Latest news
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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…
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The grim story of Chieti
Imprisonment in wartime Italy was tough enough. At some camps conditions were much harder, and the regime more brutal, than at others. Quite one of the worst was PG 21 at Chieti, in the Abruzzo region – a very large camp through which may PoWs passed, often on their way to other camps such as…
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Champagne on ice
During September 1943, Lt. Col. Hugo de Burgh and Captain Reggie Phillips escaped from a PoW camp in Italy and made their way to Switzerland. In 2013, their descendants and others retraced their journey, commemorating the 70th anniversary. The group faced challenges and celebrated their success, mirroring the historical escape.
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A woman as a witness
The memoirs of Lucy de Burgh have now been published, providing a delightful and fascinating account of wartime Italy and its aftermath. In My Italian Adventures: An English Girl at War 1943-47, Mrs de Burgh (then Lucy Addey) describes her recruitment as ATS Officer, Military Intelligence, and posting to Italy, and her subsequent work for…
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Celebrations in Fontanellato 2013
Fontanellato, a town with a strong anti-Fascist sentiment, bravely liberated prisoners of war after Italy’s Armistice. The 70th anniversary celebrations included inviting Trust members and hosting concerts and speeches. Former prisoners and townspeople shared their memories, artifacts were displayed, and a conference on the escape was held. The event concluded with an inspection of the…
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Where Great-grandfather trod
As reported in the Monte San Martino newsletter in spring 2008, Pippa Wentzel, a pupil of Benenden School, planned that summer to retrace the escape of her great-grandfather, Brigadier George Younghusband, from an Italian prisoner of war camp to Switzerland after the Armistice in September 1943. Armed with his diaries, and after researching the National…
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