Publications in English
The Trasimene Line. June-July 1944 REVISED EDITION
This book relates what happened along one small section of the Trasimene Line, from Lake Chiusi to the western shores of Lake Trasimeno, using eyewitness accounts from Italian civilians, written accounts from local partisans, official war diaries from the battalions involved, regimental histories, books and articles written about the battle by both protagonists and journalists, the Eighth Army News, letters and interviews with ex- servicemen and last but not least, ex-servicemen’s diaries, which they were not supposed to keep. During the ten years since the first edition of this book came out the author has continued her research into the events which took place around Lake Trasimeno in 1944 and has become aware of the importance of laying more emphasis on the days preceding the battle, both to “set the scene” and permit the events to be placed in context.
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The Arezzo Massacres
This book examines the relationship between partisan activity and Nazi-Fascist massacres in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany during the spring and summer of 1944. Sources include partisans' and survivors' testimonies, priests' diaries, British and German War Diaries, local histories and the account of how a British soldier and his companions freed some hostages. Reference is also made to commemorative plaques and monuments and to the Encyclopedia of Antifascism and the Resistance
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A History of the Dethick Family of Dethick 1200-1918
Is your name Dethick? Does the name Dethick occur in your family tree? Or are you named Derthick, Deddick, Dethe, Duddick Dericke or Derrick ? If so you may be descended from the Dethick family of Dethick. The main branches of the Dethick family can be traced back to Sir Geoffrey de Dethek in the reign of Henry III. The history of the Dethick family is the history of Britain. This volume attempts to trace the family back to its origins through original source material whenever possible and provides a series of family trees to enable present-day Dethicks to see where they fit into the story.
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Before whom I stand: John Dethick Bass-Baritone
John Dethick, Bass-Baritone, (1915-2000) was born in Henley on Thames to Derbyshire parents. His singing career began in Derbyshire in the late 1930s and his last public performance was for the Sheffield Bach Society in 1985 a week before his 70th birthday. He sang principal bass roles with Sadler's Wells, gave many recitals for the BBC, performed at prestigious festivals including the Three Choirs, Leith Hill and Mary Wakefield (Westmorland), in the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall and with almost every choral society in the British Isles, including the Halle, Huddersfield, London Bach Choir, Liverpool, City of Birmingham, Belfast Philharmonic, Sheffield Philharmonic, Nottingham Harmonic, Leeds Philharmonic and our Ladies' Choir, Dublin. Regarded as one of the main interpreters of Elijah of his time, he sang both Elijah and The Messiah in California in the 1960s. He continued to teach singing in Sheffield until shortly before his death. Patricia Leonard (D'Oyly Carte Opera) and internationally-renowned bass John Tranter rank among his pupils.
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A Line of Shirts
This is the story of a Derbyshire family who lived on the edge exposed coalfield firstly at Holmesfield and then at Dronfield Woodhouse. From there two brothers followed Cammells to Workington, and the son of one of them emigrated to Australia after having changed his surname from Shirt to Ellis. When the last pit closed at the end of the 1940s a Shirt was working there, but the younger generation had long-since left the industry to work in the teaching and medical professions amongst others, this tradition being continued up to the present day both in England and Australia. Like many mining families of the time, the Shirts were drawn to Methodism, but despite having laid a foundation stone at Dronfield Woodhouse Methodist chapel, John Shirt was lain to rest with his ancestors in Holmesfield churchyard.
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Cowley Bar
The Author's interest in Cowley Bar, a small hamlet in the parish of Dronfield, Derbyshire, derives from the fact that in the 19th Century most of her maternal forebears lived there at some time. Amongst them were her Irish great great great grandparents Patrick and Catherine McIlroy and her Manx great great grandmother Jane Kinrade. The story of Cowley Bar is also the story of the rise and fall of the coal mining industry in this part of the exposed coalfield.
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The Bridge at Allerona
In this book the survivors of one of the worst cases of friendly fire in World War 2 tell their story. On 28 January 1944 twenty-seven B-26 bombers from 441, 442, 443 and 444 squadrons, 320 Bomb Group, United States Army Air Force, bombed a bridge over the river Paglia at Allerona to the north of Orvieto, Italy. At the time a Prisoner of War train carrying Allied servicemen from PG Camp 54 Fara in Sabina to Germany was crossing the bridge. The exact composition of the train, and the number of persons aboard, is still open to conjecture: the majority of the card-indices and transfer documents were destroyed with the train. The British authorities learned about what happened through the interception of German communications, and on 14 February British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in passing on the information to President Roosvelt via a special ULTRA message, was insistent that the bombing should remain top secret as a leak would point directly to British control of the German code.
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Visit my website http://bombedpowtrain.weebly.com.
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Cortona 1944
Following the German occupation of Cortona (8 September 1943 - 3 July 1944) the Bishop requested that all the village priests submit an account of what had happened in their parish. These testimonies were collected together by local author Pietro Pancrazi and published in Italian in 1946 under the title 'La Piccola Patria'. The author has translated these accounts into English and has added information form Allied War Diaries and other original sources to describe the passage of the front and ihow it affected the lives of ordinary people.
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Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Janet Kinrade Dethick & Anne M. Corke
During her distinguished career, submarine HMS Saracen was responsible for sinking thousands of tons of Axis shipping. But in August 1943 her luck ran out when she was mortally wounded by depth charges from two Italian corvettes, the last Allied submarine to be sunk by the Italians. Forced to surface, she was scuttled by her crew who were taken prisoner. But HMS Saracen's story is more than the story of a submarine. It is the story of her crew and their experiences both before and after her loss. From the cat and mouse games of war at sea to their harrowing escape from their stricken ship, from being sent to Dachau to finding themselves on a POW train bombed by the Americans, from being shot by the Germans to being assisted by the Rome Escape Line, from being sheltered by Italian families to joining the partisans, their stories of escape, of flight, of capture, are as varied as the men themselves. But their shared goal was to return home safely to their families and sadly some never did.
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The Long Trail Home. Allied Prisoners of War in Umbria 1943-44.
During the Second World War the small landlocked Italian region of Umbria was crossed by thousands of Allied servicemen. Who were they and where had they come from? There were those entrained for camps in Northern Italy, in Germany or in German-controlled territories. There were those belonging to work parties who came in open trucks from Campo PG 54 at Fara in Sabina to construct a new camp, Campo PG 77 at Pissignano, or to swell the much-depleted indigenous labour force in a cement factory and brickworks and were interned in PG 115 (Morgnano) and PG 115/3 (Marsciano). There were men from the Special Air Services (SAS) who had been parachuted in to carry out special missions. There were the American airmen whose planes had been shot down from the Umbrian skies. There were the escapers and evaders who in trying to reach the Allied Lines or neutral Switzerland walked the Appenines. There were two submariners from HM Submarine Saracen who were held in Perugia gaol before being sent to Dachau. This is their story.
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As If He Were My Brother. Italians and Escapers in Piedmont 1943-5
Following the Italian armistice of 8 September 1943 the prisoners of war who had been held in the work camps in the region of Piedmont dispersed into the surrounding countryside. They were in desperate need of assistance - and a place in which to hide from the nazi-fascist forces bent on hunting them down. Many Italians from all walks of life came to their aid. After the war the Allied Screening Commission invited these people to submit a claim for expenses. Their requests, which vividly desribe the risks they ran, from having their house burnt down to being arrested and shot, form the subject of this book.
It is my translation of the requests made to the Allied Screening Commission in May and June 1945 for recognition of the assistance given by the people of Piedmont, Italy, to the escapers. the original are held in the ISORETO Archive, Turin, in the Fondo Borghetti.
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It is my translation of the requests made to the Allied Screening Commission in May and June 1945 for recognition of the assistance given by the people of Piedmont, Italy, to the escapers. the original are held in the ISORETO Archive, Turin, in the Fondo Borghetti.
CLICK ON THE TITLE As if he were my brother (lulu.com)
“Even after capture, the full horrors of war still persisted. Bombed and strafed by our own planes, and shelled by our own artillery, the words ‘For you the war is over, Tommy,’ had a hollow ring…November 1942, after five months in Suani Ben Adem, we sailed from Tripoli, en route to Naples. We were held in the hold of a coal boat, battened down, with only a few buckets for sanitation purposes. Packed in like sardines, we would have had no chance of survival, had the ship come under attack from the Royal Navy, not an uncommon occurrence.”
These are the words of Private Bill Blewitt, 1st Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters, captured near Gazala in the Western Desert. He survived his capture, but over a thousand did not. Laid to rest alongside the battle casualties in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemeteries in Italy are these prisoners of war. They died from neglected wounds or diseases, were accidentally or deliberately shot both inside and outside their camps or were victims of friendly fire incidents. Some lost their lives when trying to cross the mountains to freedom, and some were betrayed by spies. Some had taken up arms again, had fought with the partisans and had died alongside them. Others had been captured whilst on dangerous missions and summarily executed. Many, but not all, have a name. |
Publications in English and Italian
Montebuono 13 04 1944
ENGLISH: The story of eight American soldiers. Taken prisoner on 15/16 December 1943; held in transit camps of Frosinone and Fara in Sabina; loaded into cattle wagons, destination Stalags, and bombed by American planes at Allerona; escaped and hid at Montebuono; killed by German police regiment on 13 April 1944 at the Hermitage of San Benedetto.
ITALIANO:La storia di otto soldati americani: Presi prigionieri il 15/16 dicembre 1943; internati nei campi di transito di Frosinone e Fara in Sabina; caricati sui carri bestiame, destinazione Stalag, e bombardati dall'aviazione americana ad Allerona; evasi e nascosti a Montebuono: uccisi da un reggimento di polizia tedesca il 13 aprile 1944 all'eremo di San Benedetto.
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Pubblicazioni in italiano
Il Campo Prigionieri di Guerra 54
Aperto come campo di prigionia per i soldati britannici e sudafricani catturati in Nord Africa nel 1942, Campo PG 54 poteva accomodare 6,000 uomini. All'inizio attendato, il campo fu parzialmente convertito in baraccato dai prigionieri stessi. In seguito all'armistizio dell' 8 settembre 1943 ci fu una fuga generale, ma molti prigionieri furono ricatturati dalle forze di occupazione tedesche, incarcerati nuovamente nel campo e poi spediti negli Stalag in Germania, Austria e Polonia. Circa 800 prigionieri si trovarono su un convoglio di carri bestiame diretto agli Stalag quando fu bombardato dall'aeronautica americana il 28 gennaio 1944 ad Allerona a nord di Orvieto. Dall'armistizio fino alla fine di maggio 1944 PG 54 fu usato dai tedeschi come campo di transito anche per i prigionieri appena presi in Italia. Finalmente abbandonato dopo il passaggio del fronte, fu trasformato in Borgo Santa Maria negli anni successivi.
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La Lunga Via del Ritorno. I prigionieri alleati in Umbria.
Durante la Seconda guerra mondiale l’Umbria fu attraversata da migliaia di prigionieri di guerra alleati. Chi erano e da dove venivano? C’erano quelli diretti ai campi del nord Italia, in Germania o in territori controllati dai tedeschi, che erano stati presi prigionieri in nord Africa o sui fronti di Anzio e Cassino. C’erano quelli venuti in camion aperti dal campo PG 54 Fara in Sabina, a nord di Roma, per costruire i campi PG 77 a Pissignano e PG 64 a Colfiorito, oppure per sostituire i lavoratori italiani nelle fabbriche di cemento e mattoni, detenuti nei campi PG 115 a Morgnano o PG 115/3 a
Marsciano. C’erano gli appartenenti ai SAS (Servizi Aerei Speciali) paracadutati per svolgere missioni speciali. C’erano aviatori americani i cui aerei erano stati abbattuti nei cieli umbri, alcuni dei quali riuscirono a sfuggire alla cattura, e soldati evasi dai campi o dai treni, che tentavano di raggiungere le loro linee o la Svizzera neutrale, camminando lungo l’Appennino. C’erano due fuochisti del sommergibile britannico Saracen che furono detenuti nelle carceri civili di Perugia prima di essere inviati a Dachau e poi a Buchenwald. La sorte di questi prigionieri spaziava dalla morte alla salvezza. Per alcuni di loro l’Umbria è stato il loro ultimo o penultimo luogo di riposo.
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Gli Ebrei di Isola Maggiore
Dopo sessantacinque anni di oscuramento, l’autrice si è dedicata a portare alla luce i fatti reali, che comprendono il ruolo chiave del Prefetto fascista di Perugia Armando Rocchi, il comportamento lodevole del comandante del campo di concentramento Luigi Lana nei confronti dei detenuti, e le azioni di un piccolo gruppo di Agenti Ausiliari di Pubblica Sicurezza in seguito diventati partigiani. Spiega perchè al prete dell’isola, don Ottavio Posta, è stata consegnata una medaglia d’oro alla memoria ed ai pescatori è stato dedicato un monumento.
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I Massacri di Arezzo
Questo libro prende in esame la relazione tra le attivita partigiane ed i massacri nazi-fascisti nella Provincia di Arezzo. Vengono descritti i clamorosi massacri di Vallucciole, Partina, Civitella in Valdichiana, San Pancrazio, Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni, Meleto, San Giustino, San Polo e Falzano, insieme a tanti altri episodi in cui gruppi più piccoli di civili furono uccisi per rappresaglia. Si ricordano anche quegli episodi in cui i partigiani persero la vita per le mani del loro propri oppositori.Le fonti includono testimonianze individuali di partigiani e sopravvissuti, resoconti scritti da sacerdoti, Diari di Guerra tedeschi e alleati, storie locali, il racconto di un soldato britannico di come la sua compagnia liberò alcuni ostaggi, l'Enciclopedia dell'Antifascismo e della Resistenza, tavole commemorative e monumenti.
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Il Cimitero di Guerra di Assisi
Nel Cimitero di Guerra del Regno Unito ed il Commonwealth, locato a Rivotorto, Assisi, risultano sepolti 941 militari conosciuti e quattro sconosciuti; insieme a loro ci sono quattro italiani appartenenti alla no. 1 Special Force d'intelligence britannica. 903 erano soldati e 41 aviatori. Di uno si sa solo che era di nazionalità britannica. Dividendo i morti per nazione, ci sono 802 britannici, 55 sudafricani, 49 canadesi e 29 neozelandesi. 10 appartenevano ai reparti indiani. Solo nove di questi militari morirono il 17 giugno 1944, giorno in cui la città di Assisi fu liberata. Gli altri, secondo il sito ufficiale della CWGC, furono portati ad Assisi 'dai campi di battaglia circostanti'. Questo libro non solo elenca i campi di battaglia, ma fa riferimento agli ospedali da campo ed anche alle altre circostanze in cui alcuni militari incontrarono la morte, fra i quali 17 prigionieri di guerra che morirono in Umbria, Lazio ed Abruzzo prima del passaggio del fronte.
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Translation
Prisoners of War in the Lomellina
The translation into English of Giuseppe Zucca's book about prisoners of war in Camp 146 Mortara in the Lomellina district of Lombardy, Northern Italy.This book testifies to life in the work
detachments which made up Italian prisoner of war camp no. PG 146, based at Mortara in the Lomellina – an area of Lombardy to the south west of Milan. In September 1943, when news of the Italian Armistice reached the detachments, the prisoners escaped into the countryside and depended on the local people for food, clothing and shelter in the difficult months which followed, during which the occupying German forces hunted them down and sent those unfortunate enough
to be recaptured to the Stalags. But there were some who managed to cross the Italian Alps into Switzerland, others who stayed in hiding with local families and one who travelled travelled hundred of kilometres to join the Allied Lines.The author's mother and her family hid three South Africans, and with the help of an underground movement set up for the purpose, all of them made it over the mountains to freedom.
AN UPDATED VERSION WITH THE NAMES OF ALL THE PRISONERS FROM PG 146 WHO ESCAPED TO SWITZERLAND IS IN PRODUCTION
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detachments which made up Italian prisoner of war camp no. PG 146, based at Mortara in the Lomellina – an area of Lombardy to the south west of Milan. In September 1943, when news of the Italian Armistice reached the detachments, the prisoners escaped into the countryside and depended on the local people for food, clothing and shelter in the difficult months which followed, during which the occupying German forces hunted them down and sent those unfortunate enough
to be recaptured to the Stalags. But there were some who managed to cross the Italian Alps into Switzerland, others who stayed in hiding with local families and one who travelled travelled hundred of kilometres to join the Allied Lines.The author's mother and her family hid three South Africans, and with the help of an underground movement set up for the purpose, all of them made it over the mountains to freedom.
AN UPDATED VERSION WITH THE NAMES OF ALL THE PRISONERS FROM PG 146 WHO ESCAPED TO SWITZERLAND IS IN PRODUCTION
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