The 1943 Naples post office bombing occurred on October 7, 1943, after the U.S. Fifth Army had captured

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 ...

(October 1) and reached the

Volturno River The Volturno (ancient Latin name Volturnus, from ''volvere'', to roll) is a river in south-central Italy. Geography It rises in the Abruzzese central Apennines of Samnium near Castel San Vincenzo (province of Isernia, Molise) and flows southea ...

(October 6). The

Palazzo delle Poste, Naples The ''Palazzo delle Poste'' (Italian: "Post Office Palace") is located in Piazza Matteotti in central Naples. It is an example of architecture completed during the fascist government of Benito Mussolini. Another such example is the nearby ' ...

, an imposing structure, completed in 1936 is located in the center of the city, was looted by Nazi troops during the occupation. After their retreat it became occupied by families who were made homeless by the bombing and destruction heaped on the city. This happened during the insurrection that was known as the ''" Four days of Naples"'' that had taken place a few weeks earlier. On that morning a series of violent explosions ripped through the building and caused heavy damage to the surrounding buildings and the death of more than 100 people, including women, children and members of a

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

unit. The unit was commanded by General

Matthew B. Ridgway General Matthew Bunker Ridgway (March 3, 1895 – July 26, 1993) was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). Altho ...

. An investigation determined that the explosion was the result of several

time bombs ''Time Bombs'' is a 2008 Canadian film directed by Guylaine Maroist and Éric Ruel. It was produced by " Productions de la ruelle". Plot In the spring of 1957, 40 young Canadian soldiers were sent to Nevada on a top secret mission. These ...

planted by the Germans six days earlier. A reporter from the ''Time'' and ''Life'' magazines,

Will Lang Jr. William John Lang Jr. (October 7, 1914 – January 21, 1968) was an American journalist and a bureau head for ''Life'' magazine. Early career Lang was born on the south side of Chicago. While attending the University of Chicago in 1936, he wro ...

, was no more than from the explosion when it occurred. The shockwave threw him to the ground, and the impact sprained his right arm. A photographer for ''LIFE'' magazine,

Robert Capa Robert Capa (born Endre Ernő Friedmann; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist as well as the companion and professional partner of photographer Gerda Taro. He is considered by some to ...

, and ''Acme News'' photographer Charles Corte began taking pictures of the shattered Post Office and the carnage lying in the streets. One of the physicians on hand was Brigadier General Edgar Hume whose office was across the street from the post office.

References

*Will Lang Jr.'s account of the Naples Post Office explosion may be found in: :: ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' dated: November 1, 1943
link
:: ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' dated February 14, 1944 {{DEFAULTSORT:1943 Naples Post Office Bombing Explosions in 1943 October 1943 events 20th century in Naples Italian campaign (World War II) Naples Post Office Bombing, 1943 Improvised explosive device bombings in Italy