On 6 January 1944, Epiphany Day, at 1.07pm, 22 B-26 Maruders, belonging to the 319th Bomber Group which took off from Sardinia, dropped 124 500-pound bombs on the Lucca district of San Concordio, from altitudes between 9000 and 9900 feet. 

The targets were the railway station, the Italgas company, and the Lenzi mechanical workshops, engaged in war production. However, civil and industrial buildings were also hit. The toll was 25 casualties buried under the rubble, including four minors, as well as several injured people some of whom died in hospital in the following days. 

On the same mission, Viareggio and Pontedera were also hit. The episode marked the beginning of a very difficult period for the population, who had to face the fiercest period of the war.

Seventy years after the tragedy, in 2014, the town council had a plaque installed on the station entrance to commemorate the pain suffered that day by the entire Lucca community. Original research by Michele Citarella was also promoted.