World War wall sign indicating where there was a hydrant (Italian: "I" is for idrante) for assist rescue teams during air raids, Siena, Tuscany, Italy

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During World War II several distinctive signs for air-raid protection were painted on the walls of Italian cities. These were symbols (writing, arrows and letters) intended to facilitate the identification of shelters by the population during the bombing and to help the work of emergency rescue teams. The letters are mostly black on a white background, inside a circle edged with black. One of the most common, together with the R (Italian: "Rifugio", shelter), is the I (Italian: "Idrante", hydrant) that, sometimes accompanied by a metal plate, signaled the presence of a hydrant attack (in the immediate vicinity are placed the nozzles of the water at street level or closed by manholes).

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Size: 5568px × 3712px
Location: Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Photo credit: © Simona Abbondio / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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