View source for Bombing of Livorno in World War II

{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Bombing of Livorno
| partof      = [[World War II]]
| image       = Livorno-bombardata-7.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption     = Destruction in Livorno's city centre
| date        = 1940-1944 
| place       = [[Livorno]], [[Italy]]
| combatant1  = {{flag|United Kingdom}}<br/>{{flag|United States|1912}}
| combatant2  = {{flag|Kingdom of Italy}} (1940-1943)<br/>{{flag|Italian Social Republic}} (1943-1944)
}}

During [[World War II]], [[Tuscany]], the Italian port city of '''[[Livorno]]''' was repeatedly bombed by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] air forces, suffering about a hundred raids altogether, which resulted in it being among the most war-damaged cities in Italy.<ref>Gastone Razzaguta, ''Livorno Nostra'', Nuova Fortezza, Livorno 1980, p. 95.</ref><ref>Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, ''Bombardate L'Italia, storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940-1945'', Rizzoli Storica, Milano 2007, p. 294.</ref>

== Background ==

Livorno, the main port of Tuscany, was considered by the Allies to be of strategic importance owing to its harbour facilities (the harbour of Livorno was one of the main ports of the Italian [[Tyrrhenian Sea|Tyrrhenian coast]] north of [[Rome]]), its [[marshalling yard]]s, its [[Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando|shipyard]] (which built [[destroyer]]s and [[corvette]]s for the [[Regia Marina|Italian Navy]]), its [[oil refinery]] and other factories engaged in war production, such as the Motofides [[torpedo]] factory.<ref>Ivan Tognarini, ''Livorno nel XX secolo, gli anni cruciali di una città tra fascismo, resistenza e ricostruzione'', Polistampa 2006, p. 425.</ref><ref name="Marco Gioannini p. 294">Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, ''Bombardate l’Italia. Storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940-1945'', p. 294.</ref><ref name="Toscana Novecento">[http://www.toscananovecento.it/custom_type/la-memoria-dei-bombardamenti-nella-citta-di-livorno/ Toscana Novecento]</ref>

==Air raids==

The first air raid on Livorno took place at 2:30 on 16 June 1940, six days after Italy's entrance into the war, when some French [[Amiot 143]] medium bombers dropped a few bombs in the Venezia Nuova district, causing light damage.<ref name = "Gastone Razzaguta, cit., p. 96">Gastone Razzaguta, ''Livorno Nostra'', Nuova Fortezza, Livorno 1980, p. 96.</ref> Another minor raid by the [[Armée de l'Air]] took place two days before the [[Armistice of Villa Incisa]], at 4:45 on 22 June, when a few naval aircraft hit and badly damaged a [[hotel]] and a [[beach resort]]. This raid was also notable because the approaching French aircraft were detected by an Italian [[radar]] prototype.<ref name = "Gastone Razzaguta, cit., p. 96"/><ref name="I bombardamenti di Livorno">[http://istorecolivorno-ldm.it/livorno2/ I bombardamenti di Livorno]</ref><ref name="Marco Gioannini p. 294"/><ref name="Era di maggio">[https://ancitoscana.it/images/buonepratiche/28_maggio_pubblicazione.pdf Era di maggio]</ref><ref name="Toscana Novecento"/>

After the [[Fall of France|surrender of France]], Livorno enjoyed a period of relative calm until 9 February 1941, when eighteen [[Fairey Swordfish]] aircraft of the [[Fleet Air Arm]], flown from the carrier [[HMS Ark Royal (91)|HMS Ark Royal]] during [[Operation Grog]], bombed the ANIC oil refinery.<ref>[https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3257.html HMS Ark Royal]</ref><ref>[https://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-04CV-Ark%20Royal.htm HMS Ark Royal, British aircraft carrier, WW2]</ref><ref>[https://codenames.info/operation/grog-i/ Operation Grog]</ref><ref name="I bombardamenti di Livorno"/><ref name="Era di maggio"/><ref name="Toscana Novecento"/>

The rest of 1941, 1942 and early 1943 passed without incident, as Livorno was outside the range of both [[RAF Bomber Command]] aircraft that from [[England]] attacked the cities of [[Northwest Italy|Northwestern Italy]], and [[Malta]]-based RAF bombers that attacked the cities of [[Southern Italy]]. The situation changed with the Allied conquest of [[French North Africa]] and the end of the [[Tunisian campaign]]; [[USAAF]] bombers, taking off from airfields in Tunisia, were now able to hit Livorno as well.<ref name="Marco Gioannini p. 294"/>

[[File:Livorno Venezia Nuova bombardata.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Damage caused by the air raids in the Venezia Nuova district]] The first raid on Livorno by the USAAF took place on 28 May 1943, when a hundred [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]] bombers of the [[12th Air Force]] took off from bases in North Africa and attacked the harbour, the oil refinery and the marshalling yard. The objectives were hit (the maritime station was destroyed), but a large part of the bombs (roughly 180 tons) fell on the city, causing widespread damage, especially in the city centre and the Venezia Nuova district; 170 buildings were destroyed, including the cathedral, the Synagogue, the [[market hall]] and the Verdi and Rossini [[theatre]]s, 300 were badly damaged and 1,300 lightly damaged, with the death of 249 civilians (other sources claim that the dead were about three hundred, with a thousand wounded).<ref name="Bombardate l’Italia: 1943">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140202213215/http://rcslibri.corriere.it/bombardatelitalia/bombardate1943.pdf Bombardate l’Italia: 1943]</ref><ref name="Gastone Razzaguta, cit., p. 96"/><ref name="I bombardamenti di Livorno"/><ref name="Marco Gioannini p. 297">Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, ''Bombardate l’Italia. Storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940-1945'', p. 297.</ref><ref name="Era di maggio"/><ref name="Toscana Novecento"/> A bomb hit [[Villa]] Baciocchi, used as an [[orphanage]] for little girls, killing forty little girls and nuns; dozens of people were killed when the improvised air raid shelters created in the cellars of the Livornese Rowing Association were hit and collapsed.<ref>[http://www.lalivornina.it/DESCRIZIONI%20PERSONAGGI%20FAMOSI/Elisa%20Baciocchi.htm La Livornina]</ref><ref>[https://ricerca.gelocal.it/iltirreno/archivio/iltirreno/1998/05/28/LX420.html Il Tirreno]</ref> Several ships were sunk in the harbour, including the [[torpedo boat]]s {{ship|Italian destroyer|Angelo Bassini||2}} and {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Antares||2}}, the [[corvette]] ''FR 52'', the steamer ''Tiziano'' and the [[auxiliary cruiser]] ''Caralis'', which was loaded with [[ammunition]] and blew up, causing further damage to the harbour and to other ships.<ref name="Trentoincina">[http://www.trentoincina.it/dbwher.php?wher=Livorno Trentoincina]</ref> Some 20,000 people abandoned the city in the following days; the town of [[Rosignano Marittimo|Rosignano]], for instance, was swarmed with 8,000 refugees in one day, forcing local authorities to requisition the schools and every vacant building to house them.<ref name="Marco Gioannini p. 297"/><ref name="Era di maggio"/>

A second, identical raid by 97 B-17 bombers of the 12th Air Force, targeting the same objectives, took place exactly a month later, and had identical results; about 250 tons of bombs were dropped, hitting both the objectives (the industrial area and the [[Livorno Centrale railway station|central station]] were badly damaged) and the city, causing widespread destruction and killing another 252 people.<ref name="Bombardate l’Italia: 1943"/><ref name="Marco Gioannini p. 297"/><ref name="Toscana Novecento"/> Eighty-six people died in an [[air raid shelter]], hit by a bomb.<ref>[https://www.pietredellamemoria.it/pietre/cippo-alle-vittime-bombardamento-28-giugno-1943-livorno/ Cippo alle vittime del bombardamento del 28 giugno 1943 a Livorno]</ref> The old light cruiser [[SMS Pillau|''Bari'']] was sunk in the harbour.<ref name="Trentoincina"/> These two raids were the most devastating attacks suffered by Livorno during the entire war.

On 24 July 1943 thirty-three [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] bombers, during a [[shuttle bombing]] mission from the United Kingdom to Algeria, dropped 83 tons of bombs against Livorno's [[power plant]], but the bombs fell on the city, especially the San Marco district, destroying 165 buildings, causing heavy damage to another 550 and killing 44 people.<ref name="Bombardate l’Italia: 1943"/><ref name="Era di maggio"/><ref name="Toscana Novecento"/> This raid also damaged the [[Italian Naval Academy]] and prompted its relocation to [[Venice]], outside the operational range of Allied bombers.<ref>[https://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/itinerari/luogo/AccademiaNavaleLivorno.html Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza]</ref>

The proclamation of the [[Armistice of Cassibile]], on 8 September 1943, was followed two days later by [[Wehrmacht|German]] occupation. On 21 September thirty-two bombers of the 12th Air Force bombed the harbour, causing heavy damage to its facilities, and in the night of 24 September this attack was repeated by eighty bombers of the Royal Air Force.<ref name="Bombardate l’Italia: 1943"/><ref name="Era di maggio"/>  On 30 October the German command declared most of the city (the historical centre, the industrial area, the area surrounding the [[Italian Naval Academy|Naval Academy]], and some other parts of the city) "Black Zone", and ordered its evacuation; the inhabitants were given ten days to leave with their belongings. After the expiry of this date, trespassers would be shot on sight. People residing outside of the "Black Zone" were also advised to leave, and most did, leaving the city almost deserted. The municipal authority, whose seat (Palazzo Comunale) had been badly damaged, was relocated to the hill ''[[frazione]]'' of Montenero.<ref name = "Razzaguta p. 109">Gastone Razzaguta, ''Livorno Nostra'', Nuova Fortezza, Livorno 1980, p. 109</ref><ref>Ivan Tognarini, ''Livorno nel XX secolo, gli anni cruciali di una città tra fascismo, resistenza e ricostruzione'', Polistampa 2006, p. 351.</ref><ref>[http://www.toscananovecento.it/custom_type/livorno-19-luglio-1944-gli-alleati-liberano-la-citta-fantasma/ Toscana Novecento]</ref>

Further raids, targeting the harbour, took place on 24, 25, 29 and 30 March 1944 and 1 April 1944, all by the USAAF; on 2 April thirteen RAF bombers attacked again the harbour, whereas on 14 April the USAAF bombed the marshalling yard, followed that night by 24 RAF bombers that attacked the harbour. On 15 April 1944 U.S. bombers attacked the marshalling yard, and on the following day five RAF bombers bombed the harbour; on 19 April twenty-three British bombers attacked the harbour, and 24 RAF bombers did the same on 23 April. More raids took place on 29 April (22 RAF bombers), 30 April (six RAF bombers), 1 May (six RAF bombers, targeting the marshalling yard), 2 May (twelve RAF bombers), 9 May (eight RAF bombers), 19 May (USAAF, targeting the harbour), 7, 13 and 21 June (all by USAAF, against the port). The heaviest raids of 1944 were the ones that took place on 19 May and 7 June, hitting again the city centre and destroying the "Black Zone"; there were no casualties thanks to its evacuation a few months before.<ref>[http://istorecolivorno-ldm.it/livorno2/ Istoreco]</ref>

==Aftermath==

On 19 July 1944, Livorno was liberated by [[United States Army North|the U.S. Fifth Army]] and by [[Italian resistance movement|Italian partisans]]; they found, in the words of historian [[James Holland (author)|James Holland]], "''a ghost town, lying in ruins, pulverised by Allied bombing''".<ref>[https://archive.org/details/italyssorrowyear00holl/page/274 <!-- quote="a ghost town, lying in ruins, pulverised by Allied bombing". --> Italy’s sorrow]</ref> Before leaving the city, German [[combat engineer|engineer]]s blew up the surviving port facilities, the beach resorts, the [[Livorno Lighthouse (Fanale dei Pisani)|Lighthouse]] and several bridges and buildings, adding further destruction to the one caused by the air raids.<ref>Gastone Razzaguta, ''Livorno Nostra'', p. 99.</ref> On 29 July, a few [[Luftwaffe]] bombers carried out a single raid on Livorno, causing little damage.<ref name="Marco Gioannini p. 298">Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, ''Bombardate l’Italia. Storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940-1945'', p. 298.</ref> Altogether, Livorno suffered fifty-six air raids.<ref name="Era di maggio"/>

After the liberation, local authorities carried out a survey which revealed that 15.78% of all buildings in Livorno had been destroyed, 14.94% had been badly damaged, 26.14% had been lightly damaged, and 43.14% had escaped damage. In the city centre, only 8.38% of all buildings had escaped damage; 33.38% had been completely destroyed, 27.94% badly damaged and 28.30% had been moderately or lightly damaged. Over 30,000 people were left homeless.<ref name="Marco Gioannini p. 298"/><ref name="Era di maggio"/><ref>[https://www.academia.edu/22061467/I_PIANI_DI_RICOSTRUZIONE_POSTBELLICI I piani di ricostruzione postbellici]</ref><ref name="Enciclopedia Treccani">[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/livorno_res-40442df6-87e6-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/ Enciclopedia Treccani]</ref>

Estimates of deaths among the civilian population vary between 700 and 1,300.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131203125526/http://www.bombalivorno.it/ Installazione La Bomba Livorno]</ref>

[[File:Livorno Sinagoga 2.jpeg|thumb|right|Ruins of the Old Synagogue after a raid]] [[Cultural heritage]] suffered considerable damage. The Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi was destroyed, but rebuilt as it was after the war; the ancient churches of Santa Barbara and San Gregorio Illuminatore (used by the [[Armenia]]n community of Livorno) were destroyed and never rebuilt, whereas the [[Byzantine Rite|Greek]] church of Santissima Annunziata and the historic Palazzo Comunale and Palazzo Granducale were also largely destroyed but were restored after the war. Both the [[Old Fortress, Livorno|Fortezza Vecchia]] and the [[Old Fortress, Livorno#Fortezza Nuova|Fortezza Nuova]] were badly damaged; most of the historic palaces located along the Via Grande, Livorno's [[decuman]], were badly damaged or destroyed, and the 19th century ''Dogana d'acqua'' (port customs) was reduced to ruins. Three of the city's four major [[theatre]]s, built between the 18th and the 19th century, were destroyed or badly damaged and never rebuilt. The old [[Synagogue of Livorno|Synagogue]], the second largest synagogue in Europe, was partially destroyed and never rebuilt, being replaced by a new synagogue after the war. The Venezia Nuova district, built between the 17th and 18th centuries, was largely destroyed, but many of its historic palaces were repaired or rebuilt after the war. The [[Old English Cemetery, Livorno|Old English Cemetery]] also suffered serious damage.<ref name = "ReferenceA">Beppe Leonardini, Giovanni Corozzi, Giovanni Pentagna, ''Apocalisse 1943/45 distruzione di una città'', Nuova Fortezza, Livorno 1984</ref><ref name="Enciclopedia Treccani"/>

[[File:Dogana d'acqua, Livorno.jpg|thumb|left|Present-day remains of the ''Dogana d'acqua'']]

Heavy damage was suffered by the city's industries; most of the Livorno industrial area was destroyed by the air raids, with all major factories – [[SPICA]], [[Richard Ginori]], Motofides, Cementeria Italiana ([[cement factory]]), Società Metallurgica Italiana ([[steel works]]), Manifatture Riunite ([[cotton mill]]), [[Azienda Nazionale Idrogenazione Combustibili|ANIC]] ([[oil refinery]]) – being destroyed or badly damaged, leaving thousands of workers unemployed. The [[Port of Livorno|port facilities]] and the shipyard were destroyed, not only by the air raids but also by the retreating Germans, who destroyed with [[explosive charge]]s any part that had survived the raids in order to prevent its use by the Allies. Over 130 vessels of all types and sizes, part of them sunk by the air raids and part scuttled as [[blockship]]s by the Germans, littered the harbour (which was also sown with [[Naval mine|mine]]s) and blocked its entrances.<ref name = "ReferenceA"/><ref name="Era di maggio"/><ref name="Enciclopedia Treccani"/>

[[File:bomba 2013 livorno.JPG|thumb|right|Art installation commemorating the 70th anniversary of the May 1943 bombing of Livorno, next to a bomb-damaged building, in 2013]] On 18 October 1944, three months after the liberation, the [[city council]] formed a committee for the reconstruction of the city. Postal service resumed on 18 December; in January 1945 the Spedali Riuniti, Livorno's main [[hospital]], started operating again.<ref>Andrea Melosi, ''Resistenza, dopoguerra e ricostruzione a Livorno'', p. 107.</ref> Between 1945 and 1949 over seventy cooperatives were born, tasked with clearing the rubble, tearing down irreparably damaged buildings, repairing repairable buildings and building new ones.<ref>Ivan Tognarini, ''Livorno nel XX secolo, gli anni cruciali di una città tra fascismo, resistenza e ricostruzione'', Polistampa 2006, p. 369.</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*Gastone Razzaguta, ''Livorno Nostra'', Nuova Fortezza, Livorno 1980.
*Beppe Leonardini, Giovanni Corozzi, Giovanni Pentagna, ''Apocalisse 1943/45 distruzione di una città'', Nuova Fortezza, Livorno 1984.
*Andrea Melosi, ''Resistenza, dopoguerra e ricostruzione a Livorno'', Nuova Fortezza, Livorno 1984.
*Ivan Tognarini, ''Livorno nel XX secolo, gli anni cruciali di una città tra fascismo, resistenza e ricostruzione'', Polistampa 2006.
*Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, ''Bombardate L'italia, storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940-1945'', Rizzoli Storica, Milano 2007.

{{RAF WWII Strategic Bombing}}
{{WWII city bombing}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bombing Of Livorno In World War Ii}}
[[Category:World War II strategic bombing by populated place|Livorno]]
[[Category:Livorno]]
[[Category:1943 in Italy]]
[[Category:1944 in Italy]]