Italian civilians welcome Allied forces in Rome during World War II. Allied troops and tanks seen in front of the Victor Emanuel II National Monument, also known as the Altar of the Fatherland (Altare della Patria, Piazza Venezia, 00186 Roma RM, Italy) in Rome, Italy. An M4 Sherman tank in front of the Altar of the Fatherland. Huge crowd of civilians seen on streets. Soldiers stationed near a bridge view the city through binoculars. Allied soldiers and Italian children sit by the Tiber River near the Roman Ghetto. The Tempio Maggiore di Roma synagogue is seen in the background. Italian girls sit on the sidewalk curb. Civilians casually talk to the troops along the Via del Teatro di Marcello. The ancient Roman Marcello Theater (Via del Teatro di Marcello, 00186 Roma RM, Italy) is seen nearby. People reading notices near the Capitoline Hill. Soldiers sitting on the steps of the Altar of the Fatherland.
Allied aircraft parked at North African airbases. The British and American crews study charts and maps of Rome and mark bombing locations. Pilots and navigators board the planes. Bomber aircraft in flight. Railroad yards in Rome bombed with pinpoint precision by Allied bomber planes in broad daylight. Targets included the San Lorenzo freight yard and steel factory, the "Scalo del Littorio" on the north side of Rome, and the Ciampino airport.
Queen Elizabeth II on an official state visit to Rome, Italy and the Vatican City. The Arch of Constantine (Via di San Gregorio, 00186 Roma RM, Italy) in Rome, Italy. Queen Elizabeth waves to the Italian crowd. Queen Elizabeth’s motorcade reaches the Quirinal Palace, to meet the Italian President Giovanni Gronchi. Italian crowds follow Queen Elizabeth’s motorcade outside the Quirinal Palace. With President Gronchi and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II waives from the Quirinal Palace balcony.
Zenbei Horikiri, the new Ambassador of Japan to the Kingdom of Italy, presents his credentials to King Victor Emmanuel III in Rome, Italy during World War II. Hokiri stands with an Italian officer during the ceremony at the Quirinal Palace. To his right, behind him, similarly dressed, is Shun'ichi Kase,secretary to Japanese Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka. (Shun'ichi later served as chargé d’affaires in Italy commencing in 1943.) Japanese and Italian officers are part of the two-nation entourage that emerges from the palace following the event. They proceed down the steps of the Quirinal Palace (Palazzo del Quirinale, Piazza del Quirinale, 00187 Roma RM, Italy) and across the Piazza del Quirinale, where camera shows a glimpse of one of the statues at the Obelisk and Fountain of Castor and Pollux (containing sculptures of Castor and Pollux as horse tamers). Next, a motorcade of the officials' cars drives out of the palace complex, past two guard posts.
Italian fascist supporters (also known as the “Black Shirts”) march with black flags in Piazza Venezia, the central hub of Rome, Kingdom of Italy, during World War 2. Behind the fascist rally is the Victor Emmanuel II National Monument (also known in Italian as the Altare della Patria or “Altar of the Fatherland”). Italian men in fashionable two-piece suits march down from the Via 4 de Novembre street towards Piazza Venezia. Italians marching towards Piazza Venezia in the Parco di Colle Oppio (Oppian hill) near the Roman Colosseum. Italian crowds with flags walk to Piazza Venezia in the Via dei Fori Imperiali near the Roman Colosseum, Roman Forum and the Capitoline Hill. Fascist supporters crowd the whole Piazza Venezia as seen from the Altar of the Fatherland. The Palazzo Bonaparte, Basilica di San Marco, Via del Corso and the Generali Assicurazioni Insurance Company Rome headquarters can be seen from the Altar of the Fatherland. Crowds waving the royal Italian flag cheer. Fascist supporters hold placards while marching in Via del Corso, the main shopping street in Rome linking to Piazza Venezia. Crowds cheer in front of the Palazzo Venezia, the office of Italian Prime Minister and il Duce, Benito Mussolini. Benito Mussolini emerges from his iconic balcony in the Sala del Mappamondo of the Palazzo Venezia. From his balcony in Palazzo Venezia, Benito Mussolini delivers his notable speech declaring war on France and Great Britain. Italians cheer on Benito Mussolini after he delivers his speech from the balcony. Royal Italian flag flies in the Altar of the Fatherland as crowds gather to listen to Benito Mussolini’s speech in Palazzo Venezia. Italians cheer on Benito Mussolini emerging in balcony with an Italian official. Mussolini’s balcony is flanked by two fasces, an ancient Roman weapon used as a symbol of Italian fascism. From his balcony, Benito Mussolini gives a Roman Salute to the cheering crowd.
Scenes of Rome, during World War 2. View of the Pantheon. An American Army Air Forces officer throws a coin into the Trevi Fountain (Piazza di Trevi, 00187 Roma RM, Italy). Hypogeum of the Colosseum (Piazza del Colosseo, 1, 00184 Roma RM, Italy). American Army Air Forces officer stands in Colosseum and pretends to give a speech. The Pyramid of Caius Cestius (Via Raffaele Persichetti, 00153 Roma RM, Italy) and the Porta San Paolo (P.za Ostiense, 00154 Roma RM, Italy).