Air raid on Frascati
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An air raid of
History
General Doolittle's operation order of 7 September 1943 was: Intentions for September eight heavies will destroy town of Frascati - This target is important and must be destroyed.
The aircraft headed for Littoria (modern Latina) and Monte Cavo (Alban Hills); they arrived over Frascati at 12:10. Their target was Field Marshal Albert Kesselring and his staff.
The anti-aircraft defence was equipped with heavy anti-aircraft guns of
The Italian Royal Air Force (
About 50% of the buildings, many of the monuments and villas were destroyed. St. Pietro square was destroyed, however, the Cathedral facade remained undamaged.
On that day United States
After a few days, Field Marshal Kesselring and his military headquarters moved to Soratte Bunker.[1][2]
Field Marshal Kesselring later wrote in his memoirs about his experience on 8 September. He called it the "day of Italian treason". In fact, the Italians were not present at the German headquarters at the time of the bombing raid. On 3 September 1943 the Italians were alerted by the Allied forces of the bombing raid during their peace talks about their ultimate surrender. These Italian generals and the Savoy royal dignitaries, six days later fled to the port of Ortona, located near Pescara.
The news of the Italian armistice with the Allies reached Frascati at 19:45 on 8 September 1943. The townspeople who, less than 24 hours beforehand had been hiding in bomb shelters, were now fleeing south to escape the occupation of the
Order of flight
131 USAAF aircraft (
- 1) 99th Bomb Group with n. 32 F.F. B17 - 5,500 m (18,000 feet).
- 2) 301st Bomb Group with n. 36 F.F. B17 - 6,000 m (20,000 feet).
- 3) 97th Bomb Group with n. 35 F.F. B17 - 5,500 m (18,000 feet).
- 4) 2nd Bomb Group with n. 28 F.F. B17 - 6,000 m (20,000 feet).
References
Notes
- ^ Owen, Richard (5 August 2003). "Italians open Nazi bunker to tourists". The Times. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
- ^ "The Bunker of the Monte Soratte" (in Italian). L'Associazione Bunker Soratte. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
Bibliography
- Chronology of the Second World War, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1949
- The Army Air Forces in World War II, Craven Wesley Frank & Cate James Lea - The University of Chicago Press, 1952
- Blumenson, Martin, Salerno to Cassino - The United States Army in World War II: The Mediterranean Theater of Operations, Washington, 1988