Monumento ai Piccoli Martiri di Gorla

Inaugurated in 1947, it commemorates the hundreds of children and teachers who died in the American bombing of 20th October 1944.

Tragedies like the one that occurred in the school in Gorla have the merit of showing in an undeniable and direct way the insanity of war. The main actors of this tragedy are, on the one side, a squad of American bombers and, on the other, hundreds of children of Milan who, on 20th October 1944, together with their teachers, were in school just like any other child in the world.

The squad 451, made of 36 bombers and lead by colonel James Knopp, took off from Foggia that morning with the purpose of destroying the Breda facilities in Sesto San Giovanni.

After failing several maneuvers, they were forced to return to the base without accomplishing their mission. However, they had to unload their bombs, since landing with explosives on board was dangerous.

Instead of doing it in the fields of the pianura padana, or in the Adriatic Sea, their commander gave the order to unload the whole cargo on the urban area. This is how the neighborhoods of Gorla and Precotto, at 11.29 in the morning, were bombed with almost 80 tons of explosives, most of which landed on the elementary school “Francesco Crispi”.

184 children, who didn’t reach the shelters in time, died while running down the stairs with their teachers. About 614 people died under those bombs. The “Corriere della Sera” of 21st October 1944, titled its article “40 enemy planes in a tight formation appeared in the sky around 11.30am and dropped their bombs on the outskirts destroying houses, residential buildings of peaceful citizens and slaughtering an entire elementary school in Gorla”.

After the war, the parents of the victims created a committee to ask the government of Milan to give them the soil where the now demolished school used to be located. Their purpose is to build a monument-ossary to commemorate their loss. After some difficulties, due to the fact that the Comune had decided to sell the lot to privates, the mayor Greppi made it a personal commitment to donate it to the committee. Finally, after a long and hard fundraising process involving all the victims’ relatives, the monument designed by the sculptor Remo Brioschi was inaugurated in 1947. Every year, the20th October is the day the Little Martyrs of Gorla are commemorated.

 

Guido Lorenzetti