Category: Research posts
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PoW memories alive in Puglia
Ruth Murphy finds her research on Allied imprisonment in Italy taking concrete form at a conference in Bari and Altamura in February.
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The thrilling odyssey of escape and evasion
Harchand Singh Bedi tells the stirring story of four Indian soldiers who, after a series of remarkable adventures and escapes from prisoner of war camps in Italy and France, wound up as prisoners in Front-Stalag 194 at Nancy. On September 1st, 1944, they took advantage of a final opportunity to escape during their unit’s march…
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As if he were my brother
Janet Kinrade Dethick summarises the research for her book, As if he were my brother, Italians and escapers in Piedmont 1943-1945, published in December 2021.
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Indian prisoners of war
Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Professor of Art (photography) at the University of Rhode Island, USA, conducts research into the experiences of Indian soldiers who became prisoners of war in Italy while fighting for the Allies. In this article, written for the Monte San Martino Trust in 2020, she explains how she came across their stories of…
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Bibliography
This list focuses on the Allied POW experience in Italy in the Second World War, concentrating on first-hand accounts that cover imprisonment, escape, reaching Switzerland/Allied lines or recapture and transportation to Germany, and, in some instances, postwar return visits to Italy. The date is of first publication, with later editions included only in certain instances.…
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The British war diaries of the Fermano-Maceratese area
Mara Picconi presented her dissertation on “Between History and Literature: the British war diaries in the Fermano-Maceratese area” at Casa della Memoria Association. Her research vividly portrays life in the PoW camps in the Le Marche region, highlighting the unexpected help given to escaped British prisoners by Italians. The event also featured discussions on Freedom…
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A Kind of Holiday
A film has been posted on youtube of great interest to historians and also to descendants of escaping prisoners of war, in particular PoWs who jumped from trains transporting them to Germany from camps in Italy after the Armistice in 1943. It is an English version of a film recording the return to the Abruzzo…
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A diary…and a photo
Anne Copley’s research sheds light on the experiences of non-commissioned Second World War prisoners in Italy. At a Monte San Martino Trust lunch, she shared stories of soldiers and artifacts, such as a diary made by Robert Dickinson, a prisoner of war, which survives to this day. Another story involved the reunion of photos from…