Wehrmacht Destruction at Lake Nemi

Heraklit · Post by **Heraklit** » 25 Oct 2005 21:44

At Lake Nemi, about twenty miles from Rome, on May 31,1944, as the German army was retreating from Italy, two ancient ships originally constructed during the reign of the Emperor Caligula were destroyed by fire. These vessels had been salvaged from the lake bottom during the Mussolini regime. Various accounts of the fire blame the Wehrmacht for this destruction. What caused the fire? Did a battle occur in the area? Was the destruction wanton?

Lupo Solitario · Post by **Lupo Solitario** » 25 Oct 2005 23:22

Nobody knows: the museum burned the night between May 31 and June 1, 1944 but nobody knows what started the fire. A vandalic act by a retreating german unit is only the most reported possible cause but there are no evidences for sure.
Anyway there had not been there a battle in proper sense.