Operation Bowler was an air attack on Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 harbour by Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 aircraft on 21 March 1945, as part of the Italian campaign

Italian Campaign (World War II)

The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...

 of the Second World War. It was led by Acting Wing Commander

Wing Commander

Wing Commander may refer to:*Wing Commander , a military rank*Wing Commander , the Origin Systems computer game series and related franchise**Wing Commander , a collection of books set in the game universe...

, later Group Captain

Group Captain

Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...

, George Westlake of the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

.

Course

By early 1945, northern Italy's rail and road network had undergone severe damage, forcing the Germans to resort to shipping goods into Venice and then moving them from there along rivers and canals. An attack on the city's harbour was thus deemed necessary by the Allied command, although the risk of damage to the city's architectural and artistic treasures was high, as it had always been in other battles of the Italian campaign, such as Battle of Monte Cassino

Battle of Monte Cassino

The Battle of Monte Cassino was a costly series of four battles during World War II, fought by the Allies against Germans and Italians with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome.In the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was being anchored by Germans...

. The operation was planned to be extremely precise to avoid any such damage and was named Operation Bowler by Air Vice-Marshal Robert Foster

Robert Foster (RAF officer)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Mordaunt Foster KCB, CBE, DFC, DL, RAF was a Royal Flying Corps pilot in World War I and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during World War II and the immediate post-war years....

, as a reminder to those involved that they would be "bowler hatted" (returned to civilian life) or worse should Venice itself be damaged.

Having assessed the weather, Westlake led the attack in a Curtiss P-40

Curtiss P-40

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational...

 Kittyhawk from No. 250 Squadron RAF

No. 250 Squadron RAF

No. 250 squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II.It operated Kittyhawk IIIs out of southern Italy in 1943-44....

, part of No. 239 Wing RAF, which was composed of Kittyhawk and P-51 Mustang

P-51 Mustang

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...

 squadrons and specialised in dive-bombing operations. The fighters attacked the gun defences of the docks and, that done, the bombers then dived in to the attack almost vertically to ensure precision, with civilian observers feeling safe enough to climb on the city's rooftops to observe the attack and with the only architectural damage being no more than a few broken windows.

The attack sank two merchant ships as well as naval escorts and smaller vessels, as well as seriously damaging a large cargo ship and destroying five warehouses, an Axis mine stockpile (blowing a 100 yard hole in the quayside) and other harbour infrastructure, such as an underwater training establishment for frogmen

Frogman

A frogman is someone who is trained to scuba diving or swim underwater in a military capacity which can include combat. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver or combatant diver or combat swimmer....

 and human torpedo

Human torpedo

Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of rideable submarine used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic design is still in use today; they are a type of diver propulsion vehicle....

es.

Westlake was recognised soon afterwards by being granted the Distinguished Service Order

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 for "excellent leadership, great tactical ability and exceptional determination", having already won the Distinguished Flying Cross

Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)

The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...

in 1942 for continuous gallantry in around 300 operational sorties.