General Doolittle's operation order of 7 September 1943 was:
Intentions for September eight heavies will destroy town of Frascati - This target is important and must be destroyed. The aircraft headed for Littoria (modern
Latina) and
Monte Cavo (
Alban Hills); they arrived over Frascati at 12:10. Their target was Field Marshal
Albert Kesselring and his staff. The anti-aircraft defence was equipped with heavy anti-aircraft guns of
88/56 mm and light guns of
37 mm and
20 mm, which they had placed on
Tuscolo ridge and terraces in the town reinforced with cement pillars to stand the recoils. The Italian Royal Air Force (
Regia Aeronautica) engaged with about 30 aircraft fighters, some obsolete biplane
Fiat CR.42s, some
Macchi C.200s,
Fiat G.50 Freccias,
Reggiane Re.2001s,
Macchi C.202s and two
Fiat G.55s. This was the last mission of Regia Aeronautica before the
Armistice with the allied forces. Overall, one Allied aircraft was destroyed, a B-17 of 97th Bomber Group, and 36 fighters were destroyed in the air. About 50% of the buildings, many of the monuments and villas were destroyed. St. Pietro square was destroyed, however, the
Cathedral facade remained undamaged. On that day United States
General Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly announced the
Allied armistice with Italy. After a few days, Field Marshal
Kesselring and his military headquarters moved to
Soratte Bunker. Field Marshal Kesselring later wrote in his memoirs about his experience on 8 September. He called it the "day of Italian treason". In fact, the Italians were not present at the German headquarters at the time of the bombing raid. On 3 September 1943 the Italians were alerted by the Allied forces of the bombing raid during their peace talks about their ultimate surrender. These Italian generals and the
Savoy royal dignitaries, six days later fled to the port of
Ortona, located near Pescara. The news of the Italian armistice with the Allies reached Frascati at 19:45 on 8 September 1943. The townspeople who, less than 24 hours beforehand had been hiding in bomb shelters, were now fleeing south to escape the occupation of the
German Army. The townspeople had no time to clean up debris and bury their dead. As a result, the German armed forces (
Wehrmacht) declared the area as an "infected area" and had plans to eliminate the city using flamethrowers. The remaining citizens, however, had found out about the German plan to raze the city, and worked to bury their dead. In total, 485 civilians were victims of the allied raid. ==Order of flight==