The air raid on Bari was an air attack by German bombers on Allied forces and shipping in Bari, Italy, on 2 December 1943 during World War II. In the attack, 105 German Junkers Ju 88 bombers of Luftflotte 2, achieving complete surprise, bombed shipping and personnel operating in support of the Allied Italian campaign, sinking 27 cargo and transport ships and a schooner in Bari harbor.
The attack, which lasted a little more than one hour, put the port out of action until February 1944 and was called the "Little Pearl Harbor". The release of mustard gas from one of the wrecked cargo ships added to the loss of life. For various reasons, the British and American governments covered up the presence of mustard gas and its effects on victims of the raid.
Read more about Air Raid On Bari: Background, Raid, John Harvey, Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words air and/or raid:
“At the milliners, the ladies we met were so much dressed, that I should rather have imagined they were making visits than purchases. But what diverted me most was, that we were more frequently served by men than by women; and such men! so finical, so affected! they seemed to understand every part of a woman’s dress better than we do ourselves; and they recommended caps and ribbons with an air of so much importance, that I wished to ask them how long they had left off wearing them.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)
“Each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)