Untold Danger: WWII and WWI Bombs in Italy’s Triveneto Region

Six hundred thousand pieces dropped across the Triveneto region between 1940 and 1945. It is impossible to determine the total number of devices dispersed on Italian territory and the percentage that remains unexploded. To illustrate – recalls Colonel Arturo Porrino, head of the clearance section of the Fifth Military Engineering Directorate in Padova, responsible for demining operations in northern and central Italy – that in the Triveneto alone during the Second World War, 600,000 aircraft bombs were dropped; of these, it is estimated that 10 percent, or 60,000, did not explode. So far, only 5,000 have been recovered. The calculations are simple.

From a historical perspective, it is interesting to read a report from June 1948, prepared by the bomb disposal companies of the time, comprising just over one hundred men decimated by accidental explosions. As of June 30, 1948, 6,721 municipalities had been inspected. The materials defused included: nearly seven million cartridges and hand grenades, 5.5 million artillery shells; 250,000 aircraft bombs; ten thousand quintals of explosives.

World War I Devices and Demining Operations

Not to mention the devices of World War I whose whereabouts remain uncertain, summarized in meticulous detail by the Deputy Chief of Staff Pietro Badoglio in response to Hon. Fradeletto, Minister for the Liberated Lands. Across a front approximately 300 kilometers from the Adamello to the Piave Mouth, with an average depth of about 8 kilometers, nearly eight million unexploded shells and bombs were used.

This staggering amount was often the cause of tragic accidents, prompting the Supreme Command to train specialized units to collect and clear these devices; then World War II came along to further complicate the situation.