Hello, and thank you for listening to the history of World War II podcast, episode 71,

The Battle of Taranto, Part 2.

On the night of November the 11th, a little after 9 pm, the civilians of Taranto were settling

down for the evening.

However, military personnel, in particular, those manning the anti-aircraft batteries

on shore and those doing the same on the dozens of vessels in either Mar Grande or Mar Piccolo

were on full alert.

Suddenly, one of the many diaphones, a device that could pick up the sound of aircraft, detected

a plane far off.

The alarms went off and the civilians rushed to the air raid shelters.

Although there was nothing to see in the dark sky, a few of the anti-aircraft batteries

fired shots into the air.

But soon the firing stopped, and the people made their way back home.

Things settled down.

And hour later, the alarms went off again.

This time as the people came out of their homes, they could hear a plane flying high overhead.

Unbeknownst to the civilians, the plane overhead was already heading south.

It was the last of the Sunderland flying boats, making one last reconnaissance flight.

Once more, things settled down and the people returned to their homes.

Then at 10.50 pm, the alarms went off again.

The people began to lumber to the basements, but this time they clearly heard the sound

with many planes to their south.

...