Sunday, February 6, 2011

Bombs on the Cover

LIFE cover, bombs on the oil refinery of LeghornBy end of May, D-day for ground invasion was a definite date on the allied high command's calendar. But invasion by air, which was just as real as one by foot soldier and artillery, had been a definite military fact for months before. The particular bombs on the cover are 500-pounders, tumbling on an oil refinery in Leghorn, Italy.
(LIFE's cover, June 12, 1944 - Caption on page 22)

On the right the same area now, captured from Bing Maps.

See also: LIFE June 12, 1944 (Google Books)

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21 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2011 at 2:07 AM

    Forces. May time and life continue to work towards a peaceful end.

    Please have a good Sunday.

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2011 at 5:09 AM

    How life has changed...it would be very shocking to me today to think of dropping bombs on any part of Italy!

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  3. Small City ScenesFebruary 6, 2011 at 6:40 AM

    My oh my!! that is a very telling picture.A different area now. Something some of us have never known. MB

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  4. RandyFebruary 6, 2011 at 7:09 AM

    That is amazing.

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  5. Traveling HawkFebruary 6, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    It makes me shiver! Something that should never happen again!

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  6. jooFebruary 6, 2011 at 11:02 AM

    Fascinating post and I agree with Travelling Hawk!

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  7. brattcatFebruary 6, 2011 at 1:45 PM

    Thank you for the side by side images.

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  8. Cezar and LéiaFebruary 6, 2011 at 2:16 PM

    The maganize cover is such an unsettling image, but well, that's just real...
    God bless you!
    Cezar

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  9. Small City ScenesFebruary 6, 2011 at 5:23 PM

    Re my blog:
    Admirality Inlet and Puget Sound are major shipping lanes to and from Seattle and Tacoma ports in Washington. MB.

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  10. FranciscaFebruary 6, 2011 at 7:27 PM

    Chilling. But I am curious what made you post this, VP.

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  11. cieldequimperFebruary 6, 2011 at 7:47 PM

    I haven't known this but our parents remember it, at least my mother does. Never again.

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  12. DinaFebruary 6, 2011 at 8:43 PM

    What a brilliant juxtaposition of photos.
    But the bombs en route to do destruction are blood-curdling.
    At least my father was sent to bomb the oil fields of Ploesti, Romania, and fortunately not Livorno.
    I'll never understand this world.

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  13. DinaFebruary 6, 2011 at 8:47 PM

    And now I'm paging through a Life magazine from before I was born. Thanks for this link.

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  14. VPFebruary 6, 2011 at 9:32 PM

    @ Francisca - Why not? This is history and we do not live in La La land. I have posted about last war destructions before and will post about that again. Sorry if this unsettle you or others, but these events shaped the life in our city.

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  15. VPFebruary 6, 2011 at 9:36 PM

    @ ciel - I really hope that you are right, but I won't bet the house on this.

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  16. BirdmanFebruary 6, 2011 at 10:30 PM

    LIFE was an amazing photographic magazine that came to my grandparents' mailbox. I gobbled it up!

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  17. Luis GomezFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:31 AM

    Great post VP. Thank you.

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  18. FranciscaFebruary 7, 2011 at 9:56 AM

    The answer that would have covered my question, and do pardon my oversight, VP, is that Leghorn IS Livorno. And you are so right, we do not live in La La Land. Inhumane destruction is going on right now in many places as I type.

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  19. VPFebruary 7, 2011 at 10:45 AM

    @ Francisca - Sorry, you are right, it was not clear that Leghorn was in fact Livorno.

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  20. UnknownFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:40 PM

    Great post, well done.

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  21. EG CameraGirlFebruary 8, 2011 at 3:39 PM

    It must have been terrible to have lived in Italy at that time!

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