Boves massacre

The Boves massacre (Italian: Eccidio di Boves) was a World War II war crime that took place on 19 September 1943 in the comune of Boves, Italy. The event took place following the Italian surrender on 8 September 1943. Twenty-three Italian civilians were killed and several hundred houses were destroyed by artillery fire of the Waffen-SS under the command of Joachim Peiper. The massacre and destruction were reprisals for one German soldier having been killed and two German NCOs having been captured and held by Italian partisans in the vicinity of the town. After obtaining their release, Peiper ordered the destruction of the town, despite earlier promising not to do so. The Boves massacre is sometimes referred to as the first German World War II massacre on civilians in Italy, but this is incorrect as German massacres were already carried out from July 1943, during the Allied invasion of Sicily.