The bombardment of Toulon is an air attack of the French city of Toulon by the Italian Royal Air Force on June 12 and 13, 1940 , during the battle for the Alps , after Italy had entered World War II .
| Toulon bombing in 1940 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main conflict: World War II | |||
 Italian bombers Fiat BR.20 in the air. | |||
| date | June 12-13, 1940 | ||
| A place |  France , Toulon | ||
| Opponents | |||
| |||
| Forces of the parties | |||
| |||
| Losses | |||
| |||
Content
Background
On June 10, 1940, the Italian fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, announced the entry of Italy into World War II on the side of the Third Reich and the declaration of war on France and Great Britain. In the evening of the same day, the first armed clashes began on the French-Italian border, as the Italian army began its invasion of France . The targets of this invasion were the French territories of the Cote d'Azur and the Western Alps . At the same time, Italian military aviation began to carry out reconnaissance of French territory, including port cities, in particular Toulon , where the French navy was concentrated on intelligence information. However, in the first days, due to adverse weather conditions, the Italians could not launch an air strike.
On the morning of June 11, the Italian bomber Fiat BR.20 was unable to conduct reconnaissance due to the weather. Only in the second half of the day we managed to do aerial photography of the port of Toulon.
Progress of operation
On June 12, three Fiat bombers flew over Toulon, but could not drop bombs because they were attacked by French air defenses , one of them was shot down and the other two were forced to return to the base in Milan .
On the night of June 12-13, 8 Fiat BR.20 bombers bombed Toulon’s train station, but failed to cause significant damage, because, again, they were forced to operate in bad weather conditions. In addition, 25 aerial bombs were dropped on a torpedo plant in Saint-Tropez , but also did not cause significant damage. Another 13 Italian bombers bombed the city’s port. On the morning of June 13th, 19 Fiat bombers re-bombed the port of Toulon, but also without any special results.
Implications
During the attack, two Italian bombers were shot down, one fell in a suburb of Toulon, the other tried to reach the Italian city of Empire , but it crashed. June 14 , due to again the bad weather conditions, the Italian air force could not conduct another bombardment of Toulon. It was not until June 15 that the Italian air forces were able to attack some French airfields at Fayenz, Hyères, Couer Pierre, and Canne-de-Maurs.
The response of the French were not long in coming. During Operation Vado, the French ships attempted to attack the Italian ports of Genoa and Savona . Subsequently, after the capitulation of France , its fleet was closed in the ports, including in Toulon. In November 1942, during an attempt by the Germans to seize French warships in Toulon, they were scuttled by the French themselves .
See also
- Marseille Bombing (1940)
- Italian invasion of France
- Flooding of the French fleet in Toulon
Literature
- René Pierre Eugène Caroff, Le Théâtre méditerranéen, Service historique de la Marine, 1960. OCLC 462415817.