The

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

, a town in

Northeastern Italy Northeast Italy ( it, Italia nord-orientale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a Italian NUTS level 1 regions, first level ...

, took place on 7 April 1944, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Aimed at disabling the town's marshalling yard, it resulted in the destruction of most of the town.

History

Treviso, a town of 60,000 inhabitants located in the

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

region, thirty kilometres north of Venice, was in a strategically important position for railway communications in northeastern Italy, and was therefore bombed several times by the Allied air forces. The first, and most devastating, raid took place on 7 April 1944. 159

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

of the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(escorted by

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

fighters) dropped over 2,000

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

s (446 metric tons of ordnance) during an attack which lasted five minutes (from 1.24 PM to 1.29 PM); the target was the local

marshalling yard A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ya ...

, but the inaccuracy of the bombing caused most of the bombs to fall all over the city, destroying most of it. Out of 4,600 buildings, 700 were destroyed, 1,100 heavily damaged and 1,962 slightly damaged. A large part of the medieval parts of the city centre were destroyed; the medieval

Palazzo dei Trecento Palazzo dei Trecento (also called ''Palazzo della Ragione'') is a building in Treviso, Veneto, northern Italy, located in the Piazza dei Signori. It is home to Treviso municipal council. The palace was erected in the 13th and 14th centuries, as t ...

, distant only 700 meters from the objective, was partly destroyed. Between 1,000 and 1,600 civilians were killed, including 123 children. According to the records of the municipality, 1,600 inhabitants of Treviso were killed by air raids during the war, of whom 1,470 died in the raid of 7 April 1944; some 30,000 were left homeless. This makes the 7 April 1944 raid on Treviso the second deadliest air raid suffered by an Italian city during the war, after the 19 July 1943 raid on Rome that killed between 1,600 and 3,200 people. The attackers lost one B-17, shot down by

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

s of the nearby

Treviso Airport Treviso Airport, it, Aeroporto di Treviso A. Canova , sometimes Venice-Treviso Airport, is an international airport located west-southwest of Treviso and approximately away from the city of Venice, Italy. It is used mainly by low-cost airline ...

.Camillo Pavan, ''A difesa dell'aeroporto di Treviso. Le contraeree di Canizzano e Sant'Angelo sul Sile (1944-1945)'', 2008, Treviso, p. 45 As the bombing occurred on

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

fascist propaganda The propaganda used by the National Fascist Party (PNF) in the years leading up to and during Benito Mussolini's leadership of Italy (1922–1943) was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of Fascist ...

called the day "''passion of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

and of Treviso''".

Further raids

A further twelve air raids (both by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

), mostly targeting the marshalling yard, took place in the following eleven months: on 20 April 1944, 14 May 1944, 20 October 1944, 21, 22, 25 and 27 December 1944, 11, 15 and 31 January 1945, and 13 and 31 March 1945. These raids caused further damage and destruction to the town, albeit none was as destructive and deadly as the first one had been.

Giuseppe Berto Giuseppe Berto (27 December 1914 – 1 November 1978) was an Italian writer and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his novels ''Il cielo è rosso'' (''The Sky Is Red'') and ''Il male oscuro''. He was a prisoner at Camp Hereford from 194 ...

's novel ''The Sky is Red'' and the film with the same name are set during the bombing of Treviso and its aftermath, and ruined buildings of the town were used as set for the movie.

Notes

External links

Il Bombardamento Di Treviso

{{DEFAULTSORT:War, Bombing Of Treviso In World, Ii World War II operations and battles of the Italian Campaign 1944 in Italy Italy in World War II World War II strategic bombing

Italy–United States military relations Germany–United States military relations Treviso