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The December 2, 1943 Air Raid on the Italian port of Bari was not just a disaster for the allies, but an embarrassment whose full details were hidden for more than a decade.
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This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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Clifford Allan Calder served as a Private with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry during the Second World War. The Patricia's recruited in Winnipeg and Vancouver and sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 21, 1939. They would later land and fight in Italy. Private Calder died October 9, 1943 and is commemorated at the Bari War Cemetery in Italy. Clifford Allan Calder was the son of William and Blanche Calder of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba and was survived by his wife Myrtle Calder of Winnipeg. The site of Bari War Cemetery was chosen in November 1943. There was no serious fighting in the vicinity of the town, which was the Army Group headquarters during the early stages of the Italian campaign, but it continued to be an important supply base and hospital centre, with the 98th General Hospital stationed there from October 1943 until the end of the war. Calder Island in Granville Lake Manitoba was named in his honour in 1995; he was 23 years old.
Clifford was a half track driver. He was killed by a German land mine he drove over. The explosion was so great as to blow him out through the canvas roof of the truck. His legs were cut off by the steering wheel. Laying in a roadside ditch others tried to save his life by applying tourniquets to his legs. It did not work. It took him 20 minutes to die. My Father Jerry Richards fractured his neck and skull lay beside him while he was dying while trying to save his life.
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2203165
More in Mark Zuehlke’s book Ortona https://zuehlke.ca/ortona/
My Grandfather in WW1 suffered a Mustard Gas attack. He spent the rest of his life wheezing with damaged lungs.
The history channel never mentions this. Thank you for sharing this piece of history.
I'd recently read "Disaster At Bari" and it was the first I'd ever heard of it. Amazing history!
I requested this episode quite a while ago. The presentation exceeded all my expectations, adding greatly to everything I already knew. The incident occurred not far from my Grandparents home town, 10 miles to the west. Thank You !!
I was completely ignorant of this event. How fascinating! Gen Doolittle being there, the Germans losing only 1 plane, the mustard gas fiasco, a link to future chemo therapy… just amazing.
Chaffe was Window if you were RAF.
Many allied disasters were covered up. So sad
The History Guy gives off major "Variety Show Indy Neidel" vibes…or perhaps Indy gives off major "World War specific The History Guy" vibes.
Whatever the case, this is the biggest compliment I can think of for both of these vest-wearing individuals.
My father was a member of 2 NZ Division and spent time in Bari – he was attached to the 2NZEF Staff in Bari – he never mentioned this, and I figure he probably would have been in Bari at this time – but I still have some postcards he bought home from Bari. Happily he returned home to New Zealand in Sept 45 – just 1 week short of 4 years overseas service, he passed peacefully age 88 in 2004.
It's amazing how much history is Lost over the news NOT REPORTING IT 🤔
A Doolittle vs a Von Richthofen how interesting. The German doing a Doolittle type raid.
Port Chicago…west loch @ Pearl… munitions explosions weren't unknown
You would think SOMEONE would see the folly of massing all these supply Ships in the same close proximity. An average mind might think; allow only a couple of ships in port at a time. Unload each at speed while the other ships wait off shore in isolated anchorage or better yet, moving very slowly in circles and waiting their chance to unload. How many men were killed while commanders remained clueless about tactics.
Kesselring in charge of the Luftwaffe? I thought Herman Goering was still in charge…
In times of war, it's not enough that the enemy kills you, you could also die from the carelessness and/or stupidity of your own government
My wife's uncle, Fred Anderson, was a crewman on one of the Liberty ships at Bari and was awarded the Merchant Marine's highest medal, the Distinguished Service Medal, for heroism for his firefighting efforts in a hold filled with ammunition. A side note: he joined the Marines and got beat up by Marine veterans in San Diego for daring to wear his medal when on a pass from the Marine boot camp at Camp Pendleton! He'd been uninjured in the bombing raid only to suffer injury in San Diego. Word got out about his story, and a couple of the guys who beat him visited him in the hospital to apologize. Semper Fi!
Tragedy compounded by secrecy Sums up a lot of military history, thanks for sharing this
good work again history guy. seems like something from mark felton. in any case, congrats. you beat him to it
My father, as a young AbleSeaman, RN, was in the NAAFi when the raid occurred, he jumped out a window into a narrow alleyway when the ammunition ship went up. When he went back several days later there was an Ibeam laying down the alley.
There seems to be a direct correlation between a high level commander saying something won't happen and the action actually happening soon thereafter.
Thanks for this story. I've been through Bari twice to get the ferries to Greece and Albania and I had no idea that any of this happened.
heard about it but not in such details, have to say it's a total disaster compounded by an inept beraucracry 😷
Sir Richard was undoubtedly taken aback by that affront.
1404hrs at ist 3rd december 2022//
I hadn’t heard this before, fascinating, thanks
The rich stays rich by spending like the poor and investing without stopping then the poor stays poor by spending like the rich yet not investing like the rich
It would seem that committing an affront against one's enemy is a key activity in war.
A great one!! But, ironically, my life has been punctuated by cancer treatments, surgery radiation & chemo, and I have never been able to find a history book on development of those therapies, hope you consider that someday.
I am shocked to hear that the US decided to deploy Mustard Gas —- Their claim that the Germans may have gas – smells very much like a lie. Allied attempts to push the Germans out of Italy – hit a stumbling block around the Monastery of Monte Casino. Being aware of the religious & cultural significance of the Monastery – high command may have approved of Mustard gas to dislodge the defenders. But when the Mustard gas was destroyed in Bari Harbor – they were forced to drop that plan & instead used conventional bombs to destroy Monte Casino's Monastery in February 1944. That fits the scenario – especially when you consider the use of Bari as a staging post for the attack on Monte Casino.
I'm very glad that you covered the raid at Bari in this episode. Ever since I learned about the raid, I felt that it was underrepresented in WWII histories including videos.
Another story that was probably a line or two in some history book, but when given full THG treatment becomes so much more alive. Thank you.
Thank you for reporting on this truly forgotten story from the Second World War.
Hey! I saw you on TV, The Unexplained. I recognize that voice right away. Did you get to meet Shatner?
If German military leaders had been allowed to pursue the war as it should have been, most of Europe would still be speaking German.
Good history about a bad event.
WOW! A terrible secret finally exposed.
FDR used pearl harbor to block oil shipments to Japan true reason pearl harbor was attacked fuck FDR
My uncle Henry "Harry" MacFadyen was caught right in the centre of the Bari raid. He was a P.O. Mechanic on the RN Costal Forces depot ship HMS Vienna which was docked in the central pier of Bari's harbor which takes the form of a giant capital E.
HMS Vienna was servicing her fleet of motor torpedo and motor gun boats when she was straddled by bombs but not directly hit. As a result the ship has her back broken and the MTB and MGB along side smashed.
My uncle was put in charge of a rescue and recovery squad and in the days after burned the clothing of those pulled from the water. At this stage there was no awareness of the Mustard contamination risk. As a result he received Mustard burns particularly to his eyes and ears blind for around three days
He told me that Mustard munitions had already been unloaded from other ships and were stacked on the dockside but not hit.
HMS Vienna was deemed damage beyond repair and was towed out into deep water and sunk by gun fire
However the story dosen't end there as part of the cover up and Italian sea plane tender was immediately impressed into service as HMS Vienna.
Has a postscript more than six decades later I was on a flight from Glasgow to Corfu which flew directly over Bari and I was easily able to spot the very spot the central pier of the harbour where HMS Vienna had been berthed
As usual, an excellent episode. Thanks Lance.
BTW, we were watching an episode of "The UnXplained" with William Shatner on the "Secrets of the Founding Fathers", there you were Lance! 🤗 I had no idea you were a TV history expert as well. 😉
Free Masonry and the founding of the the US… hmm, have you done a History Guy episode about this subject? Even if you haven't, should you? 🤔 I'm just sayin. 🧐
I would like to see an episode on Vannevar Bush.
The US government is fantastic
at lying to us‼️®™️ 😡😡
I had never heard of this event.
The story of the brave young American sailor who did so many truly heroic acts was very moving. His last words where he wished that he could have seen his three month old child made me cry 😢.
THANK YOU> Another great history channel presentation.
The Italian campaign is by no means my best subject in WW2 but I still consider myself to be more knowledgeable about WW2 than anyone I know. Still, this is the first time I've ever heard of this. Certainly didn't know about the chemical weapon elements.
Excellent video 📹
HUBRIS KILLS