P.G. 66 CAPUA (near Naples)

In an attempt to try and identify Officers who were transferred from P.G. (Prigionieri di Guerra) 66 at CAPUA to P.G.49 at FONTANELLATO I’ve decided to identify and list all men shown in WO 392/21 as being held there as Imperial Prisoners of War, firstly in the British Army.

P.G.66 CAPUA was a World War II prisoner of war (POW) camp for officers, located near Naples in the region of Campania in southern Italy.

Those highlighted and that have Links are known to be in PG 49 at the time of the Italian Armistice on 8th September 1943, although, in the case of Bethell¹ and Young² below, they don’t appear in Appendix 8 of the Nominal Rolls published by Ian English in “Home by Christmas?”. But the story by Douglas Flowerdew published on the M.S.M.T. website indicates that Bethell was at Fontanellato?
For Bethel see also – In Love and War: finding the father I neglected to know.

However, those highlighted in yellow are listed in the Nominal Rolls for P.G. 49 Fontanellato for September 1943 contained in Appendix 8 of the book edited by Ian English entitled “Home by Christmas?“.

No.	Name	Initials	Rank	Pers. No.	Regt. or Corps.
1	Atherton	R.	Lt.	129548	D.L.I.
2	Bertin	L.M.	Capt.	70144	R.A.
3	Bethell	D.A.D.J.	Capt.	118402	R.A.
4	Brabourne	N.C.M.	Lt.	207642	G.G.
5	Buchanan	C.D. Boiteux-	Lt.	148629	A.A.C.
6	Butcher	M.H.	Lt.	201511	R.A.
7	Caffyn	W.D.	Capt.	117868	E. Surrey
8	Collins	J.B.	Rev.	111558	R.A.Ch.D.
9	Cooper	W.F.H.	Lt.	164397	Buffs.
10	Cornish	G.H.	2/Lt.	198063	R.A.
11	Cowdy	A.	Lt.	66396	R.U. Rif.
12	Darville	L.C.W.J.	Lt.	193720	B. & H.
13	Edwards	D.B.	Lt.	220951	R.E.
14	Edwards	R.C.K.	Lt.	182421	Recce. C.
15	Elgar	F.E.	Capt.	121204	For’ters.
16	Emery	C.A.	Lt.	78020	North’n. R.
17	Green	A.J.	Capt.	93641	R.A.
18	Green	J.J.S.	Lt.	108183	Hamp.
19	Hatten	C.T.	Lt.	124003	R.A.
20	Hillas	K.N.	Maj.	120694	D.L.I.
21	Holdstock	C.D.	Capt.	139361	R.A.M.C.
22	Hyde	A.	2/Lt.	253612	R. Scots.
23	Jackson	A.	Rev.	101923	R.A.Ch.D.
24	Johnson	St. J.C. Brooke-	Lt.	177691	Worc.
25	Keating	P.S. Morris-	Capt.	56634	R. Bde.
26	Leaver	H.V.	Lt.	210818	For’ters.
27	Lees	W.C.	Lt.	149574	A. & S.H.
28	Lesslie	C.D.	Lt.	156087	I.G.
29	McKinlay	J.	Lt.	180330	Cam. H.
30	McLay	D.F.	Lt.	165998	Recce. C.
31	McMath	A.W.	Lt.	162182	R.A.
32	MacPherson	D.A.	Maj.	111727	R.A.M.C.
33	Main	R.G.	Capt.	99421	R.A.M.C.
34	Mayne	J.R.D.	Capt.	71115	Som. L.I.
35	Moir	G.M.	2/Lt.	236588	Gen. List.
36	Mould	C.M.M.	Capt.	105510	Linc.
37	Nixon	I.K.	Lt.	166518	R.E.
38	Raworth	J.S.	Maj.	75752	R.A.
39	Rickards	W.R.	Capt.	113960	R.A.
40	Robertson	J.	Lt.	190308	A. & S.H.
41	Roworth	T.I.	Capt.	237759	R.E.
42	Sanders	J.A.	Lt.	235340	N. Staff.
43	Scott	F.G.R.W.	Lt.	237399	R.A.C.
44	Selby	R.E.	Lt.	197146	B. & H.
45	Smith	R.G.	Lt.	187151	Cam. H.
46	Stewart	G.D.	Lt.	261218	Cam. H.
47	Strange	J.P.A.	Capt.	140567	R.T.R.
48	Tatham	W.G.	Maj.	21893	C.G.
49	Tighe	P.K.	Lt.	210822	North’n. R.
50	Tremayne	D.	2/Lt.	165738	D.C.L.I.
51	Turner	B.D.	Lt.	184487	B. & H.
52	Vivian	A.G.	Lt.	149125	G.G.
53	Webster	F.J.D.	Capt.	92723	R.A.M.C.
54	Weir	P.J.H.	Capt.	73101	K.O.R.R.
55	Whitehead	F.H.	Capt.	200490	R.A.
56	Wright	J.C.	Lt.	177833	K.S.L.I.
57	Young	L.B.	Lt.	217979	R.A.C.
58	Young*	L.C.	Maj.	42395	B. & H.

Regimental Abbreviations

Abbreviation	Full Title of Regiment or Corps	Abbreviation	Full Title of Regiment or Corps
10 H.	10th Royal Hussars	Lan. F.	Lancashire Fusiliers
11 H.	11th Hussars	Leic.	Leicestershire Regiment
12 L.	12th Royal Lancers	Linc.	Lincolnshire Regiment
16/5 L.	16th/5th The Queen’s Royal Lancers	N’d.F.	Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
17/21 L.	17th/21st Lancers	P.C.
4 H.	4th Queen’s Own Hussars	P.C. (Cyp.)
7 H.	7th Queen’s Own Hussars	Queens	Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
8 H.	8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars	R. Bde.	Rifle Brigade
A. & S.H.	Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders	R. Sigs.	Royal Signals
A.A.C.	Army Air Corps	R.A.	Royal Artillery
B. & H.	Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment	R.A.C.	Royal Armoured Corps
Bord.	Border Regiment	R.A.Ch.D.	Royal Army Chaplains Department
Buffs.	Royal East Kent Regiment (“The Buffs”)	R.A.M.C.	Royal Army Medical Corps
C.G.	Coldstream Guards	R.A.O.C.	Royal Army Ordnance Corps
Cam. H.	Cameron Highlanders	R.A.S.C.	Royal Army Service Corps
Ches.	Cheshire Regiment	R.A.M.C.	Royal Army Medical Corps
D.C.L.I.	Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry	R.E.	Royal Engineers
D.L.I.	Durham Light Infantry	R.E.M.E.	Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
D.W.R.	Duke of Wellington’s Regiment	R.T.R.	Royal Tank Regiment
E. Surr.	East Surrey Regiment	R.U. Rif.	Royal Ulster Rifles
E. York.	East Yorkshire Regiment (D of Y’s Own)	Recce. C.
Essex.	Essex Brigade	S. G.	Scots Guards
For’ters.	Sherwood Foresters (Notts. & Derby. Regt.)	S.W.B.	South Wales Borders
Gen. List	General List	W. Yorks.	West Yorkshire Regiment (P of W Own)
Gn. How.	Green Howards	War.	Royal Warwickshire Regiment
H.L.I.	Highland Light Infantry	Welch/W.G.	Welsh Guards
Hamp.	Hampshire Regiment	Worc.	Worcestershire Regiment
I.C.	Intelligence Corps	Y. & L.	York and Lancaster Regiment
K.O.R.R.	King’s Own Royal Regiment
K.R.R.C.	King’s Royal Rifle Corps
Acronyms		Acronyms
Lt.-Col.	Lieutenant-Colonel.	Lt.	Lieutenant.
Maj.	Major.	2/Lt.	Second Lieutenant.
Capt.	Captain.	Rev.	Reverend.

1. ‘In Love and War’ is the gripping account of one man’s war. Aged nineteen he was wounded on the beaches of Dunkirk, captured in North Africa, escaped from his PoW camp, walked 500 miles to rejoin his regiment and fought in Italy until the end of the war. Then, while spending two years in Palestine as the fate of that contested area was fought over, he met his wife-to-be for a brief few days and then pursued their passionate romance through copious love letters.
   “That man was my father and he told me virtually nothing about his war and I neglected to ask”. This book is a belated attempt to reconstruct his story. There are some facts, some archive, a few second-hand recollections all mixed up with a great deal of imagination. His story is interspersed with letters from son to father which explore what should have been spoken but somehow never was. ↩︎
2. In ‘Escaping with his Life: from Dunkirk to D-Day and Beyond’ Nick Young writes about his father’s life in WWII and his escape from PG 49 ay Fontanellato.
   “Very few British soldiers could lay claim to such a full war as Leslie Young. Having survived the retreat to and evacuation from Dunkirk, he volunteered for the newly formed Commandos and took part in their first operation, the raid on the Lofoten Islands. He fought and was captured in Tunisia. He went on the run before his POW camp at Fontanellato was taken over by the Nazis after the September 1943 Italian armistice. He spent six months on the run in the Apennine mountains aided by brave and selfless Italians. Many of whom were actively fighting their occupiers. He eventually reached Allied lines but not before several of his companions were tragically killed by both German and American fire.“
   “Nicely retold by his son, Nicholas, this memoir ticks all the boxes . . . An incredible story of one man’s war. It’s excellent.” —WW2Talk.
   ↩︎