SECTION 1 – BRITISH ARMY

Below are the names of 326 men who were listed in War Office record WO 392/21 as being in Camp No. 49. The names are extracted from 8 of the 260 plus pages listing Allied POW’s in Italy which I hope will one day make up the bulk of the 500 plus men who walked out of PG 49 at the time of the Armistice.

Sadly, having gone through the pages of the British Army personnel (SECTION 1) I soon realised that this remarkable document must have been created sometime between the Camp first opening (I think in the Spring of 1943) and at some time prior to the Armistice on 8th September 1943, as there were clearly some men who were not listed as being in PG 49.

For instance the Senior British Officer, who we knew at the time of the Armistice in September 1943 was Lieutenant-Colonel H.G. De-Burgh, is listed as being in H202 which is a Military Hospital in Lucca, coincidentally where my partner Rex and I had been staying just prior to visiting Fontanellato for the first time in the Summer of 2019.

I also noticed that Lt. George Eric Newby wasn’t listed at PG 49 at the time of this publication. But he is listed as being in PG 21 in Chieti, as was then Capt. David Carol MacDonnell Mather (whose niece is MSMT Trustee Anne Copley), so I had to re-read that part of Eric’s book, ‘Love and War in the Apennines‘, to see if I could identify when he arrived at Fontanellato. But his timeline seems to be a bit sketchy as, although he mentions being “captured off the east coast of Sicily on the morning of the twelfth of August, 1942“, and being “in Rome, in late August” (presumably still in 1942), there is no mention of Chieti or of when he was transferred to Fontanellato that I can locate thus far, although he does state (on page 30) “When we first arrived (describing Fontanellato), at the beginning of March,” which leads us to assume that he was there at the start despite this record showing he was in Chieti.

Also missing is Major Leslie Young who is listed in this publication as being in Camp No. 66 situated in Capua near Naples but who we know, through our links with the Monte San Martino Trust, was in Fontanellato at the time of the Armistice. And Major Richard Carver who was listed as being in Camp No. 38 at Poppi near Florence (see also ALLIES IN ITALY).

So, instead of showing a complete list here of British POW’s that were in PG 49 at Fontanellato at the time of the Armistice in September 1943, I’m going to create a Continuation Page to add those men that I have so far identified and include others as I come across them. Therefore, could you please bear with me if your relative is not here. And if he is here and I have somehow misspelled his name or entered his details incorrectly please let me know.

There is of course the possibility that the document itself is not completely accurate as there was one obvious entry for Camp No. 49 (see page 8 OTHER RANKS) with no name against it. And also, one entry which was obviously duplicated (see Vickers also on page 8). The list below was published in alphabetical order and the document explained that, in COMPOUND NAMES, the surname appears under the final surname, e.g. the first name below would be Captain S.N. Floyer-Acland.

SECTION 1 – BRITISH ARMY

KEY to 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.

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So far entered (as at 30th June 2023) a total of 331 men have been identified as being in Camp No. 49 (including the 5 above identified in PG21, 38, 66 and H202). (3 Lt.-Col’s.; 13 Maj’s.; 109 Capt’s; 173 Lt’s.; 31 2nd Lt’s.; 2 Rev’s.)

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Surnames A-B on Page 1,

Surnames C-D on Page 2 – Including the Senior British Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel H.G. De-Burgh, listed as being in H202 which was a Military Hospital in Lucca and Major Richard Carver who is listed as being in Camp No. 38 at Poppi.

Surnames E-H on Page 3

Surnames H-L on Page 4

Surnames L-N on Page 5 – Including Capt. D.C. McD. Mather of the Welsh Guards, listed as being in Camp No. 21 which was in Chieti (East Coast)

Surnames N-R on Page 6 – Including Lieutenant G.E. Newby, also listed as being in Camp No. 21 which was in Chieti (East Coast)

Surnames S-V on Page 7

Surnames V-Y on Page 8 – Including Major Leslie Young of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, listed as being in Camp No. 66 in Capua near Naples.

British Army Acronyms and Abbreviations – kindly assimilated (and “loaned”) from Dennis Hill’s Camp 59 Survivors

• A. & S.H. – Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
• A.A.C. – Army Air Corps
• A.A.A.C. – Australian Army Aviation Corps
• A.C.C. – Army Catering Corps
• A.D.C. – This is an acronym for a unit name, possibly the Royal Army Dental Corps (R.A.D.C.)
• B. & H. – Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
• B.S.M. – Battery Sergeant Major
• Bdr. – Bombardier
• Bk. Watch – Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)
• Bord. – Border Regiment
• Brig. – Brigadier
• Buffs – Royal East Kent Regiment (“The Buffs”)
• C.G. – Coldstream Guards
• C.Q.M.S. – Company Quartermaster Sergeant
• C.S.M. – Company Sergeant Major
• Cam. H. – Cameron Highlanders
• Camns. – Cameron Highlanders
• Capt. – Captain
• Cfn./Cfm. – Craftsman
• Cpl. – Corporal
• Devon. – Devonshire Regiment
• D.L.I. – Durham Light Infantry
• Dorset – Dorset Regiment
• Dmr. – Drummer
• Drv. – Driver
• Dvr/i/c – Driver (meaning of i/c unknown)
• E. Surr. – East Surrey Regiment
• Essex – Essex Brigade
• Fus. – Fusilier
• G.G. – Grenadier Guards
• Gdsm. – Guardsman
• Gn. How. – Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own Yorkshire Regiment)
• Gnr. – Gunner
• Hamp. – Hampshire Regiment
• H.L.I. – Highland Light Infantry
• Innis. F. – Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
• K.O.R.R. – King’s Own Royal Regiment
• K.R.R.C. – King’s Royal Rifle Corps
• L/Bdr. – Lance Bombardier
• L/Cpl. – Lance Corporal
• Manch. – Manchester Regiment
• N’d. F. – Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
• North’n. R. – Northamptonshire Regiment
• P.S.M. – Platoon Sergeant Major
• Pte. – Private
• Q.M.S. – Quarter Master Sergeant
• R. Bde. – Rifle Brigade
• R. Sigs. – Royal Signals
• R.A. – Royal Artillery
• R.A.C. – Royal Armoured Corps
• R.A.M.C. – Royal Army Medical Corps
• R.A.O.C. – Royal Army Ordnance Corps
• R.A.S.C. – Royal Army Service Corps
• R.E. – Royal Engineers
• R.E.M.E. – Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
• R. Ir. R. – Royal Irish Regiment
• R.O. – Radiotelephone Operator
• R.U. Rif. – Royal Ulster Rifles
• R.W.F. – Royal Welch Fusiliers
• R.W.K. – Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
• Rfn. – Rifleman
• S.G. – Scots Guards
• S.S.M. – unit name unknown
• S.W.B.– South Wales Borders
• S. Staff – South Staffordshire Regiment
• Sgm./Sgmn. – Signalman
• Sgt. – Sergeant
• Sjt. – Serjeant (a variant of sergeant)
• Spr. – Sapper
• Tpr. – Trooper
• W.G. – Welsh Guards
• Welsh/Welch –Welsh Guards
• Worc. – Worcestershire Regiment
• Y. & L. – York and Lancaster Regiment

1. Imperial War Museum – Audio Files
   British officer served as staff officer X Corps in North Africa, 1942; prisoner of war in Campo PG 21, Chieti and Campo PG 49, Fontanellato di Parma, Italy, 1942-1943; escaped and joined Italian Partisans in Chianti, Italy, 9/1943-8/1944 ↩︎