'La prima tragica notte di Pompei': 24/25 August 1943 -- 'Everything we could put into the air': Pompeii and the Salerno Beachhead, 13-29 September 1943 -- Why Was Pompeii Bombed? -- Bombing Conditions, Tactics and Accuracy -- Judgements of Success, Military Necessity and Legality -- '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 -- British Military Cultural Property Protection, from Cyrene to Syracuse -- The Development of US Wartime Heritage Protection, 1942 to September 1943 -- Pompeii's Legacy? Aerial Bombardment and Cultural Heritage in Italy, 1943-1945 -- 'Any consequential damage is accepted'. Mediterranean Allied Air Forces Reforms, Successes and Failures in Cultural Property Protection, February 1944 to March 1945 -- Allied Cultural Property Protection from Salerno to Naples -- The Museo Nazionale di Napoli, Its Requisition and Consequences -- Responses, Failures and Successes.
Summary:
"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 which 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.""-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.