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The recent publication of Guiseppe Versolato's book about the bombing of the German HQ at Recoaro put me in mind of another great piece of scholarship in Italian that was published a few years ago by Roger Juglair.
Juglair's careful documentation and research resulted in a fascinating work of great value to the 57th Bomb Wing. It has always bothered me that, being written in Italian, it was not accessible to most of the Wing members.
The work studies a single raid made by elements of the 488th and 489th Bomb Squadrons on a tiny village, off the main roads located high in the Italian Alps. The inhabitants of the village could not understand why their sleepy little town was targeted for destruction. Our bomber crews also were puzzled as to why they were sent to attack an undefended town so far off the major supply routes.
It is a fascinating story that explores the strategic situation in the area at the time and all of the steps that led to the decision to target the village.
Juglair describes the social pressures in the town engendered by the war and we see how the effects of the raid reverberated for many years after the fact.
I invite you to delve into the fine details of the raid as viewed from both sides of the bomb-line.
http://home.comcast.net/~dhsetzer/Settimo.pdf
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