A Brief History
On November 5, 1943, despite explicit orders from Allied and Axis commanders, four bombs from a bomber airplane were dropped on the Vatican. A few months later, on March 1, 1944, it happened again. Apparently during wartime, nothing is sacred.
Digging Deeper
The first incident was reported to be a single plane that had been circling the Vatican that night. Its identity has never been proven, with speculation that it may have been an Italian plane trying to take out the Vatican radio tower. Various theories present US, UK, German, or Italian responsibility. Despite heavy damage, no persons were killed.
The second incident was easier to assign blame, as the offending bomber crashed, killing its Italian pilot. He had dropped 6 small bombs that killed 1 workman and injured another person. One of his bombs damaged the Palace of the Holy Office.
The famous painting of The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci, 1499) was another near casualty of the War.
The painting escaped serious damage by allied bombing due to protective sandbags that had been placed around it, absorbing the shrapnel from a 1943 raid that heavily damaged the rest of the building.
To some extent each of the major powers attempted to avoid damaging certain targets. The Nazi’s were under orders not to bomb Buckingham Palace, and the US pilots were ordered to avoid the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The Allies held off on bombing the monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy, suffering terrible casualties trying to take the place without the benefit of bombing it. Finally, the decision was made to bomb the historic site when it was believed the Germans were safely hiding among the protected buildings. They were not, the monastery was bombed, and the hill was still exceedingly hard to take.
The inaccurate nature of World War II bombing, often at night and from high altitude under great duress from fighter planes and anti-aircraft fire resulted in innumerable historic treasures destroyed or damaged. Beautiful cities were leveled, art treasures and cultural icons were lost forever. At least Paris, France, escaped the destruction a vengeful Adolf Hitler planned for it when the retreating German commander refused to destroy the City of Light.
Of the major powers in World War II, only the United States escaped serious destruction of its cultural heritage. Perhaps that is why today the US military is under such strict guidance in our current Middle Eastern wars to avoid damaging historic and religious sites. Unfortunately, even guided bombs and good intentions do not protect unwanted damage from happening, both to people and objects. Unlike the people we are fighting, at least we try to avoid such needless death and destruction, while ISIS, the Taliban, and others purposely destroy every holy or historic object they do not personally approve of.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Is it worth the loss of military efficiency (i.e.., saving lives) to prevent ruining the enemy’s cultural and religious icons? The same question applies to civilian casualties, often referred to as “collateral damage.” What are your thoughts on this subject, on how the US has performed in this area and how do you think we should perform?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Parker, Matthew. Monte Cassino: The Hardest Fought Battle of World War II. Anchor, 2005.
