Italian Prisoner of War Camps
My current interest is in Italian prisoner of war camps and the men who were held in them. To this end I have acquired extensive information from Protective Power/International Red Cross Reports, War Crimes Enquiries and personal testimonies on the following Italian camps:
PG 77 Pissignano, (both as a Prisoner of War Camp and a Dulag - German Transit Camp after the Italian Armistice of 8 September 1943. (Publication The Long Trail Home Lulu.com)
PG 115/3 Marsciano, satellite camp of PG 115 Morgnano, both of which were Work Camps (Publication The Long Trail Home Lulu.com)
PG 82 Laterina, website powcamp82laterina.weebly.com
PG 52 Pian di Coreglia, Chiavari website powcamp52.weebly.com
Campo No. 1 Marina at Manziana - interrogation camp for submariners (Publication Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.lulu.com and website powcamp marina.italy.webador.com)
Poggio Mirteto - Interrogation camp for airmen, in one source referred to as Campo 3 website airmenpowsitaly.weebly.com
PG 60 Colle di Compito website powcamp60colledicompito.webador.com
PG 112 Turin
In addition I have translated a book by Giuseppe Zucca on PG146 Mortara Prisoners of War in the Lomellina, available from LULU COM
I have worked as a translator for the following website, which deals with prisoners of war used as forced labour in Germany and German-occupied territories with special emphasis on the work camps associated with Stalag 344 Lamsdorf - BAB20 and BAB21 topografiaperlastoria.org
PG 77 Pissignano, (both as a Prisoner of War Camp and a Dulag - German Transit Camp after the Italian Armistice of 8 September 1943. (Publication The Long Trail Home Lulu.com)
PG 115/3 Marsciano, satellite camp of PG 115 Morgnano, both of which were Work Camps (Publication The Long Trail Home Lulu.com)
PG 82 Laterina, website powcamp82laterina.weebly.com
PG 52 Pian di Coreglia, Chiavari website powcamp52.weebly.com
Campo No. 1 Marina at Manziana - interrogation camp for submariners (Publication Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.lulu.com and website powcamp marina.italy.webador.com)
Poggio Mirteto - Interrogation camp for airmen, in one source referred to as Campo 3 website airmenpowsitaly.weebly.com
PG 60 Colle di Compito website powcamp60colledicompito.webador.com
PG 112 Turin
In addition I have translated a book by Giuseppe Zucca on PG146 Mortara Prisoners of War in the Lomellina, available from LULU COM
I have worked as a translator for the following website, which deals with prisoners of war used as forced labour in Germany and German-occupied territories with special emphasis on the work camps associated with Stalag 344 Lamsdorf - BAB20 and BAB21 topografiaperlastoria.org
Unidentified and Missing Servicemen
Ldg. Tel. P/J.112731 Victor James Crosby DSM, MID
HM Submarine 'Saracen'
HM Submarine 'Saracen'
For Ldg. Tel. Crosby's story see Twixt the Devil and the Deep blue Sea by Janet Kinrade Dethick and Anne M. Corke, pub. lulu.com)
Escaped Prisoner of War Victor James Crosby was shot by the occupying German forces near to the town of Fontana Liri, where he was in hiding, on 12 December 1943 and was temporarily buried in an olive grove. When he was concentrated from there into the War Cemetery at Cassino he was without any means of identification, though it was recorded that he had been a sailor. On the gravestone in the cemetery he was recorded as an 'unknown British sailor - the only one in the cemetery.
My research brought to light both Admiralty documents and War Crimes files in the National Archives at Kew. The testimony of another escaped prisoner of war in one of these files gave the map reference for the olive grove; Italian lieutenant Carlo Venditti of Fontana Liri found the exact spot, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission discovered that a body had indeed been recovered from that place and taken into Cassino War Cemetery.
Hence on 25 October 2017 Ldg.Tel. Crosby's new headstone was dedicated in my presence and that of his surviving son, granddaughter, Ten. Venditti, the mayors of Cassino and Fontana Liri, representatives of the submarine service and the Ministry of Defence compassionate centre.
It had been possible to trace him initially because the town of Fontana Liri had dedicated a small park in his honour.
Current Submissions to CWGC
Private George Alister Walker Ewan, 2989827, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Grave IV.B.8 within Bolsena War Cemetery
Result: Thank you for sharing your extensive research. I am pleased to say that, based on the evidence and the Commission’s investigations, we have now progressed your case to the relevant Service Authorities for further analysis and final adjudication.
6199045 Corporal J.A.Owens, Middlesex Regiment, buried Plot 2, Row U, Grave 4, Anzio War Cemetery, who died of wounds on 4 February 1944. Under investigation.
7885907Trooper Frederick Stobart, 7 R.T.R., R.A.C., date of death 23 September 1943, was buried in Montelibretti Civil Cemetery. Currently remembered on the Alamein Memorial, a claim that Trooper Stobart is the unknown in Plot 3, Row D, Grave 1, Bolsena War Cemetery. Under investigation.
Prisoners of War and helpers in Piedmont, Northern Italy
In conjunction with Professoressa Claretta Coda, of Castellamonte, Piedmont, a detailed list of escaped prisoners and airmen who managed to cross the border in Switzerland following the Italian Armistice of 8 September 1943 has been produced and is now available: escapetoswitzerland.webador.com.
For those who crossed into France see: http://free-4734525.webadorsite.com/
For those who crossed into France see: http://free-4734525.webadorsite.com/