Episode Eleven: Chemical Bombing at Bari

After a relatively peaceful war, the Italian port of Bari suffered a terrible bombing raid in December, 1943 that led to a poison gas release killing many in mysterious circumstances that the Allies tried to cover up.

My father’s diary describes the aftermath and the dangers of visiting the local vino shop for a drink in the lead-up to Christmas and the New Year.

Episode photo: Civilians caught up in the Bari bombing.

Click here for a PDF with supporting material

Diary entries read by grandson Nick.
Additional voices: Lynda Proffitt

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D-DAY AT LAST
by Neil Chapman
80 years ago, on June 6, 1944, Flt Sgt Ron Chapman was 5,000+km from the Normandy D-Day landings. Stationed in Egypt, he was probably ‘cheesed off’.
ENSA TRIBUTE
by Neil Chapman
In my father’s war diary, ENSA - the Entertainments National Service Association - features regularly.
PAYING THE PRICE FOR FLYING THE ‘GRISLY BISLEY’
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One ‘Blighty Thank God’ episode highlights the Bristol Blenheim V plane - or as pilots dubbed it - the ‘Grisly Bisley’. Through research into my late father’s (Flt/Sgt. Ron Chapman) 1943 war diary I learned how it earned its macabre reputation.
TESTING THE MIGHTY HURRICANE
by Neil Chapman
Visit this website to see pictures of British Hawker Hurricane Mark IIb fighter - BE208. To my surprise my father - Flt Sgt. Ron Chapman of (xxx)- played a 6,000km part in its long journey from the UK to Asia.
SOMETHING BORROWED
by Neil Chapman
This wedding photograph of my late parents - Ron and Monica Chapman - at St. Stephen’s Church, St. Albans, October 1946, was familiar to me growing up. After researching my father’s WW2 diary, discovered after both had died, it threw up a number of questions.
THE SPY WHO CAME OUT FROM THE COLD
by Neil Chapman
My WW1 veteran grandfather John “Jack’ Chapman very likely worked on a highly secret WW2 RAF project being developed close to his home by De Havilland - the ‘wooden wonder’ Mosquito aircraft.
A Very Cruel World
by Neil Chapman
Growing up, neighbours and acquaintances treated my father with an awed respect. They knew he ‘did his bit’ in the War. Sadly respect wasn’t automatic for all veterans - even those displaying incredible bravery.
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by Neil Chapman
The story behind the antics of Leo the pilot-scaring Lion (Episode 7 ‘Leo and the Gold Smugglers’) is likely to resonate with anyone who served in the forces. When ferry pilots took off from El Fasher, Sudan along the Takoradi Route, to their alarm they might see a lion grab the ‘chocks’ from under their plane wheels. War and humour seem an unlikely combination, but if my father spoke about his time during WW2 it was the pranks, the quirks...
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by Neil Chapman
January 1, 1942 was a normal working Thursday for my grandparents, John and Jane Chapman. No Bank Holiday. Their son, Flt Sgt Ron Chapman had been in a plane crash.
OLD SCHOOL TRIBUTE TO FLT SGT.RON
by Author
When Ron Chapman left St.Albans school in 1937, he could hardly have suspected that just five years later he would be piloting warplanes in the Middle East, part of the heroic fight against Nazi Germany. Much less being commemorated in the school’s magazine some eighty years later. Now the school’s magazine Versa has posted an article about Neil Chapman’s family labour of love to remember his father, the ‘Blighty Thank God’ podcast. Neil, who lives on Teesside, also attended St.Albans...