The Vergarola Explosion (known in Italy as Vergarolla Massacre ) took place on 18 August 1946 when the sudden detonation of 12 large pieces of assorted

ordnance Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense *Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment. **The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...

, containing an estimated 9 tons of explosives, killed more than 100 people and injured 100 others at Vergarola (or Vergarolla) beach, in

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...

(Pola), which was at the time under temporary

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

military administration. The ordnance, which "had been swept from the water ndwere piled up on a beach awaiting disposal" exploded at just after 2pm, 18 August 1946. Initial newspaper reports cited 43 dead and 57 injured, including two British soldiers. Many of the victims were bathers who were attending an annual swimming event called ''Scarioni Cup''. The explosion had strong political implications, because local Italian leaders and the main Italian newspaper ''

L'Arena di Pola ''L'Arena di Pola'' () is an Italian newspaper founded in Pola (today Pula, Croatia), on 29 July 1945. Following the Yugoslav/ Croatian annexation of the city, the daily newspaper was moved first to Gorizia and then to Trieste. After it was mov ...

'', suggested that it was a demonstration against the Italian feelings of the residents, and a way to reinforce the possible (later actual) annexation to the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. The exact number of victims of the incident remains undefined, with estimates ranging up to about a hundred dead.

Allied investigation

A subsequent Allied military investigation into the incident was undertaken by Brigadier M.D. Erskine, commander of the

24th Guards Brigade The 24th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army from the First World War. It was reraised during the Second World War, as the 24th Infantry Brigade (Guards). During various designations, the brigade was active throughout the C ...

who reported on 8 September 1946 that the accident was caused by the detonation of three

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

warheads, four

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

demolition charges and five smoke generators. He said that the munitions had been inspected on several occasions and had been certified as being safe and that "I do not consider therefore that it is possible for it to have exploded without being detonated." He added that " e ammunition was deliberately exploded by person or persons unknown. This is confirmed by the fact that a small preliminary explosion was heard and a fire was seen burning." Agreeing with these findings, Brigadier Bastin on behalf of the General Officer Commanding in Chief concluded in the final report dated 14 February 1947 that "I am of the opinion that the explosion was caused by some person or persons unknown. I am satisfied that the ammunition was safe and properly inspected and that it was not feasible to place guards over it. I therefore consider that no blame for the explosion lies with the Allied Military Authorities."http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/it/0/03/Relazione_Vergarolla.png

Allied investigation

References

Further reading