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Podcast: Witness History
Episode: The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Description: 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...