This Day in History: 20 April 2020
20 April 1945
75 years ago, today, the Allied bombing campaign 'Operation Corncob' begun in Italy. This was a three-day attack on the bridges over the rivers Po, Adige and Brenta in northern Italy, in an attempt to cut off German lines of retreat on the peninsula. The operation was the fourth and final phase of the overall Allied bombing effort in the last few weeks of the Italian campaign. Prior to this, the first three phases had been carefully orchestrated and pre-planned, to neutralise the German defence efforts before the launch of 'Buckland' and 'Craftsman'.
This happened to coincide with Adolf Hitler's 56th birthday, celebrated as he made his last trip from the Führerbunker to the surface. In the now ruined garden of the Reich Chancellery, he awarded Iron Crosses to the boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth, who were now fighting the Soviet Red Army at the front near Berlin. This was his last public appearance before he and his wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide, 10 days later. The Hitler Youth was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party, for male youths aged 14 to 18. For younger boys, aged 10 to 14, they could instead be part of the German Youngsters in the Hitler Youth. Released earlier this year, the film 'Jojo Rabbit', written and directed by Taika Waititi, satirises the Hitler Youth, and is a very worthwhile watch.
Want to find out more about Operation Corncob? Click here for more information, or for more about Hitler's last days, click here.
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