I don’t recall exactly what Google Search string I entered on that day in April 2025, but fortuitously one of the results drew my eye as it was entitled “Anon” that had been published under The Pegasus Archive, but I had never come across this site before so I was intrigued.
Having opened the link it soon became obvious that the reason it had been entitled Anon was because there was no name associated with the Author of the text. However, the Author of the page had offered the following introduction to the text:-
“The following are notes that were written by an unknown prisoner of war in exercise books, concerning the events at the time of Italy’s surrender and the mass escape into the countryside of the 600 prisoners at P.G. 49. The notes were written in several exercise books, many pages of which are devoted to a summary of news reports obtained concerning the progress of the Allied armies around the world. The first names of the prisoners who eventually sought refuge with the Ponzi family are Robert, an Englishman, and Patrick, an Irishman.“ If you are able to help identify the author of this narrative, please write to pegasusarchive@googlemail.com.
The photos are the Copyright of Ambrogio Ponzi
But contained within the text extracted from these “Exercise Books” were some important clues as to the people involved in this particular story, and I was hopefull that I could make some sort of effort to trace who this mystery writer was.
The most important bit of information that jumped out at me was a letter, towards the end of the story, that referenced a Major P. De Clermont who could possibly be contacted at The Cavalry Club, Piccadilly, London.
It also provided the Address of the letter writer (presumably the Author of the text?) as being 31, Union Road, West Croydon, Surrey, England.
All through the text it referenced the initials of people with whom the Author was in contact. Namely S.S., L.W. and J.B. plus other South Africans G.L. and V.G. Bros and later a G.P. (“Getto” Ponzi?) and F. (Franca?) C. But I’m struggling with all of them.
I also did a search for Griffiths but I wasn’t able to find one in my Roll Call. Nor for Les Woodward and John Rogers. Although there was a Captain N.C. Rogers?
But, at the end of the page, the Author had issued the following credit – “My thanks to Ambrogio Ponzi (“Getto”, as mentioned in the above letter) for this account” and so the Exercise Books appeared to have been left by this POW in the care of G.P. along with the following photographs that provided further clues.
On looking through my Roll Call page for British Army Officers I straight away found Captain De Clermont, P.H.V. (50859) of the 8th Hussars and a subsequent Google Search unearthed an Obituary for a Patrick Howard Voltelin de Clermont of the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars, Royal Armoured Corps. Could this possibly be the “Patrizio” identified in the letter who could be contacted at the Cavalry Club in London?
But who is “Getto” and why is the name Vajenti that is associated with a number of the photographs not coming up with any results on the N.A.R.A. website holding records of the Allied Screening Commission? I’ve got some work to do!
“The National Archives holds records of prisoners of war during the Second World War. Our volunteers have recently finished cataloguing the prisoners of war cards in WO 416. They are now cataloguing the reports and interviews, in WO 208, for those who escaped, evaded or were liberated from Germany and Italy. If the prisoner of war was transferred to Germany then a record may be in both records series.
Without our volunteers we could not catalogue these records. Previously the files were arranged by name range or interview number. Thanks to the work of our volunteers researchers can now search by name, bringing history to life.
In this blog Katrina Lidbetter, one of our volunteers, explains some of the work they’ve been able to complete through the cataloguing work around WO 208. Here Katrina looks into individuals escaping from Italy following the Italian armistice of September 1943.”
Wednesday 7th June 2023 – Keith Mitchell, Volunteers Project Officer, The National Archives
An officers’ prison: Prigione di Guerra
During the Second World War, Italian-run camps in the North Africa and then Italy were grim, with many prisoners of war dying. Only the arrival of Red Cross parcels improved their fate. However, one fortunate camp was Fontanellato, a former orphanage in Northern Italy. An officers’ prison, Prigione di Guerra (PG) 49, held some 500 officers and 100 other ranks. As such, it was better than most Italian camps.
International Red Cross report on conditions: Camp 49, Fontanellato. Catlagoue ref: WO 361/1889
Many of those held at Fontanellato can be found in WO 208. It offers you a glimpse of their experiences. There were many, brave escape attempts – from Fontanellato as from other camps – but very few succeeded in reaching neutral or friendly territory. Escaping was, if anything, harder than from German-held camps. Italy had no foreign labour force that would disguise the presence of a foreigner; the mountains and rivers of Italy presented huge practical challenges; few prisoners of war spoke Italian; and for the locals, an escaping prisoner of war was still the enemy.
Italian armistice
Yet had the escapers known it, there was little need to escape. In 1943, the situation changed. In July, Mussolini was deposed. King Emmanuel appointed Marshall Badoglio to form a new government. Unfortunately, the Germans were quick to exploit the confusion in Italy to strengthen their positions, so that by the time of the formal Italian armistice in early September, the window of opportunity for successful evasion was closing fast – as many evaders were to find out to their cost.
Another factor in the confusion was the British War Office’s instruction to prisoners of war to stay put. By contrast the Badoglio Government instructed camp commanders to let the prisoners of war out, an instruction many camp commanders obeyed, whilst some did not. In Fontanellato, the Italian Commander, Colonello Vicedomini, defied the Germans and released the prisoners of war. For this act he was sent to a German concentration camp.
Fearing they would be shot if caught on the run wearing civilian clothes, many prisoners of war kept their uniform and stayed put in camps or farms where they were working. Of over 80,000 prisoners of war in Italy, thousands were simply rounded up by the Germans and taken to Germany in cattle trucks.
Of those who did get out, many had wildly over-optimistic views as to how quickly the Allies would arrive: a false rumour that the Americans were about to land in Genoa did the rounds. Whilst many did make it to Switzerland or the Allied lines, a number did not, and were instead recaptured, shot, or died of exposure in the mountains.
The departure at Fontanellato was led by the Senior British Officer (SBO), Lieutenant Colonel de Burgh. He hid his prisoners of war in nearby woods, obtaining food and clothing from local Italians keen to help. A secret radio gave vital intelligence on the Allies. Vital aid was given by friendly Italian people, who risked their and their families lives in offering food, shelter, civilian clothing, papers, cash and directions to the escaping prisoners of war. Yet in the end, like all prisoners of war in Italy, they faced the same unpalatable options: a risky journey north to Switzerland, or the even riskier, longer route south to the Allied lines. Any delay was costly, as both the Germans and winter tightened their grip on Italy.
North or south
On the SBO’s orders, the prisoners of war split into small groups and headed off. North was the simpler option, but then you would be stranded in Switzerland. Most of those heading to the Swiss border benefited from support from locals, including an active local resistance of men and women. Prisoners of war travelled on foot, by bicycle or with train tickets given to them by local people, sometimes with forged identity cards.
Extract from prisoner of war reports: Escapes via Switzerland. Catalogue ref: WO 208/4255
Major Houghton, Indian Army (catalogue ref: WO 208/4255/31), decided it would be simpler to head north as he did not speak Italian. He got from Fontanellato to Engadine in Switzerland in 13 days.
Lieutenant Colonel de Burgh’s predecessor was SBO was Major Hoole Lowsley-Willliams of the 16/15th Lancers (catalogue ref: WO 208/4255/17 and WO 373/64/905). He crossed the River Po to Switzerland.
Lieutenant Derek Francis Hornsby (WO 208/4255/26) headed west, helped by local citizens to hide in the hills near Genoa. He hoped for an Allied landing but eventually gave up and trekked over the mountains to Switzerland.
Many others preferred to head south. In Fontanellato’s hospital were Michael Gilbert (catalogue ref: WO WO 208/3317/1684) with an infected boil, and future A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush author Eric Newby (catalogue ref: WO 416/270/230) nursing a broken ankle. Both made it out, Michael on foot and Eric on a pony or mule (Eric was not sure which it was). Eric aided by locals eventually trekked over the Apennines, but was recaptured near the front line and spent the rest of the war in a German prisoner of war camp.
Lieutenant Eric Newby, Black Watch, recommended for Mentioned in Despatches. Catalogue ref: WO 373/101/483
Tony Davies headed south, together with Michael Gilbert and Toby Graham, crossing the mountains and reaching the front line. Tony was wounded, recaptured and sent to Germany. A South African called Hal Becker who had joined them later was shot and killed. Michael and Toby successfully made it over to the Allied lines.
The gloomy, the famous and the earl
Unknown to the Italians and Germans, one of the prisoners of war in Fontanellato was Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s stepson, Richard Carver. He volunteered to team up with Lieutenant Colonel Francis Edward Anthony (Tony) Macdonnell of the Green Howards, nicknamed the Gloomy Dean as he resembled the rather gloomy Dean of St Pauls, William Ralph Inge. Tony agreed to say he was only a captain, to attract less attention.
Together they set off on the long trek south. Seeking shelter in a monastery, they encountered the Sixth Earl of Ranfurly, General Neame’s Aide de Camp. Ranfurly had left the Italian ‘Colditz’, Vincigliata Castle, near Florence. Having caught a cold on his trek, Ranfurly was ensconced in a large room with a fire, eating his dinner. To their chagrin, the monastery offered Richard and Tony a small unheated cell for the night. Muttering about the monastery’s fine appreciation of the British aristocracy, nonetheless grateful for any shelter.
Extract from prisoners of war who were liberated or escaped from Italian camps, Lieutenant Colonel F A (Tony) Macdonald, Green Howards. Catalogue ref: WO 208/5399/4
Later the two were hidden over winter by a poor Italian family. Both made it to Allied lines: Richard finally made it across in early December 1943. The success of Richard’s old schoolfriend Carol Mather (catalogue ref: WO 208/3316/1543) must have been a bit galling. Carol and another prisoner did not wait for orders from the SBO but walked out of Fontanellato, reaching Montgomery’s HQ on 15 October 1943. They had headed south as fast as possible, getting over the mountains before the onset of winter and before the Germans had fully reinforced their lines. Upon Richard Carver’s return in December, Montgomery’s reaction was ‘Where the hell have you been?’
N.A.R.A. and the Allied Screening Commission – FINDING NINO who then ‘BEGAT’ BEOTTI
Having now established how to access the records of the Allied Screening Commission being digitized in the on-going project by N.A.R.A., a venture being funded by the Monte San Martino Trust, I decided it was time to see if I could shed some light on the colourful character of Don Nino Rolleri who appeared to have played a crucial part in my father’s travels through the Italian countryside after being released from P.G. 49 at Fontanellato following the Italian Armistice in September 1943.
Wow! So 62 results for “don nino rolleri”. But jumping out at me from that first one at the top are the words (yup you got it!) Allied Screening Commission (Italy). But who the hell is Beotti, E.? Nothing for it but to Click on the Link!
Well, now it appears I have 23 images to wade through. The only problem is they all appear to be very faded and this is going to be a struggle. If only there was a transcription. But the words at the top appear to indicate that the Transcription is Not Started. So why does it say Extracted Text 1. I decide to click on the latter.
EUREKA!
OK so I’ve got some interesting stuff about this man. I’m assuming this is an Italian man? But where is Don Nino Rolleri? Wait, wait, wait! Does that say Houghton and Lewis Heath. Aren’t they the guys who were in the photo I found with this Don Nino Rolleri and my Dad? So I plough on to the next document. Page 2 – OK here’s another one from the group…Ballantyne…..this is great. Quick glances at 4, 5 and 6 start making it clear that this is starting to get a little disturbing as words such as, Partisans, Executed and War Crimes are popping out of the pages but I do now know that this is a Don Guiseppe Beotti who had been assisting men who my father had been with at some point. I’ve got the photo to prove it!
I plough on and quickly realise I’m going to have to learn Italian quick, or maybe Google Translate is going to have to come to the fore. Pages 16 and 17 provide evidence of a letter written by G. de Bruyne Lt. Col. of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps dated 14 November 1946 in support of this claim. But it’s the next few pages, 18, 19 and 20, that seal the deal that I have found Don Nino Rolleri in a hand written letter, together with its translation.
So, although thus far this treasure trove of information hasn’t directly thrown anything up about my father, it has confirmed one piece of the puzzle I am piecing together in that Don Nino Rolleri is very much a part of his life and this search has brought about the proverbial hit of “Two Birds with One Stone”, in that I have also found Don Guiseppe Beotti who may also have provided assistance to my father in that the two priests were very much connected, as evidenced by these documents collated by the ASC and digitised by NARA.
“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.”
In 2023 I was privileged to attend the 80th Anniversary of the Italian Armistice which had resulted in a number of P.O.W. camps in Italy releasing their prisoners into what was still then German occupied Italy. This event took place in Servigliano and the Monte San Martino Trust, so ably headed by Sir Nick Young, played host to the celebrations at P.G. 59 which was attended by The Rt Hon Edward Llewellyn, O.B.E., British Ambassador to Italy and San Marino, as well as many Italian dignitaries and relatives of those who had been prisoners during World War II.
In referencing the bravery of the Italian people who helped Allied soldiers like my father, Andre Willis, after they were released into the Italian countryside after the Armistice in September 1943, King Charles said – “Tomorrow in Ravenna, as King of the United Kingdom and of Canada, I will have the great honour of commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of that province, together with President Mattarella, in which British and Canadian Forces played a key role. And, as Head of the Commonwealth, it will be my signal privilege to recall the indispensable role played by many troops from the Commonwealth, as well as other Allied nations.
“And we remember, too, the terrible suffering of the Italian civilian population – as well as the heroism of the resistance, including Paola Del Din, trained by the Special Operations Executive and dropped by parachute to carry out her mission in support of the Allies eighty years ago today.”
Charles continued: “I know that we are all thinking of Paola, now 101, on this day – and salute her courage. 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. Today, sadly, the echoes of those times – which we fervently hoped had been consigned to history – reverberate across our continent. Our younger generations can now see in the news every day on their smartphones and tablets that peace is never to be taken for granted.”
“Hi there, I have some information about my grandfather who helped allied servicemen during WW2 and it was whilst googling one of the names and their service number that I came across your site.”
Numerous e-mails were exchanged during which ‘Stef’ very kindly supplied me with all the information that he had gathered about his grandfather thus far, including a photograph of a document I had heard about, but which I had not had any direct connection with before.
The “Alexander Certificate” issued by the Allied Screening Commission.
“This certificate is awarded to Dante Marzocchi as a token of gratitude for and appreciation of the help given to the Sailors, Soldiers, and Airmen of the British Commonwealth of Nations, which enabled them to escape from, or evade capture by the enemy.“
Stef had gone on to say:- “Our records are very sketchy but they do contain some service numbers that tally with names that were at pg49. I hope to hear from you as I would love to find out more about the servicemen my grandfather helped and if they survived the war etc.”
I jumped at the opportunity and replied:- “Ciao Stefano.How great to hear from you. How can I help? Can you tell me the names or the service numbers of the people your grandfather assisted? I will do my best to see if together we can trace them or their families.”
The photo above duly followed together with documents Stef had uncovered himself and also some passed to him by Brian Lett, the son of Major Gordon Lett, although he was having some difficulty in obtaining information from the national archives in Washington (N.A.R.A.). Stef went on to explain-
“My grandfather lived in a town called Succisa in the hills above Pontremoli, if you’ve heard about operations Galia or Speedwell or indeed Major Gordon Lett then you’ll recognise Pontremoli. He had lived in America for a while so could speak a bit of English thus I imagine was a useful asset to have as a link in the chain that assisted allied personnel. You’ll see from the documentation I have that there is a variety of service numbers and names, in my limited success so far I have ascertained that three of the men escaped together, were caught but eventually made it back after recapture to upper Heyford.”
Claim Summary
The Claim Summary submitted to the Allied Screening Commission on 17th December 1945 records the claimant to be Dante (Fu Lorenzo – Son of Lorenzo) Marzocchi of Succisa (originally Soccisa), Pontremoli, (Apuania – now Massa Carrara). And the 4 prisoners that he assisted were recorded as being:-
I very quickly confirmed that the first 3 men were indeed POW’s in PG49 Fontanellato and it appeared as though Stef had found an account written by P.S. Thursfield that must have been sent to J. Keith Killby who had, after the war, been collating the stories of hundreds of prisoners and who had later founded the Monte San Martino Trust “to acknowledge the bravery of Italian people who hid Allied servicemen on the run from prisoner of war camps after the Armistice with Italy in 1943.”
“Lieutenant Thursfield mentions Jamieson and Moyles both whom are recorded on my grandfathers documentation so it’s wonderful to know they at least made it home and my grandfather in some small way facilitated that! I hope you can help me collate any other information that may be available, dad and his brother’s have no idea I’m sitting on all this and would be blown away to read anything on their father.”
It only took a little further research to find Smythe, L.E.M., Corporal (No. 5242) as being at Camp (PG) 65 (Altamura – Gravina di Puglia) which was closed in July 1943, which could mean that he (along with many others perhaps?) was moved to PG49 just prior to the Armistice in September 1943?
When I first heard about the attempts by the Allied Screening Commission to recompense those Italians who had assisted escaping prisoners I was a bit conflicted for, whilst I was pleased that something had been done to recognise these heroic acts of bravery it seemed that receiving a certificate, and possibly some financial recompense, was a small price to put on saving someone’s life and, in some cases, there was even loss of life as these extraordinarily brave people placed not only their lives but the lives of their families and communities at risk (see Don Giuseppe BEOTTI).
But, after reading so many similar stories, not once do I get the feeling that these people opened their doors for financial gain. They did it because these men were desperate for food, shelter and even boots! And they were miles from home. And these Italian families too perhaps had sons who they had lost during the war or who they hoped were trying to get home. And maybe there is a direct corelation to the feelings that they were experiencing with the rise of fascism and your country being invaded by foreign powers to those we ourselves are experiencing today with Russia and the extraordinary political climate in America.
The one advantage that these allied soldiers had over their German counterparts was that “nearly all the elder peasantry in the valley, and indeed throughout Italy, have either been to England or America, or have relations there.” So succintly summed up by Mike Goldingham in his classic diary of his wartime exploits:-
“Our village boasted many who had been waiters, chefs, etc. in London, and in most houses the cutlery bore the names ‘Savoy Hotel’, ‘Piccadilly Hotel’ or ‘Romanos’!”
But, after telling Stef about the documents I had found at N.A.R.A., detailing a similar claim to that of his grandfather’s, made by Don Nino Rolleri for Don Giuseppe Beotti who had been shot by the Nazis for helping prisoners as they made their way through Sidolo, he responded immediately by saying:-
“It’s interesting reading the accounts around Sidolo as it’s also very close to my mum’s side of Italy as she grew up in a village called Baselica in Borgotaro where there was also a fair amount of activity. I’ve been to Bardi a good few times and Sidolo rings a bell but perhaps I’ve just seen the road signs and recall it from that. My maternal grandfather also played a part as he used to go into the mountain above their home and light the fire to mark the spot for the weapon drops by the RAF etc. There was a partisan leader in Borgotaro who went by the name Vampa who was very well known in the region at the time, sadly he passed away a few years ago but I know my cousin knew him well so when I’m next in Italy in August I’ll see if he has any information regards allied activity that may help fill in any blanks for other people along the way.”
So, I’m starting to recognise that these Certificates do provide families and communities with a huge sense of pride. Yes, it’s difficult to put a price on life but the sense of community that I feel as a descendant of an escaping prisoner towards those Italian communities who helped them all is enormous.
Stef sent me a picture of his grandad and also his nan Rosa that is hanging in his father’s house – Nonna Rosa and Nonno Dante
When I first started my website it had initially been to:-
Try and record my father’s WWII experiences. And, having unearthed vast amounts of information this then led to….
Trying to record all the servicemen who were POW’s with him in PG49 in Fontanellato and to shed light on their stories
And, whilst I was doing that, I started to realise that there were lots of Italians who had helped my Dad, and thousands of others, as he was trying to return home.
So, whilst the website had initially been set up to honour my Dad, it then turned into a site where, hopefully, families were able to find out more about their ancestors experiences as POW’s in Italy and prisoners on the run in WWII, and from there to a site which also enabled those Italian families to find out how their ancestors had contributed to saving the lives of those freed from captivity at the time of the Italian Armistice in September 1943.
So, what’s next? How do we go about finding relatives of these men? Stef has one further document that provides some addresses of the men his grandfather helped and maybe with a little further research, and maybe even a stroke of luck, someone might spot this Post and help to connect the dots that we’ve put together so far.
Addresses submitted to the Allied Screening Commission
From the information extracted above I have so far tried to expand upon the clues provided:-
134462 – Jamieson, Andrew W., Capt.: was in the Royal Artillery (in 1948 possibly lived at 87 Spottiswoode Street, Edinburgh in Scotland with his parents James G. and Mary E. Jamieson? I also found a document in 1954 where a Jamieson, Andrew W. was living with Jamieson, Helen E.M. (Helen Evelyn Mary Jamieson his wife?) at 21 West Garth Avenue, Colinton in Edinburgh)
124091 – Thursfield, P.S., Lieut.,: also Royal Artillery (address shown as 200 Woodstock Road, Oxford, England)
[Possibly Peter Spencer THURSFIELD born August 31st, 1919 and died August 31st 2008 aged 89]
after searching in Ancestry and then confirming with a researcher on Geneanet, I was able to confirm that his 4th Cousin was Erica Tindall PORTER and she married Peter Spencer THURSFIELD in 1946. At one point they lived at 1 Field House, Turville Barns, Cirencester, Gloucester.
If correct he married Erica Tindal PORTER and there are possibly 3 children
The final entry in Peter Thursfield’s story with the M.S.M.T. confirms his marriage to Erica on 29th January 1946
one son is Hugh Tindal THURSFIELD m. Victoria (Vicky) J. Beckett
William Richmond Thursfield
Oliver Tindal Thursfield
Alexandria Thursfield
and Nigel Spence Thursfield m. Lendriani (living in Australia?)
Andrew Thursfield
Christopher Thursfield
another Timothy Hume Thursfield m. Stella Aitchison Salmon with children
John (Johnny) Hume Thursfield
and Celia Mary Aitchison Thursfield
108225 – Moyle A.David, Capt. : R.A.S.C. (Royal Army Service Corps) – Address shown as Maresfield (near Uckfield), Sussex, England.
As a postscript to this story I have to firstly thank my good friend Dennis Hill who provided me with the confidence to start this Blog. His own tribute to his father, the magnificent Camp 59 Survivors, is growing daily. But it was this post that he had submitted entitled “A Reflection on Heroism and Humility” that brought about an extraordinary coincidence. I sent it to Stef to give him an idea of what I thought might be a suitable platform for his grandfather’s story, and this was his reply.
“I clicked that link you sent me and saw the site, then saw the surname Cavaciuti then the area called Morfasso and realised it was where my uncle grew up so sent it to my cousin and it turns out that Antonio Cavaciuti was my cousin’s wife’s great grandfather!“
I think Dennis summed up his story beautifully. You only have to swap the name “Cavaciuti” for any Italian family who…. “acted on a principal of deeply-felt humanity.”
Thank you Denis and thank you too Stef and all your family. I hope one day I can say the same to the relatives of any family who helped my own father.
“The wartime episode is a testament to the Cavaciutis’ humility—when the escapers wandered onto their property, Antonio and Domenica acted on a principal of deeply-felt humanity. Sheltering the men was likely a natural, spontaneous impulse. Nazi retribution for helping escapees was swift and severe. They were risking their lives—and the lives of their children. I have no doubt they realized this. The Alexander certificate attests to their heroism. It is a document Antonio and Domenica’s descendants can rightly be proud of.“
“Don Nino Rolleri, born on August 17, 1916 in Varsi, in the province of Parma, was a partisan priest from the Parma mountains. He was part of the Parma Single Command from April 4, 1944 to April 25, 1945 and was chaplain of the 31st Garibaldi Brigade, Val Ceno Division.” – Provincial Committee of the A.N.P.I. of Parma (https://anpiparma.it/pietre-della-memoria/canonica-di-specchio/)
The entry posted by the Provincial Committee of the A.N.P.I. of Parma goes on to report on the “violence perpetrated by Nazi-Fascist troops around the town of Specchio” and that “the parish priest of Specchio was Don Giovanni Caramatti, who made the premises of the rectory a refuge…“
Later in the A.N.P.I. post it is reported that “In the immediate post-war period, the Specchio rectory was demolished and then rebuilt at the behest of Don Nino Rolleri, another leading figure in the Parma Resistance. Since September 1943, as parish priest of Villora di Varsi, Don Rolleri had, in fact, actively participated in operations among the ranks of the partisans: in addition to offering asylum to fugitives, including about 50 English soldiers from the Fontanellato camp, he had operated first with the 12th Garibaldi Brigade and then with the 31st Garibaldi Brigade, until he took on the role of chaplain of the Parma Single Operational Command.“
This is a family photograph that I came across one day and clearly shows my father, Andre Graham Romain WILLIS, at bottom right and, whilst it is clear from the diary entry from My Mum’s Notebook from 1952 that they both later returned to Italy and met with Don Nino, I would dearly love to establish if this is the same man.
And one day I hope to establish that the man standing in the middle at the back of this faded B&W family photograph (which certainly looks as though it might have been from the 1940’s), is the very same Don Nino Rolleri.
In an earlier Post I was able to decipher the writing on the back identifying the men as being.
Ballantyne, Lt. J.A.
Houghton, Capt. H.
Goldingham, Lt. M.J.D.
Lewis-Heath, Lt. F.R.
Rolleri, Don Nino? (Back Middle)
Willis, Lt. A.G.R. (Bottom Right)
Diary entry made on 10th Feb. 1952 written by my mother when she and my father visited the town of Villora, staying with Bernardo and Maria and where they both met Don Nino at the Church (possibly Chiesa di San Biagio in the village of Villora?)
Letter from Don Nino pleading the case for the family of Don Giuseppe BEOTTI
Translation – “Today Monsignor Nino Rolleri would have turned one hundred years old. He celebrates his birthday with his partisan friends whom he loved so much and who have gone on with him. The memory of Don Nino is always present in our hearts.
Thank you for everything you have done.
We remind you that he was decorated with a silver medal for military valor. Chaplain of Honor of St. John Paul II; Chaplain of the National Association of Christian Partisans and Chaplain of the Association of Mutilated War Invalids.
But above all he was the beloved parish priest of Specchio. The photo, a rarity that one of our members provided us for publication, shows him at a ceremony with many partisan friends in Valmozzola (it is in the center below). Official speaker Sergio Passera, who passed away recently. It is May 4, 1985.“
My third piece of Genealogy Gold was a gift from my niece who had been in possession of a photograph of my father which she had inherited, I think sometime after my mother had died. It had been contained in an old wooden box that had the Willis Family Crest engraved on it and, whilst the frame that it was contained in was extremely heavy, the picture itself was small…… but didn’t it pack a punch!
Having just found two Black and White photos of what appeared to be Allied POW’s in civilian clothes and that 5 of those names were seemingly associated with men who were listed as being in PG 49 at Fontanellato, it was only when I came across my second piece of Genealogy Gold that answers to my questions started to materialise. And it was to be only a short time later that same evening that my brother handed me my second big find.
Ever since my mother’s death in 2014 I had been asking my brother if he had come across a diary that she may have kept of a visit I knew she and my father had made to Italy sometime after WWII. It had almost become a standing family joke that my mother insisted on being given a Diary every Christmas so that she could record family events and, latterly, all her forthcoming golf tournaments. I have to confess that there were a couple of Christmases that shopping inspiration deserted me and I had very quickly rushed into Boots the Chemist to buy Mum’s Diary for the following year and thereby have at least one member of the family that I didn’t have to torture myself worrying what the hell I was going to buy them for Christmas. So I was convinced there had to be something somewhere which provided some sort of clues as to when and where she and Dad had visited Italy.
My brother Graham had given some thought to the year they might have made the trip and, by process of his own recollections of periods of leave my father had enjoyed and associated holidays in the UK, Graham had concluded that it must have been somewhere around 1952. About 4 years before I was born.
So when Graham handed me a little brown notebook with my Mum’s handwriting jumping out of the first few pages, it was almost a relief to see that she had entered the DATE, MILEAGE and GALLONS for what looked like a car trip starting on 14th Jan 1952. And I didn’t even have to turn the page to notice that, whilst they had started their journey in Dorset and travelled to Folkestone, presumably then across the English Channel through France to Geneva, Milan and, you guessed it, PARMA! BINGO!
The hairs had already started to tingle up my neck. Parma is only a stones throw from Fontanellato! And yet there was no mention of Fontanellato. And nothing significant or useful had come out of this information, other than they appeared to have driven to an area of Italy that my father and his POW colleagues had been released into after being released from PG 49. Nevertheless, I decided to photograph the pages so that I could look at them and perhaps scrutinise them more closely when I returned to New Zealand.
In doing so I had thrown the booklet onto my bed and on returning with my phone to take the pictures of the three pages of information at the front of the notebook, I noticed that there was some writing on the back.
The first was a little tricky to read but looked something like “Pisa 296 6, La Rondine 2.15” and I didn’t think that was going to offer up any clues. But the second entry in my Dad’s handwriting looked like “DON NINO ROLLERI”. Even at this point I didn’t connect this name with the name on the earlier photograph. But my curiosity and excitement was already building and I couldn’t stop myself from typing the name into Google.
At this point I have to admit that I did start to feel as if I had actually found a nugget of gold as the first hit that I came across read as follows:-
“Don Nino Rolleri, born on 17 August 1916(the same year as my Dad)in Varsi, in the Province of Parma (PARMA was screaming out at me but so was VARSI!), was a partisan (did that just read PARTISAN!?)priest from the Parma mountains.”
I’m starting to find this very difficult to read without shaking a little. What am I just reading here? Am I jumping to the weirdest conclusions? Why is this man’s name on my mother’s notebook?
The GOOGLE entry goes on to read “He was part of the Single Command of Parma from 4 April 1944 to 25 April 1945 and was chaplain of the 31st Garibaldi Brigade, Val Ceno Division.”
Now, my History Teacher from King’s Canterbury will confirm that I was not his best History Student, but there’s something telling me in the back of my head that this Garibaldi Brigade were not just a bunch of peasants with a few pitch forks. These guys sounded to me like hard core partisans looking to free their country from the fascists and I’m starting to feel a little nervous.
I’m not entirely sure what happened next but at some stage I must have picked up the booklet but, instead of opening it at the front as I did the first time, something made me open it up at the back.
BOOM!!! If I thought I had just found a gold nugget I suddenly realised I had now actually hit the Motherlode. And my Mum hadn’t let me down. Even opening up these pages some months later I still burst into tears. And I can’t really explain why. It seems like only a couple of years since I had started searching for something like this and now suddenly here it was.
And again I’m skimming through the pages as they visit friends in Switzerland and then Italy and suddenly they’re in Parma after visiting “Andre’s old prison camp at FONTANELLATO, staying at the “Button Hotel”. We went straight out to VARSI and met Bernardo at 9 p.m.”
By now I’m a complete mess standing in front of Rex and Grum and Pat in their sitting room in Shoreham, but I can’t seem to speak. My mouth is opening and closing, a little like a goldfish, and nothing is coming out!
But I’m reading on and find myself thinking “Who the hell is Bernardo?” And the next thing there’s mention of Maria, Bernardo’s wife, and Mum and Dad are staying with them at VILLORA and then someone called Marco joins them at VARSI and their bags are carried on a 2 hour walk down the mountain across the valley and up the other side and Mum and Dad are given a reception by the two families. What two families?!
This is almost too much to take in. This actually happened. And this is the first time I’ve ever heard about it, let alone read it in black and white. At this point it becomes quite obvious to me that I’ll need to spend some time after we’ve returned to New Zealand to sit down and transcribe all this information as it is clear that I now have in my possession some very strong indicators as to who looked after my Dad for a short period in his life when he was on the run in Nazi occupied Italy. And boy am I going to enjoy following up on this!
In 2023 Rex Blanchette and I embarked on our first Holiday to Europe since the arrival of Covid to our shores and the appearance of Cancer in my life. And our aim? To achieve the following goals:-
Return to Rome to see a few places we missed in 2019
Tour some of the Battlefields of the Western Front in search of Family
Visit Le Quesnoy and view the new NZ Museum – Te Arawhata
Visit Caen and Etretat to follow up some research on Maimie and Grandpa Harry
Visit Coutances to see where Rex’s French family originated from
Visit Mont St. Michel and Cancale
Return to Jersey to catch up with family and friends
Visit family and friends in England
Undertake a 2 week narrowboat cruise on the Langollen and Shropshire Union canals
Sadly we had to forego Goal Number 8 as we lost a day in France when we incurred a flat tyre at Quarry Cemetery just after finding the grave of LEWIS JARDINE.
But you’d think that all of that would have been enough! Yet there were three separate additions to our holiday that were to become Genealogy Gold for me.
The first was when I was given a pile of old family photos to wade through by my brother Graham when we stayed with him and his wife Pat in Shoreham. Now I’m pretty sure that I had previously rummaged through all these old photos on at least two other occasions. Once in 2017 and again in 2019.
So I was quite surprised when my eye caught a glimpse of two very miniature black and white photos that were of quite poor quality and needed closer inspection because there was something about them that reminded me of some pictures I had recently seen in a museum that was being created in Servigliano in Italy in honour of Italian families that had assisted POW’s that had been released into the Italian countryside after the Italian Armistice in September 1943.
The 2 pictures depicted a group of men who all appeared to be enjoying a nice day out in the countryside, and one of the men (at bottom right) appeared to look like my Dad. But who were these men and where were the photos taken? Fortunately, on the reverse of one of the photos was some writing which appeared to answer the first question, and I have attempted to decipher the handwriting which appears to be written by six different people and, dare I say it, not by an educated hand? Certainly not my Dad’s handwriting.
Now the first 5 people all tie up with personnel who I have already identified in the Roll Call section of my Blog and I have to assume therefore that all these men were likely to be somewhere in the Italian countryside, and is it too much to assume that this was sometime after they had all been released from PG 49 at Fontanellato? But what exactly is the name at the bottom? And I have to confess that at the time of reading this information for the first time, I had no idea what that last name was and how it was connected with these five men.
80 years after my father was released from POW Camp PG 49 at Fontanellato near Parma, I was fortunate to attend this 80th Anniversary, held in Servigliano in Le Marche, organised by the Monte San Martino Trust, in conjunction with the World War II Escape Lines Memorial Society (E.L.M.S.) and the Casa Della Memoria Society.
It was an extremely hot autumn day in Europe, for someone recently arrived from the southern hemisphere winter! But while the occasion was based around the stories of those Allied POW’s from this Camp (one of hundreds all over Italy) after they were released into the Italian countryside, it nonetheless gave me an insight into the difficulties and hardships these men faced after finding themselves as free men behind enemy lines.
Amongst the many dignitaries who started proceedings were, on the left, the British Ambassador to Italy, His Excellency The Honourable Lord Edward Llewelyn OBE, and, on the right, Sir Nicholas Young (Chairman and Trustee).
Whilst we were all heading off to be given a tour of the site of PG 59, I managed to introduce myself to Nick, whose father had written a diary during his travels through Italy after the prisoners were released into the Italian countryside, with a short and very brief statement entered on Saturday 18th September 1943, “Willis and another passed through….”
One of the more poignant moments for me, was seeing the hole in the wall through which our great benefactor, Keith Killby had escaped at the time of the Armistice. Keith is recognised as being the one person who cared for and collated information about, not only the stories of all these Allied soldiers, but also the Italian families who sheltered, fed and sustained these men as well as helping them reach Allied lines to the south and safety to the north.
Also attending the Anniversary were many people who I had communicated with over the last couple of years, including Anne Copley, John Simkins and his wife Maggie and of course Dennis Hill from the USA, the very man who had helped and encouraged me to write this Blog, having been so impressed with his own site, now some 15 years in the making – Camp 59 Survivors
PG 49 at Fontanellato in Italy - The Story of allied servicemen who were held prisoner of war in this town in Italy in World War II 