The raid took place on 4 December, the feast day traditionally associated with Saint Barbara's martyrdom. Barbara is placed in the third century, but surviving references to her life do not appear until the seventh century and formal veneration becomes clear only in the ninth. Her removal from the Roman calendar in the 1969 revision did not remove her from the Catholic Church's list of saints. Traditional imagery gives her chains and a tower. This aside explains the religious and cultural history behind the bombing's familiar name before the narrative returns to the B-24 attack on Naples.
Notable Point · 38:43-40:09
Why the Naples raid is called the St. Barbara's Day bombing
A historical aside connects the 4 December 1942 raid with Saint Barbara's feast day and distinguishes later tradition from the limited early evidence for her life.