Viterbo – Data from Anvcg and the Interior Ministry: “22 million war remnants cleared in Italy between 2017 and 2022, 25 thousand devices still to be found”
by Daniele Camilli
Viterbo – “The subsoil of our country is ‘still at war’. 22 million devices cleared in Italy between 2017 and 2022, 25 thousand unexploded bombs still to be found.” These are the data from the Ministry of the Interior and the national association of war victims (Anvcg) regarding the war remnants and bombs still present throughout the national territory. Remnants and bombs, especially from the Second World War, which still kill, 80 years after the end of the conflict. In 2023 alone, again according to Anvcg data, there were 5 victims, among them a child of just 10 years old. Several injured.
A Blockbuster bomb from World War II
A few days ago the discovery of a Blockbuster bomb weighing around 2 thousand kilos in via De Gasperi in Viterbo during works for the construction of a real estate complex.
USAAF (in blue) and RAF (in red) bombs dropped on Italy, 1942-1945 (from Bombing Survey 1947) – Interior Ministry source
“Between 2017 and 2022 – explains the Anvcg – there will be 13 thousand interventions and 22 million devices cleared”.
“The subsoil of our country – explains a document from the Ministry of the Interior – metaphorically speaking, is ‘still at war’. The bomb squad, especially those of the Civil Engineers and those of other military forces, carry out around 3000 interventions every year, with an average of over 8 per day, to defuse the explosive remnants of past armed conflicts that have involved our territory”.
Monthly tonnage of bombs dropped on Italy (from Bombing Survey 1947) – Source from the Ministry of the Interior
“To date – continues the Viminale document – there are not only bombs from the Second or even First World War, such as airplane bombs, even large ones, but there are also countless small remnants abandoned by unknown people: in fact, the discovery of hand grenades, artillery grenades and various cartridges, certainly with a lower explosive potential than an airplane bomb, but no less lethal”.
Viterbo – The bomb in via Alcide De Gasperi – The bomb squad at work
“These are – explains the Ministry of the Interior in a document dedicated to access to the initial qualification of the prefectural career – war remnants which even today risk exploding and causing injuries or victims in a country which, with such production, has past a flagship of its industrial production, but which, to date, does not appear among those most exposed to the risk of mines. The areas where the probability of encountering a bomb is greatest are not only those where the most significant offensives were fought (for example the Sicilian coast, the coast of Salerno, Cassino, Anzio, the Gothic line) but also the cities, the ports, stations, depots and railway bridges, the major road and railway arteries, especially those used by the retreating German columns after 8 September 1943”.
Distribution of the tonnage of bombs dropped on the various countries (from Bombing Survey 1947) – Source from the Ministry of the Interior
The official data of the Allied forces, declassified only in recent years, declare that between 1940 and 1945, 378,891 tons of ordnance were dropped on Italy by the RAF and USAAF, equal to 13.7% of the total dropped on Europe, corresponding according to some estimates to around a million bombs.
A Blockbuster bomb dropped from an airplane during World War II
“The findings that have occurred over the years in precise and non-random portions of the peninsula – continues the ministry document – demonstrate that many of those devices did not explode completely and a significant fraction of them which according to an estimate would be equal to 10%, did not explode completely. In the best case scenario, therefore, at least one bomb in four still needs to be recovered; it would be 25 thousand devices on the national territory. The bombs that the underground holds in particular, which have remained unexploded for dozens and dozens of years, are mainly those from aircraft, which due to their weight and configuration reach depths of over 5-8 meters in non-rocky terrain. These hibernating devices remain active, but do not actually constitute a direct danger if they are not moved or touched.”
Daniele Camilli
Multimedia: Photo commentary: The bomb in via De Gasperi – Video: The bomb squad in action
May 6, 2024
Bomb in via De Gasperi … The articles
- Bomb in via De Gasperi, tomorrow 7 May in the red zone citizens will have to leave their homes by 9am
- Rome-Cesano-Viterbo and Orte-Viterbo railway lines, trains suspended for “Bomba day”
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi, the detailed list of streets to be evacuated must be published”
- “Bomb defuse, somewhat strange warning for gas shutoff”
- Bomb clearance, information leaflets on Saturday and Sunday in Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza Crispi
- Bomba day, sirens to indicate the beginning and end of operations and 24 collection points to reach the reception centers – Here’s where they will be
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi: anti-looting drones, reception centers and parking ban 500 meters from the bomb”
- Bomb in via De Gasperi, drones will fly over the red zone
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi, on 7 May in Belcolle outpatient activities and visits to patients suspended”
- Bomb in via De Gasperi: collection points, reception centers and gas and electricity cuts
- Bomb in via De Gasperi, on 7 May all schools inside and outside the red zone closed
- Bomb in via De Gasperi, the red zone map updated
- Bomb in via De Gasperi, the red zone is reduced
- Sergio Saggini: “The bomb in via De Gasperi was for years one and a half meters from the swimming pool of a villa”
- Bomb-proof barriers in via della Pace…
- “Bomb evacuation via De Gasperi, people’s biggest concern is looting”
- Bomba via De Gasperi, the information points for tomorrow 5 April
- Bomba in via De Gasperi, the questionnaire for those who are in the red zone and need assistance with transport
- Blockbuster bombs, discoveries and evacuations from 2001 to today
- War devices, information points open until 7pm
- Bomb evacuation, via Nazario Sauro and via del Tintoretto are also missing from the municipality’s list
- Bomb evacuation May 7th… Via Papini is also missing from the municipality list
- “Blockbuster bombs”, were used in seven British night bombings between 1943 and 1944
- Bomb evacuation May 7th… via del Riccio is missing from the municipality list
- Bomb in via De Gasperi, everything you need to know in terms of procedures and skills
- Bomb in via De Gasperi, all the streets that will have to be evacuated
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi, evacuating on Tuesday is absurd… it just means putting a city on the cross”
- “May 7 is not a random date, but one studied, considered and shared”
- Giancarlo Martinengo: “The evacuation will begin at 6 and will last until the afternoon, the red zone must be free by 9”
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi: over 400 streets involved in the evacuation, from Santa Barbara to the entire historic center”
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi: evacuation on May 7, involving over 30 thousand people”
- Bomb in via De Gasperi, new meeting today in the prefecture in view of the evacuation
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi, a questionnaire to organize the evacuation of people with fragility”
- “Unexploded bombs, 5 dead and several injured in 2023 alone”
- “In 2007, over 20 thousand people were evacuated for a radius of approximately 2 kilometers and water, gas and electricity were cut off”
- Gennaro Capo: “Bomb in via De Gasperi, the evacuation will only concern a part of the city”
- Chiara Frontini: “Bomb in via De Gasperi, possible evacuation of thousands of people”
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi, it is one of the largest ever found in Italy”
- The bomb found is a 2,000 kilo English “Blockbuster”.
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi, the population will be evacuated”
- Bomb in via De Gasperi, heavy vehicle traffic banned within the security perimeter
- “Bomb in via De Gasperi, if the excavator had taken it from the front it would have been a disaster”
- Bomb with 1300 kilos of TNT in via De Gasperi, possible evacuation of the city within a radius of three kilometers
- World War II bomb in via De Gasperi
