title: Bombardment of Chefchaouen
text: # Bombardment of Chefchaouen
  
  The Bombardment of Chefchaouen was an aerial bombardment of Chefchaouen, Morocco carried out in the middle of the Rif War by a rogue American squadron in the service of the French colonial empire, the Escadrille Cherifienne, on September 17, 1925.
  
  ## Motivation
  
  The motivation to bomb Chefchaouen specifically was to drive the Jebala people out of the war, as it was a city the tribe considered holy.
  
  ## Reflections
  
  Paul Ayres Rockwell later wrote: "The city looked lovely from the air, hugging its high mountain and surrounded with many gardens and green cultivations… I looked down upon the numerous sanctuaries, the six mosques, the medieval dungeon, the big square with its fountain playing and fervently hoped none of them had been damaged."
  
  