The bombing of Ancona was a series of attacks by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

on the city of

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

in the

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The raids caused heavy civilian casualties and destroyed or damaged nearly 70 % of the city.

History

From June 1940 to September 1943, when Italy was part of the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

, Ancona was never bombed, being outside the range of both British bombers based in the United Kingdom and American bombers based in North Africa. On 15 September 1943, after the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

, German troops occupied Ancona during

Operation Achse Operation Achse (), originally called Operation Alaric (), was the codename for the German operation to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after Italy's armistice with the Allies on 3 September 1943. Several German divisions had en ...

; at the same time, the Allied advance into

southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

resulted in the city being now within the range of the Allied air forces. The first air raid on Ancona took place on 16 October 1943, a month after its occupation; 36 bombers of the

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

targeted its

marshalling yard A classification yard (American English, as well as the Canadian National Railway), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, and Australian English, and the former Canadian Pacific Railway) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway y ...

, but many bombs also fell over the rest of the city, causing 200 civilian casualties. The second raid took place on 1 November 1943, and was by far the deadliest raid suffered by Ancona; seventy-eight

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allies of World War ...

bombers of the 12th Air Force, in two waves (at 12:16 and 12:55), dropped their bombs on the marshalling yard and the

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

, but a large part of the bombs ended up hitting the city, killing between 875 (official toll) and 1,500 civilians. 724 people were killed when an air raid shelter was hit by four bombs and partially collapsed. The

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, among other buildings, suffered serious damage, as did the

Loggia dei Mercanti The Loggia dei Mercanti ("Merchants' Lodge") is a historical palace in Ancona, central Italy. The construction of the palace commenced in 1442 under the direction of architect Giovanni Pace, also known as Sodo, during a period of economic prosper ...

. The incomplete Capitani Romani-class cruiser ''Ottaviano Augusto'' and the

royal yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...

''Savoia'', both in German hands, were sunk in the harbour. After this raid, most of the population abandoned the city. More air raids took place on 2, 7 and 27 November and 8 December 1943; the raids on 7 November and 8 December caused 22 and 42 victims, respectively. A further thirteen air raids, usually targeting the marshalling yard, took place in 1944; these raids further destroyed the city but caused few casualties, as only 4,000 of the pre-war population of 80,000 were still living in Ancona, the rest having fled to neighbouring towns and villages. Including minor attacks, Ancona suffered over 130 air raids. On 18 July 1944 Ancona was liberated by the Allies, bringing the raids to an end. By this time, 2,783 buildings had been destroyed and 6,381 badly damaged; 67 % of pre-war Ancona lay in ruins, and less than 30 % of all buildings were left undamaged. The old city centre, stretched around the port (which was the objective of several raids), was almost completely annihilated. Civilian deaths from the air raids, depending on the source, were between 1,182 and 2,782; over 30,000 people were left homeless. It took nearly fifteen years to restore the situation to normality.Sistema Museale Provincia di Ancona
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History

References

Further reading