Capture, Armistice, freedom…
Stage 1
In the summer of 1942 my father, Gerald Churchill, was serving in North Africa as a lieutenant in the 12th Lancers (an armoured car regiment attached to the 1st Armoured Division of the British Army).
On the eve of the 2nd battle of Alamein. on reconnaissance in the desert with his commanding officer, Colonel Peter Burnes, they approached what appeared to be a British convoy; this turned out to be a group of captured vehicles being used to transport German troops, and by the time this fact had become clear to them it was too late to make good their escape. They were overwhelmed and taken prisoner.
Shipped off to Italy by their captors, they spent that winter and spring in various prisoner of war camps around Italy. By the following summer both my father and Peter found themselves in PG 49, an orphanage repurposed as a prison, in the northern Italian village of Fontanellato near Parma.
While they were thus occupied the war moved on… The battle of El Alamein, which they had so narrowly missed taking part in, was a turning point in British and American fortunes and led fairly quickly to the comprehensive defeat of German and Italian forces in North Africa.
Between the Americans and the British there were now differences of opinion as to the best strategy to pursue; The Americans were broadly in favour of now concentrating their efforts upon the invasion of Northern France from Britain in 1944; the British, on the other hand, felt that, while they were on the front foot in the Mediterranean theatre, the invasion of Sicily and Italy would be the most productive course of action, Winston Churchill, optimistically, characterising Italy as ‘the soft underbelly of Europe’, and enthusiastic, as ever, to ‘roll the map up’ from the south.
The Americans, reluctantly, went along with the British strategy for the time being and the summer of 1943 saw the Allied invasion and occupation of Sicily and, at the start of September, American and British forces landed in the south of Italy, at Salerno and Taranto, and began to fight their way up that long and mountainous country
On the 8th of September, timed to coincide with the landings, it was revealed that the new Italian government, who had recently deposed and arrested their pro German dictator, Benito Mussolini, had also secretly signed an Armistice, surrendering unconditionally to the Allies.
Hitler, however, as soon as Mussolini had fallen, anticipating just such a situation, had started to build up a strong German military presence throughout Italy. The Italians may have had enough, but he had not the slightest intention of surrendering, and so simply set about taking the country over and preparing to defend it against all comers .. including his former allies, the Italians.- should they be so unwise as to resist him….
As the POW camps in Italy were run largely by Italian forces, the camp commanders now received orders from their government to release all their prisoners of war and to try and prevent them falling into German hands.
Accordingly, on the day following the announcement of the Armistice, the Italian commandant of PG 49, a Colonel Eugenio Vicedomini, opened the prison, courageously remaining in place himself to face the Germans. He was, as a consequence of this decision, to spend the rest of the war imprisoned in the notorious German concentration camp of Mauthausen, where his health was so badly damaged that he died upon his return to Italy at the end of the war.
What follows is my father’s account of his two month, 550 to 600 mile trek through German held Italy, following the high ground of the Apennine mountains, at first in the company of his former commanding office Peter Burnes and another 12th Lancer Lieutenant Van Burton, and finally on his own, in order to rejoin the allied forces, wherever they might be.
Alongside his account, with the intention of providing a sense of context, I have included a few brief resumes, excerpts and updates from a couple of other escapers from PG49 who recorded their experiences in this autumn of 1943, as well as following the entries in my mother Elizabeth’s diaries back home in rural Oxfordshire.
Fontanellato POW camp, near Parma, Italy
9th September 1943.
At 9 o'clock on the morning of 9th September Colonel de Burgh addressed all officers and other ranks in the camp. There was a likelihood, he said, that the Germans would come to occupy the camp; Italian cyclist patrols had been sent out by the Italian commandant to give warning of their approach and English and Italian officers had already gone out to reconnoitre an area in the neighborhood where it would be possible for the camp to hide. On the alarm being sounded by the English trumpeter all ranks would form up by companies in the exercise field and be prepared to march out. In the meantime the wire fence was being cut and haversack rations would be drawn immediately. All ranks would change into battle dress and wear boots. The Parade was then dismissed.
During the next few hours the camp was occupied in preparing for a possible exit. Haversacks were packed, rations drawn and maps prepared. Speculation was intense, though at least half the officers of the camp thought that evacuation would not be necessary, and very few imagined that they would have to hide from the Germans for more than a few days. This optimism was largely accounted for by the announcement of the official notice board of British landings at numerous northern Italian ports as well as at Bari, Naples and Taranto. It seemed, in fact, merely a question as to whether the Germans would be able to get north of the river Po before they were cut off by allied troops.
By 11:30 my own preparations were complete and I started a game of chess with Ian Shaw. After an hour's play I was on the point of victory, having got two castles on his backline and having captured his Queen. This was highly satisfactory, as before I had always suffered defeat at Shaw’s hands. At this moment however the trumpet sounded and the game had to be abandoned. As we were in the middle of forming up in the field a medium bomber with Italian markings flew slowly at about 800 feet directly over the camp. This caused the Italian sentries to desert their posts and to leap hurriedly into the ditch encircling the camp. As they had been in the habit of using this ditch as a latrine many of them leaped equally hurriedly out again. Others, carrying suitcases and without arms, were seen to take refuge in the nearby cemetery.
Within 5 minutes of the trumpet sounding we were marching out by companies through the gap in the wire fence. We marched across country for about an hour in a North Westerly direction. During our march an aeroplane of the same type as the first one flew at about 500 feet over our company; it could not have failed to observe us in detail but took no offensive action. At the end of an hour we reached a water course, the sides of which were thickly wooded and contained by a double earthen bank. There was very little water coming down at present, but from the high water mark it was clear that the banks were at times necessary to prevent flooding of this extremely flat countryside. Company areas were allotted on either side of the stream, Company HQ being in a thicket on the edge of the earth bank. Our company dispersed in its area, which consisted of a few acres of a corn stubble (undersown with a good clover mixture) interspersed with lines of vines on wires supported by ash and mulberry trees. In the shade of these trees we lay down and started on the grapes which were rather sour. Contact was soon made with the neighbouring farm, from which water was obtained; also eggs, bread, fruit and wine by those who had the discretion to go into the house by the back door.
During the afternoon Peter (Lieutenant colonel E O Burne, 12th Royal Lancers) and I went to camp HQ several times. It was about 10 minutes walk away. At about 3.30 captain Camino (Italian second in command) arrived to ask whether we intended returning to camp that night and if not whether we required blankets or rations. Colonel de Burgh replied the we would stay where we were for the night and required nothing ,the weather being warm and fine. Within half an hour of this a message was received from the camp to say that shortly after our departure Germans had arrived, the party consisting of one tank and a lorry load of Infantry. They were confronted by the Italian commandant, the doctor and one other Italian officer; it seemed that the rest of the Garrison had deserted, probably as soon as it learned of the Commandant’s intention to defend the camp against the Germans. The Germans took the Commandant prisoner, looted the camp - particular attention being paid to the Red Cross parcel store - and then apparently motored around the neighborhood enquiring for us, but getting no information.
This news came as a shock to many. It was clear that a return to the camp was out of the question, and also that our present situation was more precarious than had at first been realized.
As a result of discussions at Colonel de Burgh's HQ it was decided further to disperse companies and at the same time to withdraw still more from the nearest motor road. These moves were to take place after nightfall.
Accordingly at 9pm our company moved about a mile further on along the stream and settled down between its flanking undergrowth and the dyke, which was here about seven feet high. The company as a whole composed itself to sleep, watch being kept by HQ personnel. No incidents of local significance occurred during the night; heavy traffic was heard on the VIA Amelia ( about three miles to the south), and occasion Explosions and Small Arms fire came from the same direction. This was subsequently said to have been caused by an Italian attack on some ammunition trucks standing in a siding on the Fidenza - Salsa Maggiore line.
10th September
By morning there was a thick local mist and some drizzle. Peter and I visited colonel de burgh's HQ several times during the day, the point at issue being that Peter wished to disperse the company and allow individuals to go their own ways. this permission was eventually given, two other companies by that time having come over to our opinion. The position was, therefore, that camp HQ company and one other company was staying in situ and the other three companies were due to break away and split up into small parties after dark. During the afternoon orders were given for the company's move; the company was to move as a body across the Via Aemilia and across the railway which ran closely parallel to it; then everyone would be at liberty to go his own way; parties of not less than three and not more than seven were recommended. The routes to be taken by the company in its approach to the via Aemilia had to take a Westerly bias towards Fidenza to allow room for the movement of the company on our left. Our right flank was open. Fidenza was reported to be occupied by Germans.
From midday onwards we received visits from many Italians - most of them bringing gifts of some kind or another. Inhabitants of Fontanellato brought Red Cross parcels salvaged from what the Germans had left.
Civilian clothes were brought, but largely rejected, as many were still unconvinced that it would be necessary to use disguise, and in any case uncertain of the German reaction to escaping POWs recaptured out of uniform. Information was brought and lavishly distributed; there had been a battle for Parma railway station, 20 Italian officers defending it had been captured and shot; British and American troops appeared to have landed at most ports between Fiume and Genoa but reports of their progress were lacking. Further details of the German descent on Fontanellato were given.
As the afternoon wore on, we sat in our arbours eating food from Red Cross parcels and Italian bread; occasionally drinking vino which our visitors brought, and all the time trying to compete with the flow of Italian, French and broken American English. We wished that our salon was not quite so large; it seemed that the whole countryside must know of our whereabouts and among so many children, young girls and old men might not the Germans find at least one or two who would give us away?
We waited for 8:00 pm, the time of our departure, with mounting impatience. At about 5:00 p.m. this impatience was increased to acute agarophobia by an Italian report, largely confirmed by officers of another company, that a German truck had halted on a road about two miles away and that two of its crew had come to within a mile of our position and had asked a farmer if anything had been seen of escaping English POWs. Our company lookouts were resited to deal with this threat and the rest of us watched the sun, which appeared to be unduly high in the sky for
the time of day. Peter, Van and I had by now arranged to travel together when the time came to split up, and we had accordingly rationalized our supply of money - about 400 lira - and of food - in the main bread, biscuits, and tinned meat roll. We had as well two elementary hand drawn small scale local maps.
By 8pm the sun had set, but it was far from dark. Nonetheless, the company set off in a westerly direction across country, marching in close order; all present were in battledress. After a mile or so, we turned South, skirting a hamlet, the inhabitants of which viewed us with some surprise. It was perhaps more our formation than our presence which caused them to wonder. We aimed to cross the via Aemilia to the east of Fidenza and we set our course with this object, steering by the stars (and a very bright moon, almost full) and a prismatic compass, the property of Major Knott, a platoon commander. We crossed 1 or 2 minor roads with great circumspection, and were pinned to the ground on one occasion for nearly half an hour by a noisy party in a farm which we had to skirt. We thought there might be German troops billeted there, though in fact, we learned later, this would have been entirely contrary to usual practice in this area. By midnight we reached the railway, having twice had our route confirmed by Italians. We crossed the railway without mishap, but with considerable noise; the signal wires by the side of the line were twanging madly for many minutes, but a nearby signal box paid no attention. Lights along the line changed from Green to red, but we hoped that this was nothing to do with us. Immediately on crossing, we split up into our travelling parties and we ourselves were not to meet again on this trip more than two members of the company.