Phil Cooke

When I took up my post as Chair of Trustees on 1st January 2025 I decided that the first thing I should do was to read Keith Killby’s memoir In Combat Unarmed, a copy of which Letitia Blake, our Secretary, had kindly given me at the annual lunch.

I already knew the story of his escape from Servigliano, which only takes up a small section of the book, so it was extraordinarily interesting to read of his experiences before and after his capture and imprisonment in Italy: his time in New Zealand, his work with the medical corps as a conscientious objector, and his post-war role as secretary of the Federal Union, before taking over his father’s wholesale meat business in the mid-1950s. In 1948, Keith was a delegate at the Congress of Europe and there are a few black and white photos of this event in the Trust’s archive, featuring the likes of Churchill, Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan.

Another facet of Keith’s remarkable personality that emerges from his memoir is his love of languages. While in Alexandria, Keith describes how he “spent part of the time learning Greek from a lady who used to teach me Greek in English, and speak to her guests in French and to her servants in Arabic. How I envied her.” (p.47). For Keith, learning languages seems to have filled an almost existential need to interact with people from other cultures, with radically different experiences. I am sorry I never had the opportunity to meet him.

Value of our bursaries

The scholarships that Keith established, to bring young Italians to the UK to learn English, continue to be the core activity of the Trust. The patterns of language learning in Italy have changed significantly since the Trust was founded, and English is now offered from primary school onwards. Many universities in Italy teach courses, indeed even whole degrees in English. Nevertheless, the MSMT scholarships still have an important role to play – in many cases they allow learners to take their knowledge of the language to much higher levels.

Also, of course, there is nothing like an experience at the coal face. As a 19-year-old, I was lucky enough to receive a small grant which enabled me to take a course in Italian in Erice in Sicily. It was August 1985 and, for some reason, I was not really aware of just how hot it can get in Sicily at that time of year. But it had its benefits! While most of the other students took themselves to the beach in the afternoon, I stayed in the relative cool of the language school studying Italian grammar and reading books.

I do not expect temperatures at Oxford and Wimbledon to reach the heights of Sicily in August, and I wish our many students who come this summer all the very best. I am sure they will learn a great deal, not just in terms of language. I would, in particular, wish to thank the many supporters of the Trust who give up time to act as helpers when our students arrive. In many ways what they do is echo the kind assistance originally given to Allied soldiers such as Keith. We are, of course, always looking for more volunteers!

Meeting the trustees

One of my first tasks as the new chair was to preside over the plenary meeting of the trustees, which took place in early February at the London Business School. What struck me right from the start of the meeting was the warm atmosphere and the energy that the trustees create. There are many different personalities, so much so that I did wonder how I would maintain order. However, with some assistance from Letitia, the three hours scheduled flew by and culminated in a glass of wine kindly offered by Ian Laing, who also arranged the venue. This was Ian’s last meeting, and I would like to thank him on behalf of us all for his support for the Trust’s work over many years. Ian offered a great deal of wisdom during the meeting, particularly in terms of future fund-raising initiatives.

This was also Chistopher Prentice’s last meeting as trustee. Like Ian, Christopher’s dedication has been valued by everyone. Grazie, Ian e Christopher – ci mancherete! As detailed elsewhere in the newsletter, we now have two excellent replacements in the shape of Jane Bonham Carter and Tom Carver, who bring with them a wealth of experience. Benvenuti!

At the trustees meeting, Anne Copley encouraged us to visit the photographic exhibition that opened in Oxford the following week. Anne is very persuasive and, since I was due to be in Oxford I took up the opportunity to have a visit. The images are striking and evoke a world that has almost entirely disappeared. As Anne writes in this newsletter, the exhibition has attracted a great deal of attention, and we hope it will make the journey north of the border later this year to the new premises of the Italian Cultural Institute in Edinburgh.

I keep in regular touch with my predecessor, Sir Nick Young, and was delighted to be able to participate in the visit of their Royal Highnesses to Italy. Nick is too modest to claim credit, but it is thanks to his hard work and his remarkable powers of persuasion that we owe King Charles’s welcome thanks to the helpers who assisted Keith Killby, and so many others, after the Italian Armistice declaration.

Link with Parri institute

Nick also played a significant role in developing the Trust’s relationship with the Parri network in Italy. As a PhD student, I worked extensively in the National Institute in the centre of Milan and over the years I have collaborated closely with a number of the other institutes, such as those in Padua, Reggio Emilia and Florence.

In January I was a guest of the Bologna Institute where I presented a new book on the history of the Cervi family, who helped many Allied prisoners in the autumn and Winter of 1943. All seven of the Cervi brothers were executed in December 1943. In the chapter written by Toni Rovatti, of the University of Bologna, I was delighted to see that my colleague had been able to use the NARA archive in order to verify the recognition that the family received after the war. The collaboration with the Parri network has been very successful, and I greatly look forward to a series of events planned later this year which will present the results of their work to audiences throughout Italy.

Through these activities the Trust has been as busy as ever during the first half of 2025 and it has been personally rewarding to be involved in so many of them. I would like to thank all the trustees for their kindness and support and very much look forward to meeting supporters at future events.