Operation Bowler: The Audacious Allied Bombing of Venice During World War II

In this propulsive account from architecture critic Glancey (Concorde), Allied military leaders come up with a bold plan that risks endangering the legendary buildings and art of Venice if not perfectly executed. In spring 1945, the Allies were stuck below the Gothic Line in northern Italy, an impenetrable German defensive wall. Allied leaders decided the only solution was to bomb the docks of Venice to cut off German supplies. An Allied strike force was tasked with finding a way to target ships, wharves, and warehouses, but without the heedless destruction of historically and culturally important buildings that had already characterized much of the Italian front and that Allied leaders had publicly vowed not to allow to happen in Venice. The mission was given to the Desert Air Force, which drew on skills honed defeating the Germans in North Africa to develop an elaborate, synchronized aerial attack. Amazingly, all went according to plan: no historic structures were destroyed, and German supplies were cut off, allowing the Allies to push north and help end the war. With harrowing descriptions of the bloody cost paid by both Allied troops at the Gothic Line and Italian civilians caught in Allied bombings, Glancey brings new significance to a relatively obscure event (even Venetians remember it as only “a little bomb” and not a war-ending maneuver). It amounts to a gripping look at WWII’s “Forgotten Front.” (July)