Anne Copley

Things have slowed down slightly with regard to the digitisation of the Allied Screening Commission archives held in the American National Archives (NARA) in Washington. However, the fact that the card index has been fully digitised is leading to some remarkable results.

After his escape from PG102 L’Aquila, Linda Quigley’s father, David Garcia, was helped by the Capanollo family, headed by Umberto Capanollo. By dint of some detective work, she and her son-in-law, Roger Bickmore, made contact with Franco, grandson of Umberto. In 2023, after attending the Trust 80th anniversary celebrations in Servigliano, Linda and her family travelled to spend some time with the Capanollo family, encountering the usual feasting and emotional reunions.

But as Roger says: “My report of this joyous occasion, however, ended on a cliffhanger of sorts.” David Garcia had travelled with a companion, possibly South African and known only as Patrick. Roger wanted to find out more. I pointed him in the direction of the NARA archive, where he unearthed the file for Umberto’s brother Beniamino, which included a “chit” from Patrick Callan of 1st KRRC, confirming he had been looked after by Beniamino and concluding: “If any Compassion is going this man is [entitled] to it.”

All credit to Roger in that he was determined to track down Patrick Callan’s descendants. Using many different methods of research (including Facebook), he contacted Patrick’s daughter, Mary, who lives in Zimbabwe and was able to provide a photo of her father. Thus the story came full circle. Roger showed great tenacity but, without being able to review the NARA files of the Capanollo family, his search would never have got off the ground.

The full story is on Dennis Hill’s site — A Joyous Reunion—the David Garcia and Umberto Capannolo Families Meet and A Discovery—“The Other Man in the Cave”.

Private Willman King

Willman, from Minnesota, was a prisoner in PG59 Servigliano and on his escape was sheltered by the Giancola family in Roccafinadamo, 71 miles south of the camp. His daughter, Rena Buhr, contacted Dennis Hill of Camp59 Survivors to say she was planning to visit the area last November. Dennis pointed her to the NARA site and fortunately she received the file of the Giancola family before her visit, providing information on other escapers sheltered with her father. Paolo Ferretti, an indomitable researcher living near Ascoli Piceno, managed to find the descendants of Vincenzo Giancola, who had written a heartfelt letter to Rena’s father on his return home to the USA. 

Again, very emotional reunions took place together with an exchange of photos. As Rena puts it: “It was really moving to share the photos because it was like saying, ‘You guys cared for my dad, and none of this would have happened without your care and love and protection’.”

The full story is on Dennis Hill’s site at A Pilgrimage to Roccafinadamo.

Rodolfo Nasini

Rodolfo, a mountain guide in the Marche region, became fascinated by this period of history after guiding Nicholas Mather in his search for the route of his father, Carol, south from Fontanellato. Despite Rodolfo’s scepticism that his family had anything to do with sheltering escapers, I searched NARA’s card index and found his great-grandfather’s file. Upon requesting the complete file, Rodolfo discovered that his great-grandfather Nazzareno Marani, from Monte San Martino, sheltered six American escapers, three of them for eight months. A letter on file says that if it were not for Armando Marani (Rodolfo’s grandfather), the six of them would have been recaptured by the Germans.

Rodolfo is delighted to have found this undiscovered part of his family’s history. The NARA files may unlock more deep stories.