Attack by No 3 and 450 Squadrons on enemy shipping near Venice

Places
Accession Number ART27619
Collection type Art
Measurement Overall: 153 x 274.6 cm
Object type Painting
Physical description oil with scratching in on canvas on hardboard
Maker Moore, Alan
Place made Australia: Victoria, Melbourne
Date made 1968
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

This was a precision attack by four squadrons of Mustang and Kitty hawk fighter bomber. including No.3 and 450 Squadrons, Royal Australian Air Force, against shipping and installations at Venice during the campaign in Italy. The aircraft sank a 3,5000-tonne merchant ship, a torpedo boat and a coastal vessel, blew away much of the west quay and destroyed five large waterfront warehouses. By the end of the month, largely as a result of the dominance which the fighter bombers had attained over Italy, no target could be adequately defended against them, and no movement of enemy troops or supplies over a very large area was possible without danger of surprise attack by the aircraft. On 2 May, 1945 all German forces in Italy and western Austria surrendered.