The bombing of Pescara was a series of attacks by the United States Army Air Force on the city of Pescara in

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, Italy during World War II. The raids caused thousands of civilian casualties and left 80 % of the city destroyed or damaged.

History

Pescara was the location of one of the most important

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 ...

s in central Italy, of considerable importance for the transit of supplies to the

Axis troops The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its p ...

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

and later to the German forces fighting on the Winter Line. This led to the city being repeatedly bombed by the USAAF, suffering nine major raids between August 1943 and May 1944. The first raid took place on 31 August 1943, by 45

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

s of the 376th US Bombardment Group. The target of this attack was the marshalling yard, but this was not hit; the raid was grossly inaccurate and most of the bombs fell all over the town, causing widespread damage and destruction, especially in the city centre. This was the deadliest air raid suffered by Pescara; civilian casualties in this attack have been estimated as 1,600 to 1,900.Comune di Pescara
/ref>Una drammatica pagina della storia di Pescara: i bombardamenti del 1943-1944 e la successiva ricostruzione
/ref>Bombardamenti sulle città italiane, 1943
/ref> The second major raid was carried out on 14 September 1943, six days after the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brig ...

, by 37 bombers of the 98th and 376th US Bombardment Group, again targeting the marshalling yard. This time 341 bombs were dropped, and the attack was fairly accurate, with most of them hitting the target; however, the railway station was crowded with passengers of several trains at the time of the raid, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths (estimates range from 600 to 2,000). Bombs also fell on the northern districts around the marshalling yard. After these two raids, about 80 % of the population of Pescara left the town, many of them fleeing to nearby Chieti, which had been declared an open city, and to

Pianella Pianella (locally ''Pianòlle'') is a ''comune'' and town in the Province of Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Ital ...

. More air raids took place on 17, 18 and 20 September, 4 October, 7 and 8 December 1943 and 12 May 1944, but these caused few casualties, as the town had become almost deserted. By the time the Allies entered Pescara, on 10 June 1944, 78 % of all buildings had been destroyed or damaged (1,265 buildings had been destroyed, 1,335 had been badly damaged, and 2,150 had been lightly damaged); of a population of 54,000 people, between 2,000 and 6,000 had been killed, and 12,000 were left homeless. The part of the town located north of the Pescara river was completely destroyed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bombing Of Pescara In World War Ii Pescara Pescara 1943 in Italy