Original version

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History: The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Documentaries

Vesuvius 1944 with blocks.jpg

15/03/2024 GMT

The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius

BBC World Service - Witness History, The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Vesuvius is famous for burying Pompeii but it last erupted in 1944, during World War Two

Mount Vesuvius is famous for destroying Pompeii in 79AD but it last erupted in 1944, during World War Two. Rock and ash filled the sky, and a flow of hot lava destroyed homes.

The Mount Vesuvius eruption that buried Pompeii in 79AD is well known, but far fewer people know about the last time the volcano erupted in 1944.

It was World War Two, and families in southern Italy had already lived through a German invasion, air bombardment, and surrender to the Allies. 

And then at 16:30 on 18 March, Vesuvius erupted. The sky filled with violent explosions of rock and ash, and burning lava flowed down the slopes, devastating villages.

By the time it was over, 11 days later, 26 people had died and about 12,000 people were forced to leave their homes. 

Angelina Formisano, who was nine, was among those evacuated from the village of San Sebastiano. She’s been speaking to Jane Wilkinson about being in the path of an erupting volcano.

(Photo: Vesuvius erupting in March 1944. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

About BBC World Service