One hundred kilos of explosives, dating back to the Second World War, a quantity of dynamite capable of blowing up the Mascarello bridge, between Latina and Cisterna, in case of need.

It’s been 79 years but the dynamite was still there, in all its danger. This was discovered by the company in charge of securing and consolidating the bridge that divides the territory of the municipalities of Latina and Cisterna, which find obliged the workers to suspend the reconstruction effort and ask for the intervention of the bomb squad.

The explosives were near the pylon of the bridge and would have been blown up in the event that the Americans had passed through those parts immediately after the landing of Anzio on January 22, 1944.

The Allies instead took a different path, or perhaps passed over that bridge in an unexpected way, evidenced by the fact  that since  those tragic months between January and May of 1944 when the planted explosives were set, ready to sow destruction and death, and which remained in place until the past few days. And it’s a miracle that nothing has happened in all these years.

What does history say?

History recalls that on January 30, 1944 two battalions of US Army Rangers made their way to Cisterna, and were counting on being able to find little resistance and take the town to operate with the other units advancing from Aprilia and Campoleone in a pincer maneuver against the Germans deployed on the Vastelli Romani.

But the Germans had foreseen the intent and had strongly fortified themselves at night in Cisterna. The Rangers’ attack was a carnage: of the 767 soldiers deployed, only 6 returned back to the Allies’ lines. The others were all killed or captured.

And it can be hypothesized that precisely this overwhelming and, in some ways unexpected victory of the Germans, led to the saving of the bridge, the destruction of which at that point was no longer necessary. The dynamite, well hidden, was not used and remained hidden there to the present day

Translated from original Italian language article piblished at web URL: https://ilcaffe.tv/articolo/191782/100-chili-di-tritolo-sotto-al-ponte-tra-latina-e-cisterna-scoperti-dopo-79-anni