I thought this photo from the AWM might be of interest: "Description Salerno, Italy. 24 September 1943. Damaged remains of a building on the waterfront at the harbour after bombing. Behind are the hills over which the Germans were driven in the Allies first assault after the invasion in the Gulf of Salerno." | The Australian War Memorial Can anyone identify which hills these are? And does that look like the tail of a torpedo in the foreground? Regards Tom
Tom. For my money, the hill on the right is Castillo di Arechi. We will be going there in Apr 20 because it is a fabulous location from which to look down on the whole Gulf of Salerno. Regards Frank
Tom. Here is another view of Castello di Arechi. At 10 o’clock of the castle, you can see the other hill will the tower sitting on it. Regards Frank
Frank, Thanks for the great comparison photo - I'll look forward to looking down from there. Hopefully on a similar day! It's interesting how much less vegetation there was on the hill in Sep 43, some perhaps stripped by the fighting but none the less it certainly looks more heavily wooded now. Regards Tom
Tom. Italy was a very different country pre-1939. The post-war Marshall Plan really made Italy the economic powerhouse that it is now - even with all its fault lines. Pre-war Italians depended hugely on wood for cooking and heating so timber was not so abundant. With the arrival of oil fired central heating and electric and gas ovens, the demand for wood dropped massively which, in turn, allowed forests and woods to grow. Regards Frank
Yes, in the background are visible the Bastiglia and the Castel of Arechi. The picture, i think, was taken from the actual Via Molo Manfredi. The perspective is similar on Google Street View: Google Maps