Viewing page 88 of 150

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-86-

June 8th Though we hear that the Germans are counter-attacking in France, we also hear that Alexander's army is advancing north of Rome. The militia is very strong, it is said, but to what good if the Terrorists are at the door?
Added to the continuous bombing all about Florence, we are visited during the nights by small, swift aeroplanes carrying bombs are machine-guns, that suddenly appear without warning and attack convoys, motor vehicles and even pedestrians and people on bicycles. Our neighbour tells of a woman friend who went out for a turn on her bicycle and was brought back home with half her face shot off. Last night one of these machine roared past the windows of our villa. The plane seemed actually in the room, and the sensation of being caught in the very swish of the machine took our breath away. The bombs fell nearby, destroying team-cars about to run into shelter and also struck a school killing the guardian.
June IIth A terrific explosion at two a.m. Our beds shook. We all got up. It seemed to come from the Boboli gardens, but it proved to be the explosion of a dynamite factory near Prato. We rarely pass a quiet night now.
From our garden we can see above the wall the tops of all kinds of German war vehicles passing along our narrow street. These vehicles are now going northward instead of southward as hitherto. The soldiers are in high spirits and sing a great deal.
Events have placed our Sfollati in a tragic dilemma.