The Bombing War: Europe 1939–1945

by Richard Overy

  12. Ibid., 185.

  13. Ceva, Spagna 1936–1939, 314–15, 318–19, 330; Joseph Maiolo, Cry Havoc: How the Arms Race Drove the World to War, 1931–1941 (New York: 2006), 218–19.

  14. Giorgio Rochat, Guerre italiane in Libia e in Etiopia: studi militari 1921–1939 (Paese: 1991), 123, 128, 132–5.

  15. Ceva, Spagna 1936–1939, 315, 330, 336–40.

  16. Ibid., 316, 333–4, 336. The figures on raids are derived from contemporary records of the Spanish Republican Ministry of Defence.

  17. Pivetti, ‘La potenza dell’arma aerea: Parte 2’, Rivista Aeronautica, 15 (Apr 1939), 36.

  18. IWM, Italian Series, Box 25, Superaereo, Ufficio statistica operative, ‘Relazione statistica sull’attività operativa dell’aeronautica dall’inizio delle ostilità al 30 settembre 1942’, 3, figure for 1 June 1940; the figure of 1,332 is given for 10 June 1940 in G. Bignozzi, B. Catalanotto, Storia degli Aerei d’Italia (Rome: 1962), 121. Total air strength on paper was 3,214.

  19. Lucio Ceva, Andrea Curami, ‘Luftstreitkräfte und Luftfahrtindustrie in Italien, 1936–1943’, in Horst Boog (ed), Luftkriegführung im Zweiten Weltkrieg (Bonn: 1993), 115–16.

  20. See MacGregor Knox, Hitler’s Italian Allies: Royal Armed Forces, Fascist Regime and the War of 1940–1943 (Cambridge: 2000), 62, 64, 141, 164; Ceva, Curami, ‘Luftstreitkräfte’, 115. On radar see Luigi Castioni, ‘I radar industriali italiani. Ricerche, ricordi, considerazioni per una loro storia’, Storia contemporanea, 18 (1987), 1,223–4, 1,249.

  21. Alegi, ‘Qualità del materiale bellico’, 1,200–201; Ceva, Curami, ‘Luftstreitkräfte’, 116–18; Knox, Hitler’s Italian Allies, 64; Maiolo, Cry Havoc, 219.

  22. Vera Zamagni, ‘Italy: How to Lose the War and Win the Peace’, in Mark Harrison (ed), The Economics of World War II (Cambridge: 1998), 182–5, 196; Alessandro Massignani, ‘L’industria bellica italiana e la Germania nella seconda guerra mondiale’, Italia Contemporanea, 190 (1993), 192–95.

  23. Andrea Natalini, I rapporti tra aeronautica italiana e tedesca durante la seconda guerra mondiale (Cosenza: 2004), 21–5.

  24. Ibid., 27–31.

  25. IWM, Italian Series, Box 25, ‘Relazione statistica sull’attività operativa’, 12; Box 14, E2547, Corpo Aereo Italiano, report on operations October 1940. Small raids were also made on Colchester and Orford Ness.

  26. Peter Haining, The Chianti Raiders: The Extraordinary Story of the Italian Air Force in the Battle of Britain (London: 2005), 114.

  27. Natalini, I rapporti tra aeronautica italiana e tedesca, 42.

  28. Claudia Baldoli, Andrew Knapp, Forgotten Blitzes: France and Italy under Allied Air Attack, 1940–1945 (London: 2012), 123; Amedeo Mecozzi, ‘L’ala fascista domina la guerra’, Rivista Aeronautica, 16 (Dec 1940), 497–507.

  29. IWM, Italian Series, Box 14, E2545, Ministero dell’Aeronautica, Servizio Informazioni Aeronautiche, circulars on the experience of war gathered by German aviation, 5 Nov 1940; ‘Esperienze di guerra e notizie varie sulla Gran Bretagna’, 31 Mar 1941.

  30. IWM, Italian Series, Box 14, E2547, Col Luigi Overta (Corpo Aereo Italiano), ‘Cenni sull’impiego del bombardamento dell’aeronautica del Reich’, 29 Mar 1941.

  31. Andrea Zotti, ‘La teoretica e l’esperienza’, Rivista Aeronautica, 17 (May 1941), 214–16, 220.

  32. IWM, Italian Series, Box 11, E2541, Stato maggiore dell’aeronautica, ‘Ore di volo belliche, 10 giugno 1940 al 30 giugno 1941’.

  33. The Jerusalem Post, 25 Sept 2012, ‘How Italy Bombed Tel Aviv in World War II’.

  34. Calculated from the statistics in IWM, Box 25, ‘Relazione statistica sull’attività operativa’, 13, 16.

  35. Ibid., 54, 56a, 56b; Knox, Hitler’s Italian Allies, 163.

  36. Alegi, ‘Qualità del materiale bellico’, 1,201–2, 1,209, 1,213. On training units see IWM, Italian Series, Box 19, E2560, Stato maggiore dell’aeronautica, ‘Costituzione dei “Gruppi Complementari” presso i reparti’, 12 Aug 1941.

  37. IWM, Italian Series, Box 19, E2560, report from Commander 30th Stormo to Commander of Air Forces in Sicily (n.d. but Aug 1941), 1–2.

  38. ‘Appunti per il potenziamento dell’arma aerea’, Rivista Aeronautica, 17 (Aug 1941), 301. On the lead role of the group commander see ‘La posizione del comandante nella formazione bombardiera’, Rivista Aeronautica, 16 (June 1940), 411.

  39. NAM, Box 24/4, Air Raid Report Book, 1942–4. The last raid occurred on 16 August 1944.

  40. Claudia Baldoli, ‘The “Northern Dominator” and the Mare Nostrum: Fascist Italy’s “Cultural War” in Malta’, Modern Italy, 13 (2008), 8–14.

  41. NAM, Box 1/1, minutes of meeting of ARP Committee, 14 Dec 1934; Note, ‘Passive Defence of Malta’, 11 Jan 1935; Note by the Lt. Gov., 27 Mar 1935, ‘Programme for Development of Passive Defence Measures, Malta’.

  42. NAM, Box 1/1, minute, C. H. Sampson, ARP officer, Sept 1939. On decontamination, ‘Estimate of Personnel Requiring Instruction in Anti-Gas School’.

  43. Michael Budden, ‘Defending the Indefensible? The Air Defence of Malta, 1936–1940’, War in History, 6 (1999), 462–3.

  44. IWM, Italian Series, Box 22, E2567, Stato maggiore della R. Aeronautica, ‘La situazione della base di Malta da giugno 1940 all’ottobre 1942’, 31 Oct 1942, 1–2.

  45. Ibid., 2–3; Box 11, E2541, ‘Azioni offensive su Malta dall’ 11-6-40 al 19-4-41’.

  46. Ibid., ‘Velivoli perduti in Azioni su Malta dall’11-6-40 al 19-4-41’; NAM, Box 23/1, HQ ARP Malta, ‘List of Raids and Raiders 1940–1942’; TNA, AIR 23/5707, Report from HQ RAF Malta to Air Ministry, 23 July 1940.

  47. Budden, ‘Defending the Indefensible?’, 460–64; Douglas Austin, Malta and British Strategic Policy, 1925–1943 (London: 2004), 82–4, 91–6; Robert Mallett, The Italian Navy and Fascist Expansionism, 1935–1940 (London: 1998), 193–5. Italian intelligence greatly exaggerated the size of Malta’s defences, assuming at least 105 aircraft on the island in June 1940, a figure not reached until almost two years later.

  48. TNA, AIR 2/7397, Air Ministry to C-in-C, Bomber Command, 28 Oct and 29 Oct 1940; HQ RAF Malta to Air Ministry, 4 Nov 1940; Air Ministry, Plans to DCAS, 3 Nov 1940.

  49. TNA, AIR 23/7375, Air Ministry propaganda department to RAF commander, Malta, 4 Dec 1940.

  50. Ibid., Air Ministry to RAF commander, Malta, 18 Jan 1941.

  51. TNA, AIR 2/7397, HQ RAF Malta to Air Ministry, 9 Nov 1940; Portal to deputy chief of staff (Harris), 10 Nov 1940.

  52. NAM, Box 16/1, Note on Evacuation; Census of Population, Northern Region, 20 Aug 1942; Regional Protection Office, Western Region, Census, 19 Aug 1942; Local Government Office, ‘Evacuation Scheme’.

  53. Frederick Galea, Women of Malta: True Wartime Stories of Christina Ratcliffe and Tamara Marks (Rabat: 2006), 30–35; NAM, Box 16/1, ‘Evacuation of Marsaskala: General Instructions’, 19 July 1940.

  54. TNA, HO 192/59, REDept to the War Office, 19 Oct 1942; R & E Report, ‘Effects of Bombs on Tunnel Shelters’, 21 Aug 1942.

  55. Galea, Women of Malta, 45–6, testimony of Christina Ratcliffe.

  56. IWM, Italian Series, Box 25, ‘Relazione statistica sull’attività operativa’, 7. The figures were 30,825 hours of daylight bombing, 9,659 by night. On shelter policy see Austin, Malta and British Strategic Policy, 87–8.

  57. NAM, Box 14/14, List of Regional Protection Officers, Deputy Regional Protection Officers in Malta and Gozo; Box 21/6, transcript, ‘Broadcast by His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government’, 27 June 1940, 3–4.

  58. NAM, Box 21/6, memorandum from Lt. Gov.’s office, 18 June 1940; Box 21/7, ARP Department, Malta, ‘Curfew’, 2 July 1940; ARP Officer, Malta to Adjutant of police ‘specials’, 27 Nov 1940; ARP officer to police superintendent, Msida centre, 12 Nov 1940.

  59. NAM, Box 21/6, Information Office, Valletta, to all secretaries of clubs, schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, 14 June 1940; ‘Broadcast by His Excellency’, 27 June 1940, 3.

  60. Galea, Women of Malta, 53, 59–60, testimony
of Tamara Marks.

  61. See reports Sept–Oct 1941 in IWM, Italian Series, Box 10, E2532, operational reports, 29 Gruppo (Bombardamento), 30 Sept, 15 Oct, 17 Oct, 18 Oct, 30 Oct 1941.

  62. James Holland, Fortress Malta: An Island under Siege 1940–1943 (London: 2003), 87–91.

  63. Galea, Women of Malta, 86, testimony of Tamara Marks.

  64. Giorgio Rochat, Le guerre italiane 1935–1943: Dall’impero d’Etiopia alla disfatta (Turin: 2005), 333ff.

  65. Natalini, I rapporti tra aeronautica italiana e tedesca, 61–2.

  66. Bernd Stegemann, ‘The Italo-German Conduct of the War in the Mediterranean and North Africa’, in Gerhard Schreiber, Bernd Stegemann, Detlef Vogel, Germany and the Second World War: Vol. III: The Mediterranean, South-East Europe, and North Africa 1939–1941 (Oxford: 1995), 654.

  67. IWM, Italian Series, Box 14, E2545, X Corps, Ufficio di collegamento per la R. Aeronautica, ‘Dislocazione reparti di volo del corpo aereo tedesco’, 15 Apr 1941; Air Ministry, The Rise and Fall of the German Air Force, 1933–1945 (London: 1983), 126–7.

  68. Rochat, Le guerre italiene, 345; IWM, Italian Series, Box 11, E2541, ‘Azioni offensive su Malta dall’ 11-6-40 al 19-4-41’.

  69. Fuehrer Conferences on Naval Affairs 1939–1945 (London: 1990), 185, ‘Report by the C-in-C Navy to the Fuehrer, March 18 1941’.

  70. IWM, Italian Series, Box 22, E2567, ‘La situazione della base aero-navale di Malta dall’inizio delle operazioni ad oggi’, 31 Oct 1942, 4.

  71. For an excellent account of the naval war off Malta see Austin, Malta and British Strategic Policy, 127–35. See too Mariano Gabriele, ‘L’offensiva su Malta (1941)’, in R. Rainero, A. Biagini (eds), Italia in guerra: il secondo anno, 1941 (Rome: 1992), 444–5.

  72. Fuehrer Conferences on Naval Affairs, 240, ‘Report by the C-in-C Navy to the Fuehrer at Wolfschanze, 13 November 1941’.

  73. Natalini, I rapporti tra aeronautica italiana e tedesca, 80–83, 86–7; Air Ministry, Rise and Fall of the German Air Force, 131–3.

  74. IWM, Italian Series, Box 23, E3003, Fliegerführer Sizilien: Einsatzbefehle, 17 and 18 Dec 1941, 1 Jan 1942; HQ II Fliegerkorps, ‘Befehl zur Bekämpfung von Blockadebrechern für Malta’, 13 Jan 1942.

  75. Natalini, I rapporti tra aeronautica italiana e tedesca, 89.

  76. Hugh Lloyd, Briefed to Attack: Malta’s Part in the African Victory (London: 1949), 131–4.

  77. TNA, AIR 23/5721, HQ RAF Malta, ‘Attacks on Malta February–October 1942’. The raids on 5 April involved 208 aircraft, those on 7 April involved 228. See too Budden, ‘Defending the Indefensible?’, 464–5; Ashley Jackson, The British Empire and the Second World War (London: 2000), 132.

  78. TNA, AIR 23/5721, HQ RAF Malta, ‘Casualties in Combat off Malta’, Oct 1942. The figures cover the period February to October 1942.

  79. Renzo De Felice (ed), Galeazzo Ciano: Diario 1937–1943 (Milan: 1990), 621, entry for 26 May 1942.

  80. Mariano Gabriele, ‘L’operazione “C.3” (1942)’, in R. Rainero, A. Biagini (eds), Italia in guerra: Il terzo anno, 1942 (Rome: 1993), 409ff.

  81. IWM, Italian Series, Box 22, E2568, Ministero dell’Aeronautica, ‘Esigenza “C.3” per l’occupazione dell’isola di Malta’, 3–4, 12.

  82. Ciano, Diario, 614–15, entry for 29–30 Apr; Fuehrer Conferences on Naval Affairs, 277–8, telegram from Rome to OKW, 12 Apr 1942, and letter from Lt. Comm. Wolf Junge, 1 May 1942.

  83. Ibid., 285, Report on a Conference between the C-in-C Navy and the Fuehrer, 15 June 1942.

  84. IWM, Italian Series, Box 22, E2568, ‘Esigenza “C.3” per l’occupazione’, 25–7; see too Ciano, Diario, 619, entry for 12 May 1942 on the tides, and 619–20, entry for 13 May on Italian perception of Maltese defences.

  85. TNA, AIR 23/5681, HQ RAF Malta, ‘Note on Fighter Strength’, 7 Oct 1942.

  86. Air Ministry, Rise and Fall of the German Air Force, 135–7; Knox, Hitler’s Italian Allies, 99–100.

  87. IWM, Italian Series, Box 22, E2568, ‘Esigenza “C.3” per l’occupazione’, 7–8; Budden, ‘Defending the Indefensible?’, 465–6; Austin, Malta and British Strategic Policy, 186–8. RAF losses in Tony Spooner, Supreme Gallantry: Malta’s Role in the Allied Victory, 1939–1945 (London: 1996), 7–8.

  88. Elke Fröhlich (ed), Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels Sämltiche Fragmente, 4 vols (Munich: 1987), vol 2, pt 4, 58.

  89. NAM, Air Raid Report Book, 1942–4. On injuries caused see 6 July 1942 (hitting bullets with a hammer), 9 July 1942 (playing with a rocket), 13 July 1942 (playing with an incendiary bomb), 28 July 1942 (child injured playing with an anti-personnel bomb). On the prohibitions, Box 14/2, ARP, HQ minute, 19 June 1943.

  90. NAM, Box 14/14, memorandum, Supervisor of Shelter Construction, Nov 1942; Select Committee for Shelters to the President of the Council of Government, 3 Feb 1942, report on shelter provision, 3.

  91. NAM, Box 25/6, Regional Protection Officer, Western Region, ‘Emergency Feeding Plan’, July 1943, 1–2; Lt. Gov.’s office to all RPOs, 13 Apr 1943.

  92. NAM, Box 29/2, ‘Report from Select Committee on Shelters to the President of Council of Government’, 3 Feb 1942; Notes on Shelter Report, ‘following approved’ (n.d.).

  93. NAM, ARP, Box 19/3, ‘Report on the Food Situation in Malta’, for the Lt. Gov., 22 June 1942, 2–4; on rabbits, ARP, Box 21/6, memorandum for the Lt. Gov., 18 June 1940. See too Austin, Malta and British Strategic Policy, 88–9.

  94. Galea, Women of Malta, 115–16.

  95. NAM, ARP, Box 19/3/A, Report on the Food Situation, 22 June 1942, 1, 4.

  96. NAM, ARP, Box 19/3/B, minutes of second meeting of the Food and Distribution Board, 13 July 1942; Food Control Committee Report, 6 June 1942; Box 19/3/A, Report on the Food Situation, App 2, ‘Stock Table June 1 1942’, App 5, ‘Civilian Ration Scales’.

  97. TNA, AIR 23/5715, minutes of coordinating committee of the Malta Defence Committee, 28 Sept 1942; minutes of Malta Defence Committee, 18 Nov 1942.

  98. Galea, Women of Malta, 43–4, 87.

  99. Austin, Malta and British Strategic Policy, 89.

  100. Laddie Lucas, Malta: The Thorn in Rommel’s Side (London: 1993), 32.

  101. Spooner, Supreme Gallantry, 11.

  102. Ibid., 65–6.

  103. NAM, ARP, Box 19/3/A, Report on the Food Situation, 22 June 1942, 5.

  104. IWM, Italian Series, Box 22, E2567, ‘La situazione della base aero-navale di Malta’, 31 Oct 1942, 9.

  105. TNA, AIR 23/5683, circular to Governor of Malta, ‘Scorched Earth’, 29 Jan 1942; ‘Memorandum of the Application by the Army of the Scorched Earth Policy’, Troop Commander, Malta, 15 Apr 1942; Malta Defence Committee, ‘Scorched Earth Policy’, June 1942, 1–2.

  106. NAM, ARP, Box 25/6, Lt. Gov.’s office, ‘Civil Organisation in the Event of an Enemy Landing or Attempted Landing’, 7 May 1943, 2–4.

  107. TNA, AIR 23/5715, Defence Committee, Malta, minutes of meeting, 27 Feb 1943; NAM, ARP, Box 14/2, ARP Department to all Superintendents, 6 Nov 1943.

  108. TNA, AIR 2/7197, HQ British Air Force in France to the Air Ministry, 26 Apr 1940. See too Baldoli, Knapp, Forgotten Blitzes, 19–20.

  109. TNA, AIR 75/8, Slessor papers, ‘Operation Haddock: Plan for Attack of Italian War Industry’, 2 June 1940.

  110. TNA, AIR 35/325, Report for the Air Ministry, ‘Haddock Force – Historical Diary’, 20 June 1940, 2–9; Denis Richards, Royal Air Force 1939–1945: Vol 1: The Fight at Odds (London: 1974), 145–7.

  111. Stephen Harvey, ‘The Italian War Effort and the Strategic Bombing of Italy’, History, 70 (1985), 38.

  112. TNA, AIR 20/283, Air Ministry, Notes on bomb attacks, 20 Aug 1940.

  113. CCO, Portal papers, Folder 9, Walter Monckton (MoI) to Portal, 8 Nov 1940.

  114. TNA, AIR 23/7375, Air Intelligence, HQ RAF, Malta, to Malta Information Office, 28 Nov 1940.

  115. TNA, AIR 23/7375, Air Ministry to C-in-C, Malta, 18 Jan 1941; HQ RAF Mediterranean to Luqa airbase, 13 Feb 1941; War Office, Deputy Direc
tor Military Intelligence to C-in-C, Malta, 21 Apr 1941.

  116. TNA, AIR 2/7397, Air Ministry to HQ Middle East, 5 Sept 1941.

  117. TNA, AIR 23/5752, Wellington Operations from Malta; Marco Gioannini, Giulio Massobrio, Bombardate l’Italia. Storia della guerra di distruzione aerea 1940–1945 (Milan: 2007), online appendix.

  118. TNA, AIR 2/7397, HQ RAF Med to Bomber Command HQ, 1 Nov 1940; HQ Malta to HQ Middle East, 14 Nov 1940; HQ Malta to HQ Middle East, 23 Nov 1940.

  119. TNA, AIR 8/436, Cadogan (FO) to Portal, 21 Oct 1941; Portal to Cadogan, 26 Oct 1941.

  120. TNA, AIR 2/7397, Cadogan to Freeman (DCAS), 8 Jan 1942; Freeman to Cadogan, 9 Jan 1942.

  121. TNA, AIR 2/7397, reports on raids in October and November 1941 classified 9 of the 16 raids as nuisance raids, using fewer than 7 aircraft. On British policy see Baldoli, Knapp, Forgotten Blitzes, 20–21, 25.

  122. TNA, AIR 8/435, minute by Churchill for Portal and Sinclair, 3 Dec 1942.

  123. TNA, AIR 19/215, Portal to Churchill, 29 Nov 1942; Portal to Churchill 1 Dec 1942.

  124. UEA, Zuckerman Archive, SZ/OEMU/50, Ministry of Home Security, RE8, ‘Note on Italian Construction and its Vulnerability to I.B. and H.E. Bombs’, 30 Dec 1942; RE8, ‘Note on Italian Domestic Architecture’, 4 Nov 1943, 1. On the Milan raid, CCAC, BUFT 3/26, Memorandum BOps, 15 Nov 1942, ‘Milan: Daylight Raid 24 October 1942’.

  125. CCAC, BUFT 3/26, BOps to Director of Tactics, 31 May 1943.

  126. Knox, Hitler’s Italian Allies, 101.

  127. IWM, Italian Series, Box 25, ‘Relazione statistica sull’attività operativa’, 8.

  128. Paolo Formiconi, ‘La protezione e la difesa contraerea del regime fascista: evoluzione istituzionale’, in Nicola Labanca (ed), I bombardamenti aerei sull’Italia (Bologna: 2012), 123–5.

  129. IWM, Italian Series, Box 1, E2476, Ufficio operazioni aeronautica, memorandum for the commanding general, 5 Mar 1943, 1–2.

  130. IWM, Italian Series, Box 2, E2485, Relazioni critiche mensili dei reparti intercettori, Dec 1942, Jan and May 1943. On radios see Box 3, E2489, Superaereo to department of air armament, ‘Riunione del 28 novembre 1942; tipo di onda per la caccia notturna’, 1 Dec 1942.