Bombing Pompeii: World Heritage and Military Necessity

Description

Bombing Pompeii examines the circumstances under which over 160 Allied bombs hit the archaeological site of Pompeii in August and September 1943, and the wider significance of this event in the history of efforts to protect cultural heritage in conflict zones, a broader issue that is still of great importance. From detailed examinations of contemporary archival document, Nigel Pollard shows that the bomb damage to ancient Pompeii was accidental, and the bombs were aimed at road and rail routes close to the site in an urgent attempt to slow down the reinforcement and supply of German counter- attacks that threatened to defeat the Allied landings in the Gulf of Salerno. The book sets this event, along with other instances of damage and risk to cultural heritage in Italy in the Second World War, in the context of the development of the Allied Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives &; the &;Monuments Men.&; Contents Acknowledgements Notes on Usage Abbreviations Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Archival Documents Introduction Part One: The Bombing of Pompeii, August–September 1943 Chapter 1: ‘La prima tragica notte di Pompei’: 24/25 August 1943 Chapter 2: ‘Everything we could put into the air’: Pompeii and the Salerno Beachhead, 13–29 September 1943 Chapter 3: Why Was Pompeii Bombed? Chapter 4: Bombing Conditions, Tactics and Accuracy Chapter 5: Judgements of Success, Military Necessity and Legality Chapter 6: ‘The Germans were encamped on the site and allied aircraft were obliged to treat it as a military objective’: Alternative Explanations for the Bombing of Pompeii Part Two: ‘Our Common Task’ Chapter 7: British Military Cultural Property Protection, from Cyrene to Syracuse Chapter 8: The Development of US Wartime Heritage Protection, 1942 to September 1943 Chapter 9: Pompeii’s Legacy? Aerial Bombardment and Cultural Heritage in Italy, 1943–1945 Chapter 10: ‘Any consequential damage is accepted’. Mediterranean Allied Air Forces Reforms, Successes and Failures in Cultural Property Protection, February 1944 to March 1945 Part Three: Military Convenience? The British Military Requisition and Occupation of the National Museum of Naples, 17 November 1943 to 29 June 1944 Chapter 11: Allied Cultural Property Protection from Salerno to Naples Chapter 12: The Museo Nazionale di Napoli, Its Requisition and Consequences Chapter 13: Responses, Failures and Successes Conclusions Appendices Appendix A: Bomb Damage to the Archaeological Site of Pompeii: Summaries from Contemporary Allied Documentation Appendix B: Air Forces Organisation and Documentation Appendix C: Applying 1944 US Eighth Air Force Accuracy Data to Pompeii Appendix D: RAF Medium Bombers’ Use of Flares Appendix E: BBC Recording of Matthew Henry Halton at Pompeii, 29 September 1943 Appendix F: Cities Included in MAAF, Ancient Monuments of Italy (23 February 1944) Notes Bibliography Index