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WORLD WAR TWO

Airmen killed in WWII to be buried in Padua

Four allied airmen who lost their lives in Italy during World War Two will be buried at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Padua on July 18th.

Published: 28 June 2013 17:09 CEST
Airmen killed in WWII to be buried in Padua
The ceremony will take place at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Padua on July 18th. Photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Their aircraft was shot down on April 19th 1945.

Their remains and the aircraft were found in Copparo, a town in Emilia-Romagna, in 2011 by local archaeologists, based on eye-witness accounts.

The servicemen were Flt Sgt Perkins (Royal Air Force), Flt Sgt Bostock (RAF), Flt Sgt Raikes (RAF) and WO Hunt (Royal Australian Air Force). Relatives of the men, who will meet for the first time, will travel to Italy from the UK and Australia.

An original eye-witness of the crash, nicknamed locally as the 'Pippo', said the aircraft continued to burn for a number of days after it was shot down. Some of the wreckage and personal belongings will be presented to relatives during the opening of a wing of the River Po WWII Museum, which is dedicated entirely to the crash, in the town of Felonica on the morning of July 17th.

The event is being organised by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force, with the help of the British Embassy in Rome. 

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WORLD WAR TWO

Swiss village to be evacuated for ten years over explosion fears

Residents of a Swiss village have been told they may have to leave their homes for over a decade while a nearby World War II munitions store is cleared out.

Published: 26 February 2020 11:27 CET
Swiss village to be evacuated for ten years over explosion fears
Photo: Von Draemmli (Roland Rytz) - Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0

The former underground depot at Mitholz, which contains 3,500 tons of weaponry, has partially caved in and many of the explosives are now covered by fallen rocks.

Around half of the arsenal exploded in 1947, killing nine people, but the defence ministry said the risk of a second explosion had been underestimated for decades.

The ministry, which this week launched a consultation about the evacuation, said the risk had now become “unacceptable” and “total evacuation” was the best solution.

“Depending on how the work develops, residents should expect the evacuation to last up to more than 10 years,” the ministry said, adding that the explosives would not be removed until 2031 at the earliest.

It also said a major road passing through the village — a collection of chalet-style homes — could be rerouted and a railway line would have to be covered.

The ministry added, however, that closures of both “may become necessary, at least temporarily”. The consultation will last until April 17.

“If the evacuation creates insurmountable problems… it would still be possible to significantly reduce the risks by covering the depot with rock,” the ministry said.

The defence ministry website said thousands more tons of munitions had been dropped into several Swiss lakes but detonation could be “practically excluded” as the explosives were not as concentrated as at Mitholz.

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