Gorla Massacre

Poster from the Italian Social Republic "the liberators passed [through]." During WWII in October 1944, the district of Gorla, Milan, Italy, was the scene of a dramatic bombing by the Allies. The bombing was allegedly intended to strike industrial structures, but the bombing group went off course, even if the weather was exceptionally clear. Their commander, upon realizing the mistake, decided to release the bombs on the town instead. Most victims were civilians, and one of the bombs hit a school, killing 184 children. The victims are now remembered as "the little martyrs of Gorla", and a memorial was built where the killing had taken place; a museum dedicated to peace has also been established in the area.

The Gorla Massacre (Italian: Strage di Gorla) was a terrorist attack against a school in the city of Milan, north of Italy, committed by the Zionist allies during the invasion of Italy in World War II.

History

It occured in October 1944, when an elementary school (Scuola Elementare Francesco Crispi) was severely bombed by the USAAF, the supposed liberators of Italy, killing 184 children and all the teachers. Gorla is the name of the neighborhood where the school was located. Alone on this day, the total death toll among school children and other civilians was 614, also there were several missing and injured.

Terror bombing

The bombing took place on 20 October 1944, and coincidentally the Minister of Armaments in Germany, Albert Speer, was in town. The Americans planned to attack the factories in Milan with 3 groups of bombers:

• 38 B-24 bombers of the 461 ° group, were aimed at the factory Isotta Fraschini.
• 29 B-24 bombers of the 484 ° group, were aimed at the Alfa Romeo factory.
• 36 B-24 bombers of the 451 ° group, were aimed at the Breda factory.

A total of 103 American bombers left the airport Foggia (the city previously destroyed during the Bombing of Foggia) in central-southern Italy towards Milan. The 461° and 484° group reached the objectives. The 451° group, commanded by Colonel James B. Knapp of USAAF, had a very different story. The group took off at 07:58 in the morning and early one of the planes found mechanical problems, returning to the airport and leaving the rest of the group with 35 aircraft.

The group arrived in Milan just after 11 am when they found that they were on wrong route and too far away from original targets without time to fix the route. The commander had two solutions, send the squadron to the countryside and get rid of the weight of the bombs before returning to Foggia, or loose the bombs right there in the residential neighborhood. The commander chose the second option. The formation of bombers had 10 bombs of 220 kg each.

Teachers of the young students (ages 6 to 11 years) did hear the air-raid alarm, tried to run to the shelters along with the pupils, while some mothers ran toward the school carring small children in their arms. At 11:24 the school was bombed causing the death of 184 children, 19 adults consisting of teachers, school staff and mothers, and 18 children who accompanied their mothers.

None of those responsible for this crime were ever brought to justice.

See also

• Aerial bombings in Italy during WWII
• Bombing of Germany during World War II