The bombing of Bahrain in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

was part of an effort by the Italian Royal Air Force ('' Regia Aeronautica'') to strike at the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

interests wherever possible in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. While the mission caused little damage, it was successful in forcing the diversion of already-limited Allied resources to an obscure theater originally thought to be safe.

Background

On 10 June 1940, the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

declared war on the French Republic and the United Kingdom. The

Italian invasion of France The Italian invasion of France (10–25 June 1940), also called the Battle of the Alps, was the first major Italian engagement of World War II and the last major engagement of the Battle of France. The Italian entry into the war widened its sc ...

was short-lived and the French signed an armistice with the Italians on 25 June, three days after France's armistice with Germany. This left the British and the forces of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

for the Italians to contend with in the Middle East. In summer 1940, the Italian leader and Prime Minister Benito Mussolini received a plan to destroy the oil fields in Bahrain in order to disrupt the oil supplies to the

British Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. The plan was suggested by the Italian test pilot, Air Force Captain Paolo Moci.

Bahrain (and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia)

Early on 19 October 1940, four Italian SM.82 bombers attacked American-operated oil refineries in the British Protectorate of

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, damaging the local refineries.Air Raid! A Sequel
'' Saudi Aramco World'', Volume 27, Number 4, July/August 1976. The raid also struck

Dhahran Dhahran ( ar, الظهران, ''Al-Dhahran'') is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby citi ...

in Saudi Arabia, but causing only some minor damage. Indeed, in order to strike the British-controlled oil refineries at

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very di ...

in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

, these SM.82 bombers undertook a flight of 4,200 km (2,610 mi), lasting 15 hours at 270 km/h (170 mph), that was for the time arguably a record for a bombing mission. Each aircraft carried a load of 1,500 kgs (3,310 lbs).Lembo 2002, p.5. This long-range action was successful, taking the target totally by surprise, and the SM.82s landed without problems at

Zula Zula ግእዝ ዙላ saba ሰብኣ 𐩸𐩡 is a small town in central Eritrea. It is situated near the head of Annesley Bay (also known as the Gulf of Zula), on the Red Sea coast. Four kilometers away is the archeological site of Adulis, whi ...

, Eritrea. The Italian airplanes started their flight from Europe, attacked refineries in Asia and landed back in Africa ( Italian Eritrea). During the attack 132 bombs of 15 kgs each were dropped, that heavily damaged two refineries. The raid caused the Allies some concerns, forcing them to upgrade their defenses. This, more than the limited amount of damage caused, further stretched Allied military resources.

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

declared that their bombers had set a new distance record, covering 3,000 miles on the outgoing trip from bases located in the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

. American magazine ''

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'' wrote that the Italians insisted that the planes had been refueled from submarine tankers though in actuality, the planes had simply been loaded with fuel.

Ettore Muti Ettore Muti (2 May 1902 – 24 August 1943) was an Italian aviator and Fascist politician. He was party secretary of the National Fascist Party (''Partito Nazionale Fascista'', or PNF) from October 1939 until shortly after the entry of Italy ...

, party secretary of the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. Th ...

, took part in the Bahrain raid and in at least one of the bombings of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

. The Bahrain raid was followed by other long-distance Italian raids on

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and Eritrea in 1942, and would have been repeated -with an advanced SM.82 bomber- in a raid on

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in summer 1943 had Italy not capitulated in 1943. Even a commercial aerial trip was done between

and

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in summer 1942.

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Lembo, Daniele. "SIAI SM.82 Marsupiale". ''Aerei Nella Storia'', Issue 22. Parma, Italy: West-ward Edizioni, 2002, p. 10–31. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bombing Of Bahrain In World War II

20th century in Bahrain 1940 in Bahrain 1940 in Saudi Arabia Middle East theatre of World War II World War II strategic bombing conducted by Italy Aerial operations and battles of World War II Airstrikes October 1940 events

Background

Bahrain (and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia)

See also

Footnotes

Bibliography