About apesaro

University lecturer, living and working in the UK and in the Far East. Blogging on pedagogy, adult’s second language acquisition, digitisation, and cultural heritage (including pretty much anything in-between and beyond!) Love the outdoors and classic motorbikes. Can tango. Tried to learn how to play clarinet – failed miserably.

The bombing war in children’s literature: Gianni Rodari’s Il muratore della Valtellina

Gianni Rodari (1920 – 1980) was a notable Italian writer, famous for his prolific output in the field of children’s literature. Published in 1962, Favole al telefono (“Telephone Tales”) is a collection of fables based on an ingenious literary device. A travelling salesman phones home every day to tell a bedtime story to his daughter. Since trunk calls are expensive, all stories are concise and self-contained, with the plots based on modern everyday situations enhanced by fantasy, supernatural, or other highly imaginative elements.
Il muratore della Valtellina (the mason from Valtellina) is unusual for being one of the few examples of children literature dealing with the bombing war. This story is based on two aspects: that of the mason is entombed in concrete and becomes the sentient awareness of the building he was constructing; and the people who live in the same house who are killed when a bomb hits it.
Valtellina is a poor mountainous region in North-West Italy, from which young men have historically migrated to more developed places. In keeping with that, Mario goes to Germany to find work, but his hopes are shattered twice: initially when he died and subsequently when then building when he dies and when the building he helped constructing was destroyed. This parallelism adds poignancy to the plot.
The story is also notable for the light-hearted treatment of two horrific themes; a deadly work accident with a supernatural twist and the harsh reality of the bombing war. The disturbing contrast between the gruesome content and the dreamlike quality of Rodari’s writing makes the story the modern equivalent of some folkloric material, especially the German fables edited by the Grimm brothers which are notable for combining imaginative elements with a great deal of dark themes such as violence, viciousness, and killing. An unrecoverable corpse hidden inside a concrete pillar is also a recurring trope in organised crime fiction, which undoubtedly strikes a jarring note in children’s story.
Il muratore della Valtellina is set in Berlin and the fact that the victims are caught in their sleep implicitly suggest a RAF night-time operation. The end conveys an anti-war sentiment, although delivered from an unconventional angle. We become part of what we built or what we use: these things are not neutral but are imbued with our hopes and aspirations. Destroying them – admonishes Rodari – is destroying a part of ourselves.

The translation below has been prepared for this post


The mason from Valtellina
A young man from Valtellina, unable to find work at home, migrated to Germany and found employment as a mason in a construction site in Berlin. Mario – as he was known – was really happy: he worked hard, ate frugally, and saved what he could for marriage.
One day, while working on the foundations of a new building, a walkway collapsed. Mario fell into the concrete mould, died, and the body couldn’t be recovered. Mario indeed died, but he was unable feel pain. He was trapped inside one of pillars of the building under construction – it was a bit of a tight spot, but other than that he could think and hear as before.
Once he got used to his new state, he could even open his eyes and see the house that was growing around you. It was like he was supporting the weight of the new building, and consequently this offset the ensuing sadness of not being able to send news home, to his poor fiancée.
Hidden inside the wall, in the very heart of the structure, nobody could see him or even suspect that he was there, but Mario did not care. It rose until the roof was built, doors and windows fitted, the flats put on the market and sold, furnished, and eventually many families moved in. Mario got to know all of them, the young and the old alike.
When toddlers scuttled across the floor, practicing their walk, they tickled his hand. When young women were going out on the balconies or leaning out of the windows to see their boyfriends walking by, Mario could feel the gentle swish of their blonde hair against his cheek.
Mario listened to the families talking over their evening meals, them settling for the night and the baker rising before dawn is response to his alarm clock – the first to arise in the morning. Mario lived the highs and lows of the building making those moments his own.
One day war broke out. The whole city was bombed, and Mario felt the end was near. A bomb hit the house, which tumbled down. All that remained was a shapeless pile of debris, shattered furniture, and flattened chattel. Beneath were the families caught in their sleep. Only once both the building and the families who inhabited had died could Mario himself actually die for the house that was born out of his sacrifice died as well.


Source: Rodari, Gianni; Altan (1995): Favole al telefono. Torino: Einaudi ragazzi.
Translated by author; proofread by Claire Campbell.

Volunteering with the IBCC Digital Archive – Lynn Corrigan

Lynn Corrigan started volunteering with the IBCC in 2022. She has been involved in multiple roles, each time delivering consistently high-quality output. Lynn has kindly produced a blogpost reflecting on her experience, which we’re delighted to publish.

The IBCC Digital Archive team

 

Since retiring I was looking for something to do which was useful, fulfilling and which would get me out of the house. To this end I was encouraged by our son to look at volunteering with IBCC. I knew that a ‘people facing’ role, like the tour guides, was not for me but I liked the idea of learning more about the Digital Archive. After a zoom call with Dan I knew that archiving was the job for me.
My dad had served with Bomber Command and my first task was to archive his collection of photographs, followed by his log book and service records. The process began with the scanning of the front and reverse of each photograph and page. I found this a bit monotonous but luckily I had joined with another new volunteer, David, who shared this job with me. It was only later that I realised how important the scanning process is. With the scanning complete I moved on to the cropping and watermarking of the scanned images. Robin was very patient and would always leave his desk to help if I made a mistake or got in a muddle. He would check the work that I had done and would leave any amendments for me to do the following week – just like getting your homework marked but with less anxiety involved!
I was then passed on to Alex for metadata training and I soon knew that I would enjoy this role. It was interesting how my training progressed, building on what I had managed to remember from the previous week, with the help of copious notes. It has been great examining the enlarged scans of the original small black and white photographs, mainly taken in India, for the first time. Giving each image a title and then a more detailed description is a fairly disciplined task as you have to be objective and not make any assumptions. Alex has been patient and approachable and with his encouragement and gentle advice I hope to become a more useful member of the ‘metadata team’.
Having completed by dad’s collection (which is now live at  https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/admin/collections/show/2182 ) I have moved on to another one of the remaining collections. The standards we are using to archive the history of Bomber Command are really high and I do feel that I am part of a long term digital legacy. Having worked in tax, for more years that I care to remember, I am used to working to rules and set parameters which are necessary, especially when creating metadata to ensure that the material is searchable and discoverable.

Albert Frederick Nye standing by a Lancaster rear gunner’s position. Note his scarf.

Albert Frederick Nye’s scarf, which has been digitally preserved as well. Scarf and period photos point to each other, providing a richer experience.

My keyboard skills, although a bit rusty, help as do the great cakes and snacks provided by my fellow ‘Wednesday volunteers’.
I am really enjoying the tasks I have been given and think that I am making a useful contribution to the overall project and I would recommend others to join the archiving team. It has given me an opportunity to learn, use my brain in a useful way, improve my computer skills, meet new and interesting people whilst adding to a long term and worthwhile project.

Lynn Corrigan

Volunteering with the IBCC Digital Archive – Sally Coulter

Sally Coulter has been volunteering with the IBCC Digital Archive since September 2021. She has produced detailed, accurate, and highly readable summaries of items in French and German. A wealth of previously inaccessible information is now discoverable, allowing users to get a good sense of the content without reading pages and pages of text. We asked Sally to reflect on her valuable contribution, which she kindly did.

The IBCC Digital Archive team

My father served as a pilot and navigator in the RAF during the Second World War, hence my interest in the work of the IBCC. I knew very little about his experiences, other than he went to Canada for his training. My mother explained that he rarely talked about his war time experiences; too many people he knew were no longer there.
We were very impressed by the volunteer guides when we visited the IBCC; they were interesting, knowledgeable and had a good sense of humour. The website piqued my interest in volunteering and I was impressed with the number of interesting avenues for volunteering.

After taking early retirement, my volunteering started after I received a delightful email from the IBCC Digital Archive staff. They noticed that I had a French degree and enquired whether I would be interested in summarising French documents into English. Staff provided gentle guidance, a lot of encouragement and positive feedback, which has made the whole experience enjoyable and fulfilling. There has been no pressure to fit the work into any timescales; the pace is entirely up to me and can be done from home.

There has been such a variety of material: newspaper articles, propaganda, newsletters, letters, posters, leaflets, flyers. I have also summarised a number of German documents, some in Gothic script, and have deciphered signatures. I have even looked at some English captions from Italian for a wonderful collection of artworks.

The IBCC website has the strapline of ‘A story of discovery, education, and remembrance’. This has been my experience of volunteering. I have learnt so much about the Second World War, often looking up and learning about the places and protagonists described in the articles. It has taught me about the power of propaganda and shown how conflict today has many resonances with the past. Individuals have gained an identity and it has brought history to life. I have hopefully enabled people to search the website by identifying names, places, significant dates and events. I have found it hugely rewarding and have enjoyed putting my knowledge of languages to good use.

Learning leadership skills at the IBCC Digital Archive: Tilly Foster

Editors’ note

Tilly Foster has started volunteering with the IBCC Digital Archive in 2019. She has gone from strength to strength, learning new skills and gaining industry-specific insights in the process. She’s currently managing a team of dedicated volunteers producing summaries of oral history interviews available. As a consequence, usability has significantly improved, and life stories are now fully discoverable. We welcome her first contribution as guest blogger with an insightful piece on reflective practice; needless to say, we wish Tilly every success in her career.

The editorial team

 

I first visited the International Bomber Command Centre in 2019 and as a public history student, I was most intrigued by the thoughtful approach to the divisive nature of Bomber Command through recognition, remembrance, and reconciliation. After completing my MA in September 2020, therefore, the IBCC was my top choice to approach with the hope of gaining practical experience in the heritage sector through volunteering.

Tilly Foster

Luckily, as the archive is completely digital, I was able to begin immediately after expressing my interest. My first task was to listen to a variety of oral history interviews and produce concise, user-friendly abstracts to accompany these on the archive.

This allowed me to transfer my existing academic writing skills while also complying with the in-house rules and maintaining an objective tone. After completing a few abstracts, I was trusted to upload these directly to the archive myself.

Jack Harris. The summary of his interview was one of the first pieces of work produced. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/16650

 

In January 2020, I was offered the chance to take on additional responsibility as a volunteer coordinator, leading a small group of other volunteers producing oral history abstracts. This involves assessing the audio quality of interviews and allocating them appropriately to volunteers based on their skill, proofreading and uploading written submissions, and communicating helpful feedback.

The most challenging aspect of this role has been editing and providing appropriate feedback to the volunteers. My academic background has trained me to edit written work thoroughly. So, when my supervisor provided a practice abstract to edit and give feedback, I channelled my academic training and edited it to my usual standard, explaining the reasons behind each change. My supervisor warned me that despite my good intentions, this approach may come across as somewhat harsh to volunteers. Instead, they explained that it was important to be more encouraging to keep the experience enjoyable for volunteers, thereby safeguarding the important work they’re contributing to the archive. I immediately recognised how my initial feedback could be taken in the wrong way and altered my approach. I have since transitioned to using a ratio when feeding back to my team, incorporating three things done well and one suggestion of how to improve next time.

In this role, I have been able to work on practical leadership and management skills that aren’t taught at university. Most importantly, I’ve learnt to consider who I’m providing feedback to and then alter the content accordingly. There is a difference between proofreading a friend’s university essay under the instruction to be as honest as possible and providing constructive feedback to a volunteer who has opted to offer their valuable time to the archive. Volunteers are the backbone of heritage institutions, so it is incredibly important to keep them on board. As I hope to pursue a career within the heritage sector, I’m grateful to the IBCC for giving me the chance to learn this lesson early on.

Tilly Foster

The War of Destruction. Military Strategy and the Role of Institutions: Turin as a Case Study

Aside

Editors’ note

Adalberto Di Corato researched the bombings of Turin as part of his MA in History. The official reports he quoted – here translated for the first time in English – may be of special interest for those who want to investigate of Bomber Command operations from the perspective of civilians. We welcome his contribution as guest blogger and wish him every success in his career.
The editorial team

 

Introduction

This blogpost summarises the dissertation “The War of Destruction. Military Strategy and the Role of Institutions: Turin as a Case Study” (supervisor Professor Marco Di Giovanni). It was produced in fulfilment of the MA in Historical Sciences I had attended at the University of Turin from 2016 to 2019. My research focused on the way Turin’s public institutions were involved in the air war from 1940 to 1945.

Bomb-damaged homes in Turin, circa 1943. Source: Wikimedia / Public domain

The first part of the research explored the preparedness measures implemented by the fascist regime during the 30s: adoption of gas masks, provisions of shelters, and arrangements for the defence of industries. The second part researched the way of public institutions (UNPA (1), antiaircraft defences, the Fascist Party, and the firefighters) responded to the unique challenges posed by the air war on Turin. This piece is an abridged version of the latter.

 

The Air War on Turin

The Bomber Command of the Royal Air Force started bombing Turin on 12th June 1940, immediately after Italy entered the war. Until late October 1942, Bomber Command carried out few small-scale operations, prioritising military targets while at the same time avoiding nearby areas. The RAF caused only a few casualties among civilians (36 deaths and 83 wounded), inflicting limited damage (2).
In a marked departure from the above, the British soon started a massive area bombing campaign on the city. It began in late October 1942 and culminated between July and August 1943. The area bombing doctrine was primary intended to target the whole city in order to cause as many casualties as possible, with the purpose of spurring the population to rebel against the regime. This phase resulted in 1,395 deaths and 1,582 wounded among the civilians, combined with widespread destruction (3).
Primary sources kept in local archives strongly support the view that local organisations (the UNPA, the Party, the antiaircraft defences, and the firefighters) were placed under enormous stress. This in mainly because the fascist regime, in the years leading to the war, ignored most of their requests for both funding and adequate equipment.
The main public institution tasked to train and protect civilians was the UNPA. Its pitiful state was eloquently captured by the following letter, now in the Turin State Archive, sent on 28th October 1941 by the Prefect of Turin:

I’m receiving many worrying complaints from depending units about clothes deficiencies, especially in regards of the early onset of intense wintry conditions. U.N.P.A. members are currently kitted out in simple canvas overalls, still waiting for the promised fabric uniforms from Rome. […] Even an extra allocation of blankets for the night is absolutely necessary, as repeatedly pointed out (4).

The overall precarious state of the UNPA and other institutions worsened once the British started their massive area bombing campaign on Turin in October 1942.

Turin, 9 Squadron, 18/19 November 1942 Commemorative picture of Lancaster for attack on Turin. In a circle at the top a Lancaster on the ground with engines running. Underneath a box with caption ‘Turin, 9 Squadron, 18/19 November 1942’. At the bottom a box with crew names ‘S/Ldr Clyde-Smith, Sgt Nancekivell, F/Sgt Webster, P/O Higginson, Flt Lt Skinner, Sgt Pleasance, Sgt Kearne’. Source: IBCC Digital Archive

After the heavy 20th November 1942 operation that caused 117 deaths and 120 wounded, the population started a spontaneous mass evacuation. More than 300.000 left the city (5). That caused a vivid impression on the Minister of Public Works Giuseppe Gorla, who visited Turin at that time: he compared it with the Biblical exodus of Hebrews (6).
Carlo Chevallard, a local entrepreneur, wrote in one of the most interesting Turin war diaries:

The most impressive aspect is the lack of leadership which became evident in the days following the two attacks: Fabbriguerra (7), Corporations (8), Prefecture, Trade Unions, Unpa, Gruppi Rionali (9) are all acting whimsically without an organic plan; orders and directives are often contradictory.

Chevallard noted lax discipline (in particular regarding traffic regulations and public transportation), but these trifling matters where not what he was most concerned about. It was rather

the outburst of hate for the Regime and the Duce: almost no one directs their anger to English who is waging war on us, but everybody is lashing out to whoever has dragged us into this predicament (10).

The documents in the historical section of Turin’s Firefighters Archive shed some light on the destruction caused by Bomber Command, and of the role played by the firefighters during the incident.
For example, 8th December 1942 operation (one of the most severe) is vividly described by the following report:

As per orders, we headed to Murazzi Po [a Turin district] with the firefighters. Upon arriving in Corso San Maurizio, house number 18, the enemy has already dropped incendiaries, and started bombing. Thus we decided to enter the shelter at 18 Corso San Maurizio. We have been inside for a few minutes when a bomb hit the left wing of the same house making it collapse. We tried to calm down the people who were inside. After tearing down a wall we came out via another passage leading to the garden. Meanwhile, incendiary bombs fell on the garage of the newspaper “La Stampa” situated at 20 Corso San Maurizio, where a substantial amount of flammable liquids were kept in the warehouse. By means of a car made available by “La Stampa” I sent immediately the firefighters Rolfo and Bobbio to headquarter, asking them to bring all the necessary to have at least a fire hose in place. Meanwhile, work started to contain the spread of the fire, which was getting out of control. This was helped by the garage caretaker and by some keen residents of the block of flats at 18. After almost four hours of hard work, we were able to contain the fire by using the hose, saving the flammable content of the warehouse and a part of the garage. All the men worked with zeal and eagerness, to the acclaim of bystanders (11).

Sometimes firefighters had to work continuously for hours. During the 13th July 1943 raid, which caused 792 deaths and 914 wounded, a report indicates that two squads have been dealing with an incident which lasted three days (12). The squads were relived every six hours, in turns:

The clearing of debris was started by the men and progressed faster with the help of the soldiers of the 1st Engineers Regiment. It proceeded without interruption until 7 PM of the day 16th July 1943-XXI (13). The rather dangerous job was accomplished with caution, factoring in all possible eventualities: all adequate measures were implemented, also securing unstable parts by improvised means. For instance, after having opened a breach in a corner of the shelter which was sealed off [by debris], we managed to extricate an unharmed soldier, who was accompanied to the hospital by some bystanders. Later, after having received instructions by the ‘capo fabbricato’  (14) about a spot where were three casualties were buried, these were taken out and identified as Bergasiani Bernardino son of Isacco, aged 18, Castagneri son of Giov. Battista, aged 58, Droetti Caterina daughter of Michele, aged 39 (15).

The bombings did not stop after the armistice of 8th September 1943. On the 8th November 1943, USAAF bombers attacked Turin en masse. Unlike the RAF, the USAAF zeroed in on specific targets such as the factories supporting Germany’s war effort and marshalling yards. Nevertheless, this bombing doctrine did not spare the civilians as the targets were near densely-populated districts and bombing was far from being accurate. One firefighters’ report describes the response after bombs hit a factory:

The “Squadra Celere” (16) was dispatched to the Microtecnica factory to put out a fire caused by incendiary bombs. Upon arriving at the scene, our work was not needed anymore, because the factory firefighters had done the job. Meanwhile, one employee pointed out that some people were buried under debris at 80 Via Pietro Giuria. We dashed to the place. As per report, the building was hit by a high-capacity bomb and collapsed. Some well-meaning people sprung to action and extricated a woman: Loro Angela, aged 67. A voice begging for help was heard among the broken beams and the rubble. We set about to the rescue and were soon able to establish a contact with the victim. Meanwhile, I required the assistance of the rubble-clearing squad, which after hours of work was able to rescue the casualty: Cattaneo Marino, aged 26. They then extracted two bodies, Loro Paolo, aged 63 and Beolotto Maria, the caretaker, who lived there. Other corpses still lie under the debris – clearing continues (17).

The results bear out the widespread lack of preparedness. All local institutions had to deal with an extremely difficult situation while poorly equipped and overstretched – despite that, as substantiated by reports, they worked above and beyond the call of duty. Their success is a testament to their abnegation and the spontaneous solidarity of civilians. Interestingly, the bombing did succeed in creating panic and the population openly voiced its disdain for the regime. The widespread dissatisfaction did not reach the intensity of an open revolt: the toppling of the fascist regime failed to materialise, contrary to the expectations of Allied planners. It is possible that the abnegation of responders, especially the firefighters, produced the feeling that damage can at least be contained, and a semblance of normality preserved. More research is needed to substantiate this hypothesis.

Adalberto Di Corato

Appendix. David Donaldson reminisces an operation on Turin

It was one of those clear moon-light nights and the stars seem stand out in the sky; you feel you can put out your hand and grab one. As we flew on toward the Alps we could make out some of the little mountain villages against the background of snow. You could see their lights twinkling in the trees. The aircraft was going wonderfully well and we cleared the highest mountains by 3 or 4000 feet. You could see the ridges and peaks well defined and the moon shining on the snow. Flying over this sort of scenery was something completely new to us and pretty awe-inspiring because the nearest we had got to it was on the Munich raid when we’d seen the Bavarian Alps in the distance. The navigator came up and pointed out Mont Blanc away on our port side, he was able to identify it from its shape because he had actually climbed it. He was telling us how he was beaten by the weather when he had got to within 600 feet of the summit. Immediately we got to the other side of the Alps with no snow about it seemed by comparison intensely dark for a bit, it was like coming out of a lightened room into the blackout. Soon after that we started to glide down, loosing height very gradually and arrived slightly west of Turin. Other planes were already over the target because you could see their flares and there was a barrage of anti-aircraft fire in the sky. Our target was the Fiat works, and the whole time we were looking for them we were still gliding down to our bombing height. Actually we picked the works up in the light of somebody else’s flare. They were unmistakable. I’d never had such a target before. There seemed to be acres of factory buildings. We almost wept afterwards because we hadn’t got any more bombs to give them. Having located our target, we flew four or five miles away, turned round and made our run up over it. The wireless operator came along and stood beside me to have a look at the bombing, otherwise he wouldn’t have seen anything from his usual position. When he saw the light flak coming up from the works he said ‘Gosh, look at the Roman candles’. We made two attacks. As we came round afterwards to have a look, the fires which we’d started were going strong. There was a big orange-coloured fire burning fiercely inside one block of buildings. Having finished the job, we climbed to get enough height to cross the Alps again. Altogether we were over or round about the town for three quarters of an hour, and, whilst we were circling to gain height we saw somebody hit the Royal Arsenal good and proper.

The passage “We almost wept afterwards because we hadn’t got any more bombs to give them”, has a rational justification. Bombers en route to Italian cities had a reduced bombload to allow for a longer flight time, hence the disappointment. Source: IBCC Digital Archive

 

Notes

1) Unione Nazionale Protezione Antiaerea (National Anti Aircraft Protection Union)

2) ASCT, Archivio fotografico- Ufficio Protezione Antiaerea, 1945_9F02-06 e 2031_9F02-08.

3) ASCT, Archivio fotografico- Ufficio Protezione Antiaerea, 1945_9F02-06 e 2031_9F02-08.

4) ASTO, Prefettura, Gabinetto, I Versamento, m. 513.

5) Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, Bombardate l’Italia. Storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940 – 1945, Rizzoli, Milano 2007, p. 383.

6) Giuseppe Gorla, L’Italia nella II guerra mondiale. Diario di un milanese, ministro del Re nel governo di Mussolini, Badini & Castoldi, Milano 1959, p. 377.

7) Ministry of War Production

8) State agencies coordinating different industries.

9) Local city sections of the Fascist Party

10) Carlo Chevallard, Torino in guerra tra cronaca e memoria. Diario di Carlo Chevallard 1942 – 1945, Ed. Archivio Storico della Città di Torino, Torino 1995, p. 27.

11) ASVFF, relazione incendi 1942.

12) ASCT, Archivio fotografico- Ufficio Protezione Antiaerea, 1945_9F02-06 e 2031_9F02-08.

13) XXI = 21st Year of the Fascist Era, an indication that in every public and even private document had to be added to the ordinary Christian calendar date.

14) The “Capofabbricato” was a minor Fascist party official, tasked to enforce civil defence preparedness discipline within a block of flats.

15) ASVFF, relazione incendi 1943.

16) Rapid response team

17) ASVFF, relazione incendi 1943.

 

Abbreviations

ACS – Archivio Centrale dello Stato (Central State Archive) – Rome
ASTO – Archivio di Stato di Torino (Turin State Archive)
ASCT – Archivio Storico della Città di Torino (Turin Historical City Archive)
ASVFF – Archivio Storico dei Vigili del Fuoco (Firefighters’ Historical Archive)

 

Further reading

Emanuele Artom, Diari: gennaio 1940-febbraio 1944, Centro di documentazione ebraica contemporanea, Milano 1966.
Pier Luigi Bassignana, Torino sotto le bombe nei rapporti inediti dell’aviazione alleata, Edizioni del Capricorno, Torino 2012.
Pier Luigi Bassignana, Torino in guerra: la vita quotidiana dei torinesi ai tempi delle bombe, Edizioni del Capricorno, Torino 2013.
Paolo Bevilacqua, [et al.], I rifugi antiaerei di Torino, Paolo Emilio Persiari, Bologna 2018.
Carlo Chevallard, Torino in guerra tra cronaca e memoria. Diario di Carlo Chevallard 1942 – 1945, Ed. Archivio Storico della Città di Torino, Torino 1995.
Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, Bombardate l’Italia. Storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940 – 1945, Rizzoli, Milano 2007.
Giuseppe Gorla, L’Italia nella II guerra mondiale. Diario di un milanese, ministro del Re nel governo di Mussolini, Badini & Castoldi, Milano 1959.
Nicola Labanca (ed.), I Bombardamenti aerei sull’Italia, Il Mulino, Bologna 2012.