Bombing of Milan in World War II

2022-09-27T12:54:24Z

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[[File:Milan after Bombing.jpg|thumb|right|Buildings destroyed in Milan after the August 1943 bombings. Milan Cathedral in the background.]]
As the main economic and industrial center in [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], and the country's second largest city, [[Milan]] was subjected to heavy [[bombing]] during [[World War II]], being the most bombed city in [[Northern Italy]] and one of the most bombed cities in the country.

==The first raids, 1940==
During the first years of war (until 1943/1944), Milan could only be reached by [[bomber]]s of the [[RAF Bomber Command]] coming from [[England]]. The first raids were [[precision bombing]]s carried out by small numbers of planes, mainly with industrial objectives, which caused little damage and few casualties.
The first raid happened in the night of 15/16 June 1940, five days after Italy entered the war; a few buildings were hit and one person was killed.<ref name="storiadimilano">{{cite web|url=http://www.storiadimilano.it/Repertori/bombardamenti.htm|title=Storia di Milano ::: Bombardamenti aerei su Milano|access-date=28 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="bombardatelitalia">Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, ''Bombardate l'Italia. Storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940–1945'', pp. 9-25-29-40-46-71-73-83-86-97-100-112-113-116-119-176 to 179-196 to 202-221-222-227 to 229-235-236-265-273-293-295-298-326 to 328-339-344-346 to 354-371 to 373-381-383 to 385-423-431-442 to 445-447-458 to 460-465-487-488-493.</ref> On the following night, eight aircraft dropped bombs on the [[Caproni]] plant, causing little damage.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
[[File:MILANO 1943 8.jpg|thumb|left|Destroyed factories in Milan]]
Bombings were renewed during August 1940. On the night of 13/14 August, three bombers dropped bombs and [[Airborne leaflet propaganda|propaganda leaflets]]; the target was again the Caproni plant which however was not hit, while several buildings along a few streets were, with 15 killed and 44 wounded.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> On the night of 15/16 August another raid ensued, but the reaction of the [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft batteries]] shot down one [[Vickers Wellington]] bomber, and induced the others to drop their load over the towns of [[Merate]] and [[Mariano Comense]].<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> On the night of 18/19 August another bombing by four planes hit the [[Innocenti]] and Caproni plants and the [[Linate Airport]]. On the night of 26 August, eleven bombers bombed the [[Idroscalo]].<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>

One final bombing (by three planes) was carried out on 18/19 December 1940, targeting the [[Pirelli]] plant but instead causing slight damage to a few houses and killing eight people, wounding 16.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>

No bombings were carried out during 1941, and until the autumn of 1942.

==The area bombing, 1942–1943==
[[File:Milano Bombing 1943.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie after the August 1943 bombings]]
After Bomber Command adopted [[area bombing]] as it main tactic, under the command of [[Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet|Sir Arthur Harris]], and after a series of bombings on [[Germany]] during the spring and summer of 1942, in autumn 1942 an area bombing campaign was launched against the three cities of Italy's "industrial triangle", Milan, [[Turin]], and [[Genoa]].

While Turin and Genoa suffered seven and six raids, respectively, Milan was in this phase the least targeted city. Nonetheless, on 24 October 1942, 73 [[Avro Lancaster]]s dropped 135 tons of bombs, including 30,000 incendiaries, over the city, in a rare case of RAF diurnal bombing. 441 buildings were hit, including the San Vittore jail, the headquarters of the [[Hoepli]], two train stations and the [[Cimitero Monumentale di Milano|Cimitero Monumentale]].<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> 171 people were killed and about 300 wounded.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Four Lancasters were lost, only one of them to AA fire.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>

Although over 330 fires were started,<ref>Giorgio Bonacina, "La RAF cancella intere città", on "Storia Illustrata" n. 172 – March 1972</ref> it was judged that the incendiaries were much less effective than in previous raids on German cities; as it had already been shown by the bombing of Genoa, Italian cities were less vulnerable to [[firebombing]] than the German ones.<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> This was mainly due to wider streets, which prevented fires from spreading across them, and minimal use of [[wood]] in the buildings.<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>

[[Milan cathedral]] was designated by Harris as the 'aiming point' for the area bombing. Although the cathedral was not hit during this raid, Harris's decision to centre the raid on a major religious building drew criticism from his superior, [[Charles Portal]] and some members of parliament.<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
Another raid with 71 planes was planned for the following night, but poor weather dispersed the formation and only 39 bombers reached Milan (six were lost, and many others randomly dropped their bombs on several towns and villages of [[Lombardy]]), causing little more damage.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Two more people were killed, and thousands started to flee from the city.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>

At the beginning of 1943 the Italian anti-aircraft defenses, which had proved not to be very effective, were joined by German [[Flak]] batteries. The success rate of the anti-aircraft fire, however, did not improve significantly.

After a pause of nearly four months, Milan suffered a new area bombing on the night of 14/15 February 1943, when 142 Lancasters dropped 110 tons of explosive bombs and 166 tons of incendiary bombs over the city.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Several factories were damaged, including [[Alfa Romeo]], Caproni, [[Isotta Fraschini]] and [[Società Italiana Ernesto Breda|Breda]]; the [[Milano Centrale railway station]] and the Farini [[marshalling yard]] were also hit.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Residential areas were also badly damaged, with 203 houses destroyed, 596 heavily damaged and over 3,000 slightly damaged; the headquarters of [[Corriere della Sera]] suffered heavy damage.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Several historical buildings suffered various extents of damage, including the [[Royal Palace of Milan]], the [[Teatro Lirico (Milan)|Teatro Lirico]], the [[Basilica of San Lorenzo, Milan|Basilica of San Lorenzo]], [[San Giorgio al Palazzo]] and the [[Santa Maria del Carmine, Milan|Church of Santa Maria del Carmine]].<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
To extinguish the many fires, it was necessary to call [[firefighter]]s from all neighbouring [[province]]s and even from [[Bologna]]. 133 people were killed in the attack, 442 were wounded and over 10,000 were left homeless.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> [[Schools]] had to close down, and more citizens evacuated the city.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
The only RAF loss was one Lancaster shot down.

After this attack, Milan was not bombed for six more months, but at the beginning of August 1943, following the fall of [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]], it was decided to start a series of heavy bombings on the main Italian cities, to persuade the [[Pietro Badoglio|Badoglio]] government to surrender.<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
On the night of 7/8 August 1943, 197 bombers took off from bases in England to carry out a simultaneous bombing of Milan, Turin, and Genoa.<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
Milan was bombed by 72 aircraft (two of which were shot down by AA fire), which dropped 201 tons of bombs, mainly incendiaries.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Large parts of the city centre were set ablaze; 600 buildings were destroyed, with 161 victims and 281 wounded among the population.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> The only factory that was damaged was the Pirelli plant.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> The headquarters of the Corriere della Sera were hit again and partly destroyed; among the public and historical buildings that suffered heavy damage were the [[Sforza Castle]], the [[Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano|Natural History Museum]], the [[Villa Belgiojoso Bonaparte]] and [[Palazzo Sormani]].<ref name="storiadimilano"/> The [[Pinacoteca di Brera]] was also hit.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> [[Public transport]] was no longer possible in the city centre, as most of the streets were obstructed by ruins or sprinkled with [[Explosion crater|crater]]s.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
[[File:Distruzione Sant'Ambrogio.jpg|thumb|left|Damage of the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio]]
On the night of 12/13 August, Bomber Command launched its heaviest raid on Milan and any Italian city. 504 bombers (321 Lancasters and 183 [[Handley Page Halifax|Halifaxes]]) took off from English bases, and 478 of them reached Milan and dropped 1,252 tons of bombs (670 explosive bombs and 582 incendiary bombs), including 245 4,000-lb [[blockbuster bomb|blockbuster]]s and 380,000 incendiary devices, over the city.<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> This was the heaviest single air raid ever suffered by an Italian city.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
The bombing caused massive fires in many parts of Milan; the fires drew air from the surrounding [[countryside]], creating [[wind]]s that reached a speed of 50 km/h, an event that usually heralded a [[firestorm]], which however did not materialize (owing to the humid climate, in addition to the previously mentioned urbanistic traits typical of Italian cities, and the fact that the raid was heavy but not very concentrated).<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Most of Milan's most famous buildings were hit during the raid; the Sforza Castle was further damaged, [[Palazzo Marino]] (the [[city hall]]) and [[Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan)|Santa Maria delle Grazie]] were partly destroyed, the [[San Fedele (Milan)|San Fedele Church]] and the [[Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II]] suffered heavy damage.<ref name="storiadimilano"/> The Milan Cathedral was also hit by some bombs. The Alfa Romeo plant and the [[Fiera Milano|fair ground]] were also damaged.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
The death toll, although never fully ascertained, was an estimated 700 deaths; casualties were not higher because about 900,000 of the city's 1,150,000 inhabitants had already left after the previous attacks.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Most of those who were still in Milan evacuated the city on August 13.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> The RAF lost three bombers.<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
On the night of 14/15 August, fires were still raging when another bombing was carried out by 134 Lancasters (ouf of 140 which had originally taken off; one was lost), which dropped 415 more tons of bombs.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Several factories (Breda, Pirelli, Innocenti, Isotta Fraschini) and the Farini marshalling yard were badly hit; the Sforza Castle and the Royal Palace were further damaged, and [[Teatro Dal Verme]] was partly destroyed, as was the [[Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore]].<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> The [[Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio]] also suffered heavy damage.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> The few remaining citizens helped firefighters and [[Unione Nazionale Protezione Antiaerea|UNPA]] (''Unione Nazionale Protezione Antiaerea'', National Anti-Aircraft Protection Union) in the attempts to control the fires, but the destruction of the [[aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]] pipes hampered the efforts.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> The official death toll of this raid was of only nine killed, presumably due to the small number of people who were still in the city.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
On the following night, 186 Lancasters (13 more bombers did not reach the target; 7 were lost, mainly to [[Luftwaffe]] fighters on the way back) carried out a final raid, during which they dropped an additional 601 tons of bombs.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> Several districts suffered further damage; the cathedral was hit again, and the [[La Scala]] theatre and the [[Ospedale Maggiore]] were heavily damaged; the [[La Rinascente]] store was destroyed.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> 183 people were killed.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>

At this point, Bomber Command halted its attacks, as it was thought that the "persuasive" effect had been achieved, and further bombings could have instead fueled anti-British sentiment.<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> The four August raids had caused over 1,000 dead and hit half of the buildings in the city, destroying or heavily damaging 15% of them and leaving over 250,000 people homeless.<ref name="storiadimilano"/> The work of 5,000 workers and 1,700 [[soldier]]s was needed to remove the ruins.<ref name="storiadimilano"/> [[Water]], [[light]] and [[Coal gas|gas]] supply resumed within 48 hours, while public transport was nearly annihilated.<ref name="storiadimilano"/>

No more raids were carried out during the rest of 1943, and life in the city was slowly resumed.

==1944–1945, the USAAF bombings and the Gorla tragedy==
[[File:Milano, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (bombardata) 01.jpg|thumb|right|The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II after the August 1943 bombing]]
After the Summer of 1943 and the [[armistice of Cassibile]], the Bomber Command ended its area bombing campaign over Northern Italy. Milan was not bombed for several months thereafter, but in spring 1944, with the progress of the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]], a new bombing campaign was started, this time by [[USAAF]] (by day) and [[Mediterranean Allied Air Forces|RAF MAAF]] (by night). The bombings mainly targeted the city's [[marshalling yard]]s and factories, but inaccuracy in bombing often caused severe damage to residential areas and civilian casualties.

The first bombing of 1944 took place in the night between 28 and 29 March, when 78 [[Vickers Wellington]] of the RAF MAAF bombers attacked the [[Milano Lambrate railway station]].<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> The target was hit, with the destruction of [[track (rail transport)|rails]] and about 300 [[wagon]]s, but bombs also fell on the surrounding areas, killing 18 inhabitants and wounding 45.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> On the morning of 29 March, a further 139 bombers of the USAAF [[Fifteenth Air Force]] attacked the same target, destroying 500 more wagons, five [[locomotive]]s and over 5 km of rails; 59 people were killed.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> No planes were shot down in either instance.
On April 30 a new bombing by the Fifteenth Air Force destroyed the Breda factory and inflicted further damage on the Lambrate marshalling yard (32 locomotives and 100 wagons were destroyed); in addition to these targets, the city was also hit, resulting in 40 civilian casualties.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> On the night of 13 May eight MAAF bombers, sent to attack the Lambrate marshalling yard, missed their target and dropped their bombs over [[Gorgonzola]] and [[Cernusco sul Naviglio]].<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>
On the night of 10/11 July 1944, 84 MAAF Wellingtons bombed the Lambrate railway station once again, but this time the damage was not heavy (and one of the planes was lost); three nights later, 89 Wellingtons attacked the same target, but two were hit by AA fire and the marshalling yard suffered limited damage.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> On 10 September, 71 MAAF bombers launched one more strike against the Lambrate station, which was hit along with the surrounding city (52 casualties).<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>

The last heavy bombing suffered by Milan took place on 20 October 1944. On this day, a group of 111 USAAF bombers were sent to bomb the Breda, Isotta Fraschini and Alfa Romeo plants; while the groups assigned to attack the Isotta Fraschini and Alfa Romeo hit their targets, the 36 [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator]]s of the 451st Bomb Group missed the Breda factory due to a navigation error, and their commander, upon realizing the mistake, decided to release the bombs immediately (it was not possible anymore to go back to the Breda plant).<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/> This resulted in about 80 tons of bombs falling over the heavily populated [[suburb]]s of [[Gorla]] and [[Precotto]]; 614 civilians were killed, among them 184 children, 14 teachers, the school director, 4 janitors and a health assistant<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://random-times.com/2019/10/20/the-massacre-of-gorla-and-the-sad-story-of-its-little-martyrs/|title = The massacre of Gorla and the sad story of its little martyrs|date = 20 October 2022}}</ref> of the "Francesco Crispi" [[elementary school]], which received a direct hit while the children and school personnel were going downstairs to the air raid shelter. The only two survivors were students, Noemi Cappellini and Antonio Skomina, both 7 years old at the time, who both refused the orders of the nuns to remain in the air raid shelter.<ref name="storiadimilano"/><ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>

After 20 October 1944, no more bombings were carried out on Milan. Countless minor air attacks, mainly strafing and bombing actions by [[fighter-bomber]]s and [[light bomber]]s, took place throughout the autumn of 1944, the subsequent winter and the spring of 1945; [[train]]s, [[vehicle]]s, [[mode of transport|modes of transport]] and more generally [[target of opportunity|targets of opportunity]] were attacked.<ref name="storiadimilano"/> Dozens more civilians were killed, as it was not possible to distinguish trains and vehicles used by the [[Wehrmacht]] and those carrying civilians.<ref name="storiadimilano"/>

==Damage and casualties==
[[File:Ca' Granda bombardata 01.jpg|thumb|left|Damage to the Ospedale Maggiore]]
Although a reliable and complete count has never been made, it has been estimated that at least 2,200 people were killed in the bombings of Milan; the second heaviest death toll in Northern Italy ([[Bologna]] suffered 2,481 casualties). At least 400,000 people, more than one third of the population, were left homeless.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1993/agosto/14/quando_cielo_crollo_Milano_co_0_9308145494.shtml|title=Archivio Corriere della Sera|access-date=28 November 2022}}</ref>

At the end of the war, Milan had suffered heavy damage from the air raids; out of 930,000 rooms that existed before the war, 360,000 were destroyed or heavily damaged, and over 200,000 suffered lighter damage.<ref name="treccani">{{cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/milano_res-6913b8a2-87e6-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/|title=MILANO in "Enciclopedia Italiana"|access-date=28 November 2022}}</ref> Overall, about one third of the buildings were destroyed or had to be subsequently demolished; the ruins were used to create the artificial hill known as [[Monte Stella (Milan)|Monte Stella]].<ref name="storiadimilano"/>
The heavy destruction of the areas surrounding the city centre and the unregulated building that ensued in the reconstruction years left this part of Milan heavily disfigured.<ref name="bombardatelitalia"/>

Due to the area bombing focusing on the city centre, the [[cultural heritage]] was hit the hardest; three quarters of the historical buildings suffered various extents of damage, including the Cathedral, the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, Santa Maria delle Grazie, the Sforza Castle, the Royal Palace, La Scala and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.<ref name="treccani"/>
The industry and transport system, having been prime targets for the whole duration of the war, also suffered heavy damage; the main factories (Caproni, Innocenti, Pirelli, Breda, Alfa Romeo, Isotta Fraschini) suffered heavy damage, as did most of the railway stations. Public transport inside the city was completely disrupted.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*{{cite news|title=Milano, un libro racconta la città devastata dalla guerra (Milan, a book recalls a city devastated by war)|url=http://milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/2015/02/05/foto/seconda_guerra_mondiale-106591858/|work=[[La Repubblica]]|date=5 February 2022}} — old photographs of the city

{{WWII city bombing}}

[[Category:World War II operations and battles of the Italian Campaign|Milan]]
[[Category:1943 in Italy]]
[[Category:Italy in World War II]]
[[Category:World War II strategic bombing|Milan]]
[[Category:Aerial operations and battles of World War II by town or city|Milan]]
[[Category:Italy–United Kingdom military relations]]
[[Category:Italy–United States military relations]]
[[Category:1940s in Milan]]

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Bombing of Milan in World War II