April 2025
Nick Young and Phil Cooke
“Permettetemi, anche, di esprimere la nostra profonda gratitudine alle molte centinaia di coraggiosi civili italiani che hanno dato rifugio ai soldati britannici e alleati, rischiando così la propria vita. ”
[Let me also record our profound gratitude to the many hundreds of brave Italian civilians who gave refuge to British and Allied soldiers, thereby risking their own lives.]
The words of His Majesty the King to a joint session of the Italian Parliament on April 9th 2025 – a great moment for the Trust, the first time (we believe) that the help given by so many brave Italians has ever been formally acknowledged in public by a senior British figure.
We (Nick Young and Phil Cooke) were in Rome to hear the King speak, and then to travel to Ravenna for a formal reception.
We arrived in Rome at lunchtime and, after a hasty sandwich, grabbed a taxi to rush to Palazzo Montecitorio, the 16th century palace where the Parliament sits. We had a bird’s eye view of proceedings from a gallery above the Speaker’s chair. All seats were taken and it wasn’t long before the buzz of excited chatter was interrupted by the arrival of the King and various dignitaries, and the enthusiastic playing of both national anthems by a brass band just across from us.
The King’s words were greeted with warm acclaim and several standing ovations, not to mention affectionate laughter when the Speaker, taking one particularly loud burst of applause as a sign that the King had finished, leapt to his feet to bring proceedings to a conclusion – whereupon the King, to loud laughter and clapping, pointed to his script and said he still had a couple of pages to get through.
Phil, in particular, was delighted that the King inserted many sentences in Italian into his speech, including a quotation from Dante, whose tomb is in Ravenna. Our founder, Keith Killby, would also have been pleased. Keith was a fine linguist, who taught himself a variety of languages while in captivity, with the help of other PoWs.
After the ceremonies Nick and Phil managed to engage journalists working for a variety of UK newspapers and briefed them about the work of the MSMT. After a much-needed gelato, we hurried back to the station for the train to Bologna and then Ravenna, pausing only for a hasty plate of tagliatelle al ragù (which almost caused us to miss our train altogether). There was not even time for a tiramisù!
The next day, we met up with our three Italian guests, Nicola Cacciatore from the Istituto Parri, and the great granddaughters of two families who helped escapers, both former MSMT bursary students, Benedetta Cofini and Carlotta Lama.
Ravenna was crammed and buzzing with excitement, and security was tight as we made our way to the Piazza dei Popolo where the royal reception was due to take place. We joined an exotic mix of guests – soldiers, air force personnel from both the UK and Canada predominated, plus a sprinkling of Canadian Mounties, a clutch of ambassadors, numerous local and international dignitaries – and the MSMT team.
While Nick was whisked away to form part of the private welcoming party, the rest tucked into the delicious tea. After an hour or so, the King and Queen arrived, listened to a detailed speech of welcome from the local Mayor, waved to the crowds below from the balcony, to loud cheers, and then joined us for a rather chaotic round of introductions, handshakes and brief conversations with pre-formed groups of special guests, including two partisans whose combined age totalled two hundred.
Phil: The Queen, accompanied by Laura Mattarella (the President of Italy’s daughter), listened attentively to the different members of the group and smiled graciously when asked to congratulate the King on his Italian. A copy of Nicola’s book, on the Liberation of Ravenna, had been presented to the King earlier and I expressed his hope that his Majesty would find the time to read it.
After the ceremony Nicola and I met a group of children from a local school. Speaking to their teachers it was clear they had had a wonderful day which would live long in the memory.
Nick: The visit was a smash hit in Italy, and it was a thrill and a privilege to play a small part in it. It was also extremely moving to hear the King, at our specific request, acknowledge the bravery of the Italians who helped so many of our fathers.
Before I left Italy, I followed in the King’s footsteps to the Allied War Cemetery, just outside Ravenna, where nearly 1,000 young soldiers from Britain, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, Palestine, Israel and South Africa lie buried amidst the growing crops and vines – and where, once again, the King had spoken so movingly about sacrifice, and about friendship between nations.