Axis air-raid of Tel-Aviv

Discussions on WW2 in Africa & the Mediterranean. Hosted by Andy H
Post Reply
User avatar
Skyderick
Member
Posts: 165
Joined: 11 Apr 2014, 13:59

Axis air-raid of Tel-Aviv

#1

Post by Skyderick » 16 Apr 2014, 14:34

On July 15, 1940, the air alarm was sounded in Tel-Aviv for the first time in the war when Axis aircrafts had been spotted in the distance. Haifa had already come under an attack earlier in June, and would come under a total of ten air raids during the war by the Luftwaffe and the Italian and the French royal air-forces (claiming the lives of 88 civilians). But Tel-Aviv nonetheless suffered the most casualties.
On September 9, 1940, at 16:12, Tel Aviv came under an air-raid by the Italian Royal Air Force. Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers of the 205 Squadron of the 41st Bomb Wing, having departed from Leros and Rhodes, heavily bombed civilian areas of Hebrew city and the nearby Arab village Summayl - far from any military target. The victims were:
130 Jews killed in total. Among 107 dead in the first three days:
35 women
20 children
Among 7 Arabs killed:
1 woman
5 children
All casualties, apart from one Australian soldier, were civilian. Over 150 people were wounded and hospitalized following the raid. In the following day some ten thousand people partook in what was the biggest funeral the city had known by that time. Another attack by the Luftwaffe and IRAF on the 12 June 1941 resulted in a direct hit at a nursing home in the city, claiming the lives of 13 elderly men and women.

Sources
HaMashkif newspaper, 10.09.1940 cover page, 11.09.1940 cover page, page 4
Davar newspaper, 10.09.1940 cover page, 11.09.1940 cover page, 10.05.1945 page 6
Article on Tel-Aviv municipality homepage http://tel-aviv.millenium.org.il/NR/exe ... =Published
Attachments
Bombing_of_tel_aviv_7.jpg
Wounded child
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bombing_of_tel_aviv_7.jpg
Bombing_of_tel_aviv_7.jpg (38.69 KiB) Viewed 599 times
Bombing_of_tel_aviv_2.jpg
Civilian building which suffered a direct hit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bombing_of_tel_aviv_2.jpg
Bombing_of_tel_aviv_2.jpg (45.89 KiB) Viewed 599 times

Dili
Member
Posts: 2201
Joined: 24 Jun 2007, 23:54
Location: Lusitania

Re: Axis air-raid of Tel-Aviv

#2

Post by Dili » 19 Apr 2014, 07:06

Link is in Hebrew so impossible to read for me, does Google translate it well?

If you know Italian the Santoro book about Regia Aeronautica is online in 2 volumes : http://www.avia-it.com/act/biblioteca/libri/libri.asp

It has statistics for all operation zones.


User avatar
Skyderick
Member
Posts: 165
Joined: 11 Apr 2014, 13:59

Re: Axis air-raid of Tel-Aviv

#3

Post by Skyderick » 20 Apr 2014, 20:58

Naturally, the most comprehensive sources are in Hebrew. I gathered most of the information from the newspaper articles listed above (http://web.nli.org.il/sites/JPress/Engl ... ESS-en.htm). The articles contain the addresses, names and ages of the recognizable victims and those of the hospitalized wounded.
You can find a few English articles on the raid in Google:
http://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespo ... s-Tel-Aviv
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/th ... y/1.545939
http://www.isracast.com/article.aspx?ID ... d-Tel-Aviv?

Thanks for the link, but I can sadly not read Italian.

Carl Schwamberger
Host - Allied sections
Posts: 10056
Joined: 02 Sep 2006, 21:31
Location: USA

Re: Axis air-raid of Tel-Aviv

#4

Post by Carl Schwamberger » 23 Apr 2014, 13:13

Skyderick wrote:... Haifa had already come under an attack earlier in June, and would come under a total of ten air raids during the war by the Luftwaffe and the Italian and the French royal air-forces
French aircraft participated? Where did they fly from and who commanded them?

Dili
Member
Posts: 2201
Joined: 24 Jun 2007, 23:54
Location: Lusitania

Re: Axis air-raid of Tel-Aviv

#5

Post by Dili » 23 Apr 2014, 19:24

Maybe some bombing when British fought Vichy Levant forces in June 1941.

Post Reply

Return to “WW2 in Africa & the Mediterranean”