I first started dabbling with Family Research back in 2008 when I became curious about my partner Rex’s family origins in that his family name was Blanchette, which clearly sounded very French to me, and he had indicated when we first met that the only thing he had heard about his origins was that mention had been made of the family coming to New Zealand from Guernsey. As I had spent quite a chunk of my life in its sister isle of Jersey I was obviously intrigued. And so, my Genealogy journey began, and what a fascinating series of events unfolded.

But it wasn’t till much later that I started to wonder if there was anything as interesting that I could unearth in my Family History? Sadly by then my father, who had been working in Ceylon at the outbreak of WW2, had died and I was very conscious that my Mum’s memory was starting to fail. As I mentioned in my first Post “How it all Started…..” my Mum had provided me with the start of the paper trail leading to this website when she told me that Dad had been a POW at Fontanellato.

Fast forward a few more years, and with help from my brother Graham giving me hints, tips and photos as to Dad’s wartime exploits, I stumbled upon the Monte San Martino Trust (MSMT) website after my Genealogy research unearthed a snippet of information about where Dad was a POW. So, on 26th November 2018 (wow 7 years ago!), I reached out to the MSMT with the following email: info@msmtrust.org.uk.

While researching the MSMT website I had noticed, rather sadly, that I had started my research just a few months too late, as the Trust had only just returned from a 75th Anniversary celebration of the Italian Armistice held on 7th-9th September 2018 at none other than the site of my Dad’s POW Camp (PG49) at Fontanellato! But I was soon cheered up when I rather unexpectedly had a wonderful response from Christine English, a Trustee of the MSMT who straight away confirmed that my Dad had indeed been a POW in Fontanellato. And not only that but her father had written a book about the Camp and Dad appeared in the Nominal Rolls at the back of the book. Even today it still feels like I had suddenly won the Lottery.

But, living in New Zealand, I soon discovered that purchasing this little nugget of information and having it posted to me was “beyond my ‘ken”. But now, some 7 years down the track and thanks to the kindness, willingness and generosity of another son of a PG49’er, I am now thrilled to be in possession of the very book that proves beyond doubt that my father was a POW in Fontanellato.

And not only that but it appears that Appendix 8, entitled “P.G.49 Fontanellato: Nominal Rolls, September 1943” at the back of the book, could provide me with a list of all the soldiers who marched out of that Camp on 9th September 1943. So now it seems I actually do know who all these extraordinary men are who were with my Dad when they, together with approximately 20,000 others across the whole of Italy, all dispersed into the Italian countryside after the Italian Armistice. And now all I have to do is, hopefully, find some of the relatives of these Italian families who helped feed and shelter my Dad as he attempted to make his way back to friendly territory.