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English Prisoners in Vetralla Camp 68
Vetralla: Un
Prigioniero in Fuga
Mary Jane Cryan
© Copyright
2009
On August 2,
1940 the submarine HMS Oswald of the British Navy
colliding with an Italian destroyer, Vivaldi, and due to the
extensive damage the commander, Captain Fraser decided to abandon
ship.
As their ship
disappeared beneath the water for the last time the crew gave
three cheers and after two and a half hours in the sea the 52
crew members (three unfortunately perished) were taken onboard
the Italian destroyer, given food and blankets and brought to a
naval hospital in Taranto.
The
surviving seamen were soon moved north to the island of Poveglia
near Venice where they worked on road repairs and in gardens.
A few months later, in October, they were transported by train
to the Fonte D’Amore camp Number 78, located three miles outside
the mountain town of Sulmona in the central Abruzzi region.
Illustrated
prison log books kept by some of the men describe their travels
and how Italian soldiers with fixed bayonets guarded them when
their train stopped at stations along the way. They showed their
humanity when they also allowed the prisoners to catch bags
of sweets thrown to them by the people.
In Sulmona, the
prisoners passed the time drawing pictures and graffiti which
can still be seen on the barrack walls but when winter
arrived in the Abruzzi mountains, the scantily clad English
suffered terribly from the cold. In order to keep their feet from
freezing they tied wood to the soles of their boots and fashioned
socks out of sheets.
Escaping was
never far from their minds, but successful escape attempts made
life harder for those who remained behind for contrary to the
Geneva Convention, collective punishment such as food reduction
was usually given after a successful getaway.
After an escape
attempt that failed at the last moment, Seaman Edward Penny
volunteered in June 1942 for a work party and with 200 fellow
prisoners soon found himself in Vetralla, 68 kms north of
Rome. Here he learned more of the Italian language and worked
as part of the building crew in the creation of a large, new
camp for captured Allied military prisoners.
A Swiss
delegation document testified that the prisoners were allowed
relative freedom at the Vetralla camp and could take walks in the
countryside which often lasted from morning to evening. This
gave the British prisoners ample time to make friends with the
local people, exchange food and other goods with them and to
participate in the local life.
According to the
Ministry of the Interior’s report conserved in the Italian State
Archives, Seaman Penny escaped from the camp after stealing a
bicycle and travelled to the Vatican, the closest neutral state,
where he asked for help. The Italian Ministry’s report
(306274.53 of Oct 13, 1942-the 20th year of Fascist
government) says that he would be turned over to the Italian
authorities and would be consigned to a camp representative to be
returned directly to the camp in Vetralla.
Official
English Naval documents conserved at the Portsmouth Naval Museum
tell the real version of Seaman Penny’s imprisonment and
escape. Using his newly acquired language abilities Penny
narrates that he befriended local workers employed at the camp
and after finding and repairing an old blue overalls similar to
those worn by the local plumbers, he darkened his hair with soot,
pencilled his eyebrows and was able to walk out of the camp
dressed like one of the workers. Exchanging his watch for a
bicycle he cycled the 68 kilometres to Vatican City gates where
he was taken in by the resident British Minister and stayed there
as his guest until he was flown out of Rome to Britain on
January 3, 1945.
See Photos of
the Vetralla Concentration Camp as it is today,
Many English
relatives of former prisoners are searching for information
including Karen Bloor
Here is her
grandfather ‘s photo and a note
In 1942 I believe my grandfather James Whitehouse Bombadier in the
Royal Artillery, was captured at Tobruk, he was then taken to
Vetralla in Italy. I have a postcard sent from my grandmother
to him, sending it to PG 68 PM 300 Hut 11 Italy.
Sometime after Italy capitulated he was transferred to Stalag 18A
Wolfsburg in Austria as this is where he was at the end of the
war.
If I am correct I believe this camp was liberated by the 8th Army
with whom he served.
My questions on this are how did my grandfather get transferred
from Italy to Austria and when. Would he have gone straight to
that camp or would he have gone to other camps first. How did he
get back to England once he had been liberated.
Unfortunately I never spoke to him about this as he died when I
was 9 years old. |
