules of Air Warfare. Also, the major powers possession of newly developed advanced bombers was a military advantage. Article 25 of the 1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions on Land Warfare also did not provide a guideline on the extent to which civilians may be spared. Consequently, cyclical arguments, such as advanced by Italian general and air power theorist Giulio Douhet. Before World War II began, the pace of aviation technology created a belief that groups of bombers would be capable of devastating cities. For example, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin warned in 1932, when the war began on 1 September 1939, Franklin D. If the Luftwaffe confined attacks to purely military targets, the RAF should launch an attack on the German fleet at Wilhelmshaven, the first RAF raid on the interior of Germany took place on the night of 15/16 May 1940 while the Battle of France was still continuing. During the German invasion of Poland, the Luftwaffe engaged in air raids against Polish cities, bombing civilian infrastructure such as hospitals. Notably, the Luftwaffe bombed Warsaw, Wieluń, and Frampol, in his book, Eyes on the Sky, Wolfgang Schreyer wrote, Frampol was chosen as an experimental object, because test bombers, flying at low speed, werent endangered by AA fire. Also, the centrally placed town hall was an orientation point for the crews
35.
Area bombardment
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In military aviation, area bombardment is a type of aerial bombardment that targeted indiscriminately at a large area, such as a city block or an entire city. The term area bombing came into prominence during World War II, the British Royal Air Force began area bombing at Monchengladbach on 11 May 1940. Area bombing is a form of strategic bombing, other terms for area bombing are carpet bombing, saturation bombing, and obliteration bombing. At the time, area bombing was contrasted with precision bombing, Aerial bombardment and international law Aerial bombing of cities Civilian casualties of strategic bombing Firestorm High-level bombing Precision-guided munition Tactical bombing
36.
Aerial bombing of cities
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The aerial bombing of cities in warfare is an optional element of strategic bombing which was first seen in World War I. The bombing of cities grew to a vast scale in World War II, civilian and non-combatant casualties in bombed cities have variously been a purposeful result of the bombings, or unavoidable collateral damage depending on intent and technology. A number of efforts have been made to restrict the use of aerial bombardment so as to protect non-combatants. The first bombs delivered to their targets by air were launched on unmanned balloons, carrying a bomb, by the Austrians against Venice in 1849. The first ever air raid was conducted during the Italo-Turkish War by Italian forces against the Ottoman province of Libya on November 1,1911, giulio Gavotti dropped 1.5 kg of bombs on Ain Zara, a village 8 km west of the capital Tripoli. Adrianople was bombed by Bulgaria in 1912 in the First Balkan War, historically, it was the first bombardment of a city from a heavier-than-air aircraft. In the morning of 29 October 1912 at 9,30 a. m. the plane Albatros F-3 took off from an airfield near the village of Mustafa Pasha - present day Svilengrad, the pilot was captain Radul Mikov with spotter and bombardier Prodan Tarakchiev. The airfield was created to carry out the take off. According to the weather conditions were perfect. The flight lasted for 1 hour and 20 minutes and the altitude was 500m, during the flight the crew flew over the city of Edirne, discovered hidden Ottoman forces in the nearby villages and flew towards to city railroad station, near the village of Karaagach. The plane was equipped with two bombs, which were released at 10,00 am over the station, the crew landed successfully at the airfield with 4 holes on the hull. A number of journalists and military attended the site. The bomb landed not on target but in a city street, the first civilian target to be bombed from the air was the Belgian city of Antwerp. This city, at that moment the National Redoubt of Belgium, was bombed during the night of 24–25 August 1914, instead of targeting the surrounding fortresses, the Zeppelin LZ 25s intention was to bomb the clearly distinguishable historical centre of the city. After dropping approximately ten bombs, ten people were killed and forty injured, the British Royal Naval Air Service undertook the first Entente strategic bombing missions on 22 September 1914 and 8 October, when it bombed the Zeppelin bases in Cologne and Düsseldorf. The aeroplanes carried twenty-pound bombs, and at least one airship was destroyed on the ground, London was bombed for the first time on 30 May 1915. In July 1916, the German government allowed directed raids against urban centers, sparking 23 airship raids in 1916 in which 125 tons of ordnance were dropped, killing 293 people, gradually British air defenses improved and the Germans also introduced large bomber aircraft for bombing Britain. By the end of the war,51 raids had been undertaken, in which 5,806 bombs were dropped, killing 557 people, in the course of the Zeppelin raids the Germans lost more than half their airships and 40% of their crew
37.
Firestorm
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A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires, although the word has been used to describe certain large fires, the phenomenons determining characteristic is a fire with its own storm-force winds from every point of the compass. The Black Saturday bushfires and the Great Peshtigo Fire are possible examples of forest fires with some portion of combustion due to a firestorm. A firestorm is created as a result of the effect as the heat of the original fire draws in more and more of the surrounding air. This draft can be increased if a low-level jet stream exists over or near the fire. As the updraft mushrooms, strong inwardly-directed gusty winds develop around the fire and this would seem to prevent the firestorm from spreading on the wind, but the tremendous turbulence created may also cause the strong surface inflow winds to change direction erratically. A firestorm may also develop into a mesocyclone and induce true tornadoes/fire whirls and this occurred with the 2002 Durango fire, and probably with the much greater Peshtigo Fire. The greater draft of a firestorm draws in greater quantities of oxygen, the intense heat of a firestorm manifests largely as radiated heat, which may ignite flammable material at a distance ahead of the fire itself. This also serves to expand the area and the intensity of the firestorm, the very high temperatures ignite anything that might possibly burn, until the firestorm runs low on fuel. Thus the fire front is essentially stationary and the spread of fire is prevented by the in-rushing wind. At Hiroshima, this inrushing to feed the fire is said to have prevented the firestorm perimeter from expanding, large wildfire conflagrations are distinct from firestorms if they have moving fire fronts which are driven by the ambient wind and do not develop their own wind system like true firestorms. In Australia, the prevalence of eucalyptus trees that have oil in their leaves results in forest fires that are noted for their extremely tall, hence the bush fires appear more as a firestorm than a simple forest fire. Sometimes, emission of gases from swamps has a similar effect. For instance, methane explosions enforced the Peshtigo Fire, for example, the black rain that began to fall at ~20 minutes after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima produced in total 5–10 cm of black soot-filled rain in a 1–3 hour period. Moreover, if the conditions are right, a large pyrocumulus can grow into a pyrocumulonimbus and produce lightning, apart from city and forest fires, pyrocumulus clouds can also be produced by volcanic eruptions due to the comparable amounts of hot buoyant material formed. The same underlying combustion physics can also apply to structures such as cities during war or natural disaster. Firestorms are thought to have part of the mechanism of large urban fires, such as accompanied the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Firestorms were also created by the raids of World War II in cities like Hamburg
38.
Strategic bombing
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One of the aims of war is to demoralize the enemy, so that peace or surrender becomes preferable to continuing the conflict. Strategic bombing has been used to this end, because the term has pejorative connotations, some, including the Allies of World War II, have preferred to use euphemisms such as will to resist and morale bombings. The theoretical distinction between tactical and strategic air warfare was developed between the two world wars, some leading theorists of strategic air warfare during this period were the Italian Giulio Douhet, the Trenchard school in the United Kingdom, and General Billy Mitchell in the United States. One of the aims of war is to demoralise the enemy, facing continual death, when such attacks were tried in the 1930s—in the Spanish Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War—they were ineffective. Commentators observed the failures and some air forces, such as the Luftwaffe, Terror bombing is an emotive term used for aerial attacks planned to weaken or break enemy morale. Use of the term to refer to aerial attacks implies the attacks are criminal according to the law of war, or if within the laws of war are nevertheless a moral crime. The Allied governments usually described their bombing of cities with other such as area bombing or precision bombing. He then added in a remark that the raid also helped destroy what is left of German morale. Howard Cowan, an Associated Press war correspondent, filed a story about the Dresden raid, there were followup newspaper editorials on the issue and a longtime opponent of strategic bombing, Richard Stokes, MP, asked questions in the House of Commons on 6 March. The first bombing of a city was on the night of 24–25 August 1914, the first effective strategic bombing was pioneered by the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914. The mission was to attack the Zeppelin production lines and their sheds at Cologne, led by Charles Rumney Samson the force of four aircraft inflicted minor damage on the sheds. The raid was repeated a month later with more success. Within a year or so, specialized aircraft and dedicated bomber squadrons were in service on both sides. These were generally used for bombing, the aim was that of directly harming enemy troops, strongpoints, or equipment. Eventually, attention turned to the possibility of causing harm to the enemy by systematically attacking vital rear-area resources. The most well known attacks were those done by Zeppelins over England through the course of the war, in all, four people were killed and sixteen injured, and monetary damage was estimated at £7,740. German airships also bombed on other fronts, for example in January 1915 on Liepāja in Latvia, in 1915 there were 19 more raids, in which 37 tons of bombs were dropped, killing 181 people and injuring 455. London was accidentally bombed in May, and in July the Kaiser allowed directed raids against urban centers, there were 23 airship raids in 1916, in which 125 tons of ordnance were dropped, killing 293 people and injuring 691
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V-weapons
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This article is about the offensive use of the V-weapons and the military campaign in which they were employed. For descriptions of the weapons, see V-1 flying bomb, V-2 rocket. For other German superweapons, see Wunderwaffe and they comprised the V-1, a pulsejet-powered cruise missile, the V-2, a liquid-fuelled ballistic missile, and the V-3 cannon. All of these weapons were intended for use in a campaign against Britain, though only the V-1. After the invasion of Europe by the Allies, these weapons were employed against targets on the mainland of Europe, mainly Britain. The V-terrorbombing killed approximately 18,000 people, mostly civilians, the cities London, Antwerp and Liège were the main targets. They were part of the range of the so-called Wunderwaffen of Nazi Germany, following the relative failure of the Baedeker Raids on Britain in 1942, development of both flying bomb and rocket accelerated, with Britain designated as the target. On September 29,1943, Albert Speer publicly promised retribution against the bombing of German cities by a secret weapon. Then the official 24 June 1944 Reich Propaganda Ministry announcement of the Vergeltungswaffe 1 guided missile implied there would be another such weapon, after the first operational A-4 launch in September 1944, the rocket was renamed the V-2. However, the V-2 operations manual distributed to firing batteries continued to use the A-4 name for the rocket, beginning in October 1943, launch sites for the V-1 were constructed in Northern France, along the coast from Calais to Le Havre. Aerial bombing attacks on these sites by the Allied airforce were only partially successful, prompted by the Normandy Landings of June 6, in the early morning of June 13,1944, the first V-1 flying bomb attack was carried out on London. Ten missiles were launched of which four reached England, the first of these impacted near Swanscombe, causing no casualties. At Bethnal Green, however, a bridge was destroyed and six people killed, after the 15th the attacks became sustained at a rate of about 100 a day. With the first attack the British put their pre-planned Operation Diver into action, the buzzing sound of the V-1s pulse jet engine was likened by some to a motor cycle in bad running order. At least one business in London advertised how quickly a patron could access a nearby shelter, despite this, the cloudy and rainy conditions of June and July aided the effectiveness of the weapon and casualties were high. By late August a million and a people had left London. By the late summer and autumn, however, increasingly effective countermeasures against the V-1 were taken and people started returning to London. A total of 9,251 V-1s were fired at targets in Britain, with the vast majority aimed at London,2,515 reached the city, killing 6,184 civilians and injuring 17,981
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Bombing of Akita in World War II
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This was reportedly the farthest-range and also the last bombing mission in World War II, coming only hours before Japan announced its surrender. The town of Tsuchizaki was a port on the Sea of Japan coast, railway nexus. The town was incorporated into the city of Akita on April 1,1941. Despite its military significance, it had not been attacked during the stages of the strategic bombing campaign. The bombs completely destroyed the oil refinery belonging to Nippon Oil and adjacent port facilities, the estimated civilian casualties were more than 250 people killed, and an estimated 200 were severely injured. Strategic bombing during World War II Werrell, Kenneth P. Blankets of Fire, washington and London, Smithsonian Institution Press. Contribution of Major Fire Raids Toward Ending WWII, the Army Air Forces in World War II, Combat Chronology, 1941-1945. The Cigar that brought the Fire Wind, Curtis LeMay and the Strategic Bombing of Japan, downfall, The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Among the Dead Cities, The History and Moral Legacy of the WWII Bombing of Civilians in Germany, new York, Walker Publishing Company Inc. Hoyt, Edwin P. Inferno, The Fire Bombing of Japan, shannon, Donald H. United States air strategy and doctrine as employed in the strategic bombing of Japan. U. S. Air University, Air War College, the Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb. Pacific War Chronology Japanese government site
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Bombing of Aomori in World War II
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Although the city of Aomori lacked major targets of military significance and was a minor city in terms of population, it was a prefectural capital and a major regional transportation hub. Aomori Station was the terminus for the Tōhoku Main Line and Ōu Main Line railways. In terms of industry, the city had a factory owned by Toyo Seikan. On the night of July 27,1945, two Boeing B-29 Superfortresses dropped flares and a total of 60,000 leaflets on the city of Aomori. The leaflets, depicting a bomber dropping bombs, listed 11 cities, and stated that at least 5-6 of these cities would soon be destroyed, and urged the civilian population to leave. As in other cities, the Japanese government decreed that citizens must turn such leaflets over to the police without reading the contents on pain of 3 months imprisonment or a fine of 10 Yen. Discussion of the contents could result in imprisonment, and the restrictions were to be enforced by the kempeitai. The bombers released a total of 83,000 new M74 incendiary devices on the wooden city. The resultant firestorm destroyed most of the city, the estimated civilian casualties in the July 29 raid was an estimated 1,767 killed and 18,045 homes destroyed. A year after the war, the United States Army Air Forcess Strategic Bombing Survey reported that 88 percent of the city had been totally destroyed, however, the Toyo Seikan factory was undamaged. The B-29 bombers continued on Tinian in the Mariana Islands without damage or loss, Strategic bombing during World War II Werrell, Kenneth P. Blankets of Fire. Washington and London, Smithsonian Institution Press, contribution of Major Fire Raids Toward Ending WWII. The Army Air Forces in World War II, Combat Chronology, the Cigar that brought the Fire Wind, Curtis LeMay and the Strategic Bombing of Japan. Downfall, The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, among the Dead Cities, The History and Moral Legacy of the WWII Bombing of Civilians in Germany and Japan. New York, Walker Publishing Company Inc, hoyt, Edwin P. Inferno, The Fire Bombing of Japan, March 9 – August 15,1945. Shannon, Donald H. United States air strategy and doctrine as employed in the bombing of Japan. U. S. Air University, Air War College, the Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb. 青森空襲を記録する会 ISBN 4-87373-047-3 Pacific War Chronology Mission Diary of Charles A Smith 67 Japanese Cities Firebombed in World War II Recollection of B-29 Record of the Aomori bombing
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Bombing of Augsburg in World War II
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The bombing of Augsburg in World War II included two British RAF and one USAAF bombing raids against the German city of Augsburg on 17 April 1942 and 25/26 February 1944. To take advantage of the capabilities of the new Avro Lancaster, the target was a long distance inside Germany, and a night-time attack would not have been as accurate, so the plan was to attack by day and cross enemy territory at low level. The bomber force was drawn from No.44 Squadron at RAF Waddington, each provided a flight of six aircraft. They practised low flying for a week, thirty Douglas Boston medium bombers and a large Fighter Command effort were dispatched to targets in Northern France intending to draw off German fighters. One Boston was lost in these diversionary activities, Flying at around 50 ft, the bombers crossed France but the aircraft of 44 Squadron, under Squadron Leader John Dering Nettleton, flew close by an airfield of II Gruppe/Jagdgeschwader 2. German fighters coming in to set off in pursuit and shot down four Lancasters. The two remaining bombers flew on and attacked the target with four 1,000 lb bombs each, one was hit by flak and crash-landed with the loss of three of the crew. The second six, from 97 Squadron, attacked shortly after in two sections of three, the first attacked at roof height, flying lower after dropping their load to evade flak on the way out but one was hit and crashed exploding. Of the last three aircraft, two were hit and caught fire, one exploded after completing the attack, the others had also completed the bomb run and were able to return home. In the course of the raid, seven of the 12 Lancasters had been shot down with the loss of 49 crewmen,37 killed and 12 taken prisoner, seven bombers were claimed by Hpt. Only two of the first formation of Lancasters dropped their bombs on the factory, five of the next dropped their bombs. After attacking the surviving Lancasters flew home at higher level under cover of darkness, Squadron Leader Nettleton returned in a badly damaged aircraft, landing near Blackpool. For his outstanding determination and leadership, Nettleton, who had nursed his crippled Lancaster aircraft back to England, many of the other officers and men who had survived the mission received recognition with the award of Distinguished Service Orders, Distinguished Flying Crosses and Distinguished Flying Medals. The operation had propaganda value to the British public, however, Lord Selborne, the Minister of Economic Warfare, was infuriated that the target had not been one of those specified by his Ministry for attack. Post-war analysis indicated the damage inflicted on the enemy was minor, eight machine tools were destroyed out of a total of 2,700, and five cranes out of 558. Courageous men and valuable aircraft had been lost although Bomber Command had already learned not to send unescorted bombers on such sorties, another lesson was that the Lancaster bombers rifle-calibre machine guns had proved quite inadequate against enemy fighters that were fitted with self-sealing fuel tanks. In a final Big Week mission, the Eighth Air Force bombed the Augsburg Messerschmitt works during the day on 25 February 1944 and that night, RAF Bomber Command followed with 594 aircraft and destroyed large parts of the centre of Augsburg. 21 RAF aircraft,3. 6% of the force was lost, during the Christmas holiday of 2016,50,000 Augsburg residents were evacuated to remove a 3.8 tonne dud bomb
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Bombing of Bahrain in World War II
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The bombing of Bahrain in World War II was part of an effort by the Italian Royal Air Force to strike at the British interests wherever possible in the Middle East. While the mission caused little damage, it was successful in forcing the diversion of already-limited Allied resources to a theater originally thought to be safe. On 10 June 1940, the Kingdom of Italy declared war on the French Republic, the Italian invasion of France was short-lived and the French signed an armistice with the Italians on 25 June, three days after Frances armistice with Germany. This left the British and the forces of the Commonwealth of Nations for the Italians to contend with in the Middle East. In summer 1940, the Italian leader and Prime Minister Benito Mussolini received a plan to destroy the oil fields in Bahrain in order to disrupt the oil supplies to the British Navy, the plan was suggested by the Italian test pilot, Air Force Captain Paolo Moci. Early on October 19,1940, four Italian SM. 82s bombers attacked American-operated oil refineries in the British Protectorate of Bahrain, the raid also struck Dhahran in Saudi Arabia, but causing only some minor damage. Each aircraft carried a load of 1,500 kg and this long-range action was successful, taking the target totally by surprise, and the SM. 82s landed without problems at Zula, Eritrea. The Italian airplanes started their flight from Europe, attacked refineries in Asia, during the attack were dropped 132 bombs of 15 kgs, that heavily damaged 2 refineries The raid caused the Allies some concerns, forcing them to upgrade their defences. This, more than the amount of damage caused, further stretched Allied military resources. The Italian Command intended to employ the special SM82s to bomb the English oil plants of Manama, in the Persian Gulf and it was a long and difficult mission involving a 4,000 kilometre flight. During the very long flight, the role of Mutis SM82 pathfinder proved its essential function in leading the squadron. As bombardier Raina later told the operation of spotting the target was easy thanks to the illumination of the extractive. Alberto Rosselli Rome declared that their bombers had set a new distance record, american Magazine Time wrote that the Italians insisted that the planes had been refueled from submarine tankers though in actuality, the planes had simply been loaded with fuel. Ettore Muti, Party Secretary of the National Fascist Party, took part in the Bahrain raid and this caused the British considerable logistical problems but also forced them to divert resources to defend the Middle East which were badly needed elsewhere. It also helped relieve the threat to the lanes in the Mediterranean. Even a commercial aerial trip was done between Rome and Tokyo in summer 1942, Italian Royal Air Force Bombing of Palestine in World War II Lembo, Daniele. Parma, Italy, West-ward Edizioni,2002, p. 10-31
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Barrow Blitz
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The Barrow Blitz is the name given to the Luftwaffe bombings of Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom during World War II. They took place primarily during April and May 1941, although the earliest Luftwaffe bombing occurred in September 1940, VSEL shipyard was the main target for bombing alongside Barrows steelworks which were formerly the largest in the world. During the Second World War, Walney Island was home to two of the many coastal artillery installations, numerous pillboxes can to this day be found littered across the Walney coastline. They were used as lookouts and contained rifles and light guns that could be used to defend Barrow against the Luftwaffe. The entrance to a large underground air-raid shelter that was used by shipyard workers can be found in the car park of the Waterfront Barrow-in-Furness development. A large unit of the Royal Air Force was based at Barrow/Walney Island Airport which was expanded during the war in an effort to aid Britains air defences, surrounding towns and villages were often mistaken for Barrow and were attacked instead, while many streets in Barrow were severely damaged. Bombing during mid-April 1941 caused significant damage to a portion of Abbey Road, completely destroying the Waverley Hotel as well as Christ Church. The towns main public baths and Essoldo Theatre were also severely damaged, hawcoat Lane is a street that is most noted for taking a direct destructive hit in early May 1941. This shortage of shelters was believed to have led to high casualties. Two fire watchers were killed in May 1941 when the hammer head crane they were stationed in at Vickers Shipyard was bombed by the Luftwaffe, in May 1941 it was attacked and badly damaged by the Luftwaffe. Most of the hotel was demolished and the remaining part became a public house/restaurant known as The Abbey Tavern. Her memoirs were adapted for television. Barrows main war memorial is a located in Barrow Park. It bears the names of hundreds of Barrovians who died in combat during various wars, including 616 in the First World War,268 in the Second World War, the Dock Museum in Hindpool contains an exhibit about the Barrow Blitz. In 2016, filmmaker and Barrow Sixth Form student Matthew Dodd created a documentary to commemorate the Barrow Blitzs 75th anniversary, Timeline of events during the Barrow Blitz. September 1940 The first compulsory blackout in Barrow,300 incendiaries are dropped on Salthouse, and a 5 year old child becomes the first victim of the Barrow Blitz. May 1941 Bombing intensifies as the Luftwaffe drops land-mines, incendiaries, Barrow Central railway station is completely destroyed by bombing. Some 2,250 children are evacuated from the town, june 1941 A further 4,000 children are evacuated as the death toll from bombing exceeds 80
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Bath Blitz
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The term Bath Blitz refers to the air raids by the German air force on the British city of Bath, Somerset, during World War II. The city was bombed in April 1942 as part of the so-called “Baedeker raids”, in which targets were chosen for their cultural and historical, rather than their strategic or military, value. Bath was largely untouched during the Blitz, the German night bombing offensive against Britains cities, Bath was subject to numerous air raid warnings as raiders flew overhead on their way to Bristol, but no bombs were dropped on Bath at this point. Over the weekend of 25–27 April 1942, Bath suffered three raids, from 80 Luftwaffe aircraft which took off from Nazi occupied northern France. As the city sirens wailed, few citizens took cover, even when the first pathfinder flares fell, during the previous four months Bristol had been hit almost every night, so the people of Bath did not expect the bombs to fall on them. The first raid struck just before 11 pm on the Saturday night, the German aircraft then returned to France, refuelled, rearmed and returned at 4.35 am. Bath was still on fire from the first raid, making it easier for the German bombers to pick out their targets, the third raid, which only lasted two hours but caused extensive damage, commenced in the early hours of Monday morning. The bombers flew low to drop their high explosives and incendiaries,417 people were killed, another 1,000 injured. Over 19,000 buildings were affected, of which 1,100 were seriously damaged or destroyed, houses in the Royal Crescent, Circus and Paragon were destroyed and the Assembly Rooms were burnt out. A500 kilograms high explosive bomb landed on the side of Queen Square. The Francis Hotel lost 24 metres of its frontage. Casualties on the Square were low considering the devastation, with the majority of hotel guests, the majority of Baths churches were greatly damaged including St Andrews Church which had to be demolished and the site is now a park. The buildings have subsequently restored, although there are still some signs of the bombing. After the raid, a shelter was provided for Queen Square occupants in the then private central garden. In 1948, the residents gave the garden to the people of Bath with the intention it would become a memorial to the victims of the enemy attacks, today the square plays host to a variety of community activities including the Jane Austen Festival and the annual Bath Boules Tournament. Willi Schludecker,87, who more than 120 sorties for the Luftwaffe, including the Bath Blitz. Willi Schludecker died in a hospital in Cologne on 17 June 2010, among the firefighters assigned to the scene in Bath was Harry Patch, who in the 2000s became the last surviving British army veteran from the First World War. In 2016 a live 500 pounds bomb was discovered by workmen under the playground of the former Royal High School, Bath site
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