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 ...

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

took place on 31 August 1943, 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 city's marshalling yard, it also resulted in heavy damage to the city itself (although its most famous

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

s were left untouched) and civilian casualties.

History

The

Pisa Centrale railway station Pisa Centrale railway station ( it, Stazione di Pisa Centrale) is the central station of the Italian city of Pisa, the first station of the city in terms of passengers, before Pisa-San Rossore railway station. The station is one of the major rail ...

was considered by the Allies to be of strategic importance for railway communications in central Italy, as it was the intersection point between the

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

railway line and the Livorno-Florence railway line; this led to several Allied air raids aimed at its destruction. Additionally, the district of Porta a Mare housed several factories engaged in war production, and the nearby San Giusto airfield was a base for the

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

. The first and heaviest raid took place on 31 August 1943, when 152

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 ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

, having taken off from airfields in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, dropped 408 tons of bombs on the Porta a Mare district, where the railway station was located. This raid was also part of the intensified Allied bombing campaign over Italy after the fall of Benito Mussolini on 25 July 1943, aimed at pushing the new Badoglio government to surrender. The raid began at 13:01, during lunchtime, and lasted seven minutes. The air raid sirens had been sounded at noon, but owing to a number of false alarms during the previous months, a large part of the population did not go to

air raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but many ...

s, believing this to be yet another false alarm; this contributed to the high death toll. At 13:01, the first bombers started dropping their bombs over the Porta a Mare

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

. 367 bombs were dropped on the

Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of ...

factory, killing 56 workers while they were at lunch. Italian 90 mm and German 88 mm anti-aircraft guns opened fire, and

Macchi C.200 The Macchi C.200 Saetta (Italian: "Lightning"), or MC.200, was a fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Aeronautica Macchi in Italy. Various versions were flown by the ''Regia Aeronautica'' (Italian Air Force) who used the type throughou ...

fighter planes took off from the nearby

Arena Metato Arena Metato is a village in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of San Giuliano Terme, province of Pisa. The village is the result of the fusion of the two hamlets of Arena (pop. 204) and Metato (pop. 1,911).2011 Ist ...

airfield, but were unable to seriously interfere with the raid; only four of the 152 B-17s and B-24s were shot down. The railway station, objective of the raid, was hit and badly damaged; at the same time, however, the entire part of Pisa located south of the

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...

river suffered heavy damage, with the Porta a Mare district being virtually razed to the ground. 2,500 homes were destroyed or damaged, and several historical buildings were also hit, such as the Palazzo Pretorio and the churches of

San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno (St. Paul on the bank of the Arno) is a Roman Catholic church in Pisa, region of Tuscany, Italy. It is a pre-eminent example of Tuscan Romanesque church architecture. The church is also locally known as ''Duomo vecchio'' ...

and

Sant'Antonio Abate Sant'Antonio Abate ( nap, Sant'Antuono) is a ''commune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 30 km southeast of Naples. Sant'Antonio Abate borders the following municipalities: Ang ...

. At least 952 inhabitants of Pisa were killed, according to the official figures; other estimates claim that the death toll was higher, up to 2,500 victims.

Further raids

After this attack, Pisa suffered further heavy raids by both 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 ...

and 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 ...

on 23, 24 and 25 September, 4 October and 25 December 1943, and on 18 and 19 January and 14 February 1944. All these raids were aimed at either the airfield or the marshalling yard, but caused further damage and casualties to the city as well. In the summer of 1944 Pisa also suffered heavy

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

shelling by the advancing Allied forces. By the time the Allies liberated Pisa, on 2 September 1944, 48% of all homes in the city had been destroyed; most of the damage was concentrated in the districts south of the Arno, where few buildings had escaped damage. Civilian deaths from air raids and shelling were 1,738. The city's most famous landmarks – the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

, the

Leaning Tower This is a list of leaning towers. A leaning tower is a tower which, either intentionally or unintentionally (due to errors in design, construction, or subsequent external influence such as unstable ground), does not stand perpendicular to the gr ...

and the

Baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...

– had survived unscathed, but the

Camposanto Monumentale The Campo Santo, also known as Camposanto Monumentale ("monumental cemetery") or Camposanto Vecchio ("old cemetery"), is a historical edifice at the northern edge of the Cathedral Square in Pisa, Italy. "Campo Santo" can be literally translated ...

, after being spared by the air raids, was hit by artillery shelling, with the loss of many of its

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es. Many other less famous churches and historic palaces suffered damage, although this was repairable in most cases.Enciclopedia Treccani
/ref>

Notes

Bibliography

* Paolo Gianfaldoni, ''Pisa dal bombardamento del 1943 sino ai giorni nostri'', Felici, 1993 * Elena Ferrara, Enrico Stampacchia, ''Il bombardamento di Pisa del 31 agosto 1943. Dalle testimonianze alla memoria storica'', Tagete, 2004 * Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, ''Bombardate l’Italia. Storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940-1945'', Rizzoli, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:War, Bombing Of Pisa In World, Ii World War II operations and battles of the Italian Campaign 1943 in Italy Italy in World War II World War II strategic bombing

Italy–United States military relations