Editing Bari (section)

=== World War II ===
On 11 September 1943, in connection with the [[Armistice of Cassibile]], Bari was taken without resistance by the [[1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|British 1st Airborne Division]]{{cn|date=April 2024}}, then during October and November 1943, New Zealand troops from the 2nd New Zealand Division assembled in Bari.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/new-zealand-soldiers-disembark-taranto |title=New Zealand soldiers disembark at Taranto |date= |accessdate=2024-04-08 |quote= |publisher=New Zealand History }}</ref>

The [[Balkan Air Force]] supporting the [[Yugoslav partisans]] was based at Bari.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

==== The 1943 chemical warfare disaster ====
{{further|Air raid on Bari}}
Through a tragic coincidence intended by neither of the opposing sides in [[World War II]], Bari gained the unwelcome distinction of being the only European city in the course of that war to experience effects like those of [[chemical warfare]].{{cn|date=July 2023}}

On the night of 2 December 1943, 105 German [[Junkers Ju 88]] bombers attacked the port of Bari, which was a key supply centre for [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces fighting their way up the [[Italian Peninsula]]. Over 20 Allied ships were sunk in the overcrowded harbour, including the U.S. [[Liberty ship]] ''[[SS John Harvey|John Harvey]]'', which was carrying [[mustard gas]]; mustard gas was also reported to have been stacked on the quayside awaiting transport (the chemical agent was intended for retaliation if German forces had initiated chemical warfare). The presence of the gas was highly classified and the U.S. had not informed the British military authorities in the city of its existence.{{cn|date=June 2023}} This increased the number of fatalities, since British physicians—who had no idea that they were dealing with the effects of mustard gas—prescribed treatment proper for those suffering from exposure and immersion, which proved fatal in many cases. Because rescuers were unaware they were dealing with gas casualties, many additional casualties were caused among the rescuers, through contact with the contaminated skin and clothing of those more directly exposed to the gas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'NEILL |first=WALTER |date=2021-06-19 |title=The Disaster at Bari: A Secret Revealed |url=https://medium.com/exploring-history/the-disaster-at-bari-a-secret-revealed-ae4f74b189bd |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Exploring History |language=en}}</ref>{{cn|date=June 2023}}

A member of U.S. General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]'s medical staff, Stewart F. Alexander, was dispatched to Bari following the raid. Alexander had trained at the Army's [[Edgewood Arsenal]] in Maryland,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mapquest.com/us/maryland/edgewood-arsenal-md-283594995|title=Edgewood Arsenal, MD - Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland Map & Directions - MapQuest}}</ref>{{citation needed|reason=Please check this reference; the link(?) identifies the Edgewood Arsenal as part of the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland|date=March 2016}} and was familiar with some of the effects of mustard gas. Although he was not informed of the cargo carried by the ''John Harvey'', and most victims suffered atypical symptoms caused by exposure to mustard diluted in water and oil (as opposed to airborne), Alexander rapidly concluded that mustard gas was present. Although he could not get any acknowledgement of this from the chain of command, Alexander convinced medical staffs to treat patients for mustard exposure and saved many lives as a result. He also preserved many tissue samples from autopsied victims at Bari. After World War II, these samples would result in the development of an early form of [[chemotherapy]] based on mustard, [[Mustine]].<ref name=Infield1976>{{cite book |title=Disaster at Bari |author=Glenn Infield |year=1976 |publisher=New English Library |isbn=978-0-450-02659-1}}.</ref>

On the orders of Allied leaders [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[Winston Churchill]], and Eisenhower, records were destroyed and the whole affair was kept secret for many years after the war. The U.S. records of the attack were declassified in 1959, but the episode remained obscure until 1967, when writer Glenn B. Infield exposed the story in his book ''Disaster at Bari''.<ref name=Infield1976/> Additionally, there is considerable dispute as to the exact number of fatalities. In one account: "[S]ixty-nine deaths were attributed in whole or in part to the mustard gas, most of them American merchant seamen".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq104-4.htm |title=US Naval Historical Center report |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112101131/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq104-4.htm |archive-date=January 12, 2008}}</ref> Others put the count as high as "more than one thousand Allied servicemen and more than one thousand Italian civilians".<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1889901210 Amazon book summary] of {{cite book |title=Nightmare in Bari: The World War II Liberty Ship Poison Gas Disaster and Coverup |year=2001 |author=Gerald Reminick |publisher=Glencannon Press |isbn=978-1-889-90121-3}}</ref>

The affair is the subject of two books: the aforementioned ''Disaster at Bari'', by Glenn B. Infield, and ''Nightmare in Bari: The World War II Liberty Ship Poison Gas Disaster and Coverup'', by Gerald Reminick.

In 1988, through the efforts of [[Nick T. Spark]], U.S. Senators [[Dennis DeConcini]] and [[Bill Bradley]], Stewart Alexander received recognition from the [[Surgeon General of the United States Army]] for his actions during the Bari disaster.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tucson Senior Helps Retired Doctor Receive Military Honor |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=943&dat=19880520&id=-61PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eVMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3824,2173744 |newspaper=[[Mohave Daily Miner]] |location=Kingman, Arizona |date=May 20, 1988 |page=B8 |via=Google News}}</ref>

==== ''Charles Henderson'' explosion ====
The port of Bari was again struck by disaster on 9 April 1945 when the Liberty ship ''[[SS Charles Henderson|Charles Henderson]]'' exploded in the harbour while offloading 2,000 tons of aerial bombs (half of that amount had been offloaded when the explosion occurred). Three hundred and sixty people were killed and 1,730 were wounded. The harbour was again rendered non-operational, this time for a month.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Bari explosion view from Barracks crop sm.jpg|9 April 1945 – view from the barracks. Photo by WOJG Hubert Platt Henderson who was stationed at Bari as the Director of the 773rd Band.
File:Bari Explosion 1.jpg|9 April 1945 – photo by WOJG Hubert Platt Henderson who was stationed at Bari as the Director of the 773rd Band
File:Italy 4 Bari Explosion front b.jpg|9 April 1945 – photo by WOJG Hubert Platt Henderson who was stationed at Bari as the Director of the 773rd Band
</gallery>