Public history and contested heritage: memories of the bombing of Italy in the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive

Abstract

In recent years public historians have made concerted attempts to internationalise their practice.1 The editors of a recent collection note that public history remains rooted in ‘the local’, although it may acquire regional or national significance.2 The goal of internationalisation is therefore ‘about applying universal methods locally’,3 even though applications have developed differently in different national settings. Digital public history has assisted the process of internationalisation.4 The greater the spatial spread, however, the more likely it becomes that public historians must confront contested understandings of the past. In few localities, whether in actual or virtual environments, is there a single, accepted version of events and meanings.5 Little attention has as yet been paid to public history projects that function at the national level. This article addresses an example: the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) Digital Archive. It operates across national boundaries – in this case Italy and Britain – and attempts to embrace vastly different meanings associated with the bombing war in Europe, 1939-1945. It begins with an account of the development of public history in these two countries and of the ways in which the bombing war has been remembered. It then sets out the authors’ understanding of the cultural and political sensitivities that have had to be considered, and the efforts of participants to develop and practice an inclusive approach to digital public history. Finally, it reflects on the limitations and achievements of the chosen approach.